Cheerleaders in the Accounting Office vs. The Recognition Wall

We are always looking for creative employee recognition ideas and suggestions from non-traditional sources. Rick Reilly, the award winning columnist and author, had an interesting suggestion in his recent ESPN The Magazine article, "HOW WOULD I FIX THE ECONOMY? TAKE THE GAMES TO THE OFFICE" http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4299149. Reilly's parallels between sporting traditions of successful teams and encouraging employees in an office setting are humorous but in some cases not entirely out of the question! Sure, cheerleaders for accounting office and encouraging women to stop shaving their legs during a big sales drive are probably not going to be readily accepted business practices at anytime soon.

However, many successful organizations have implemented the Wall of Fame concept Reilly half heartedly suggests to highlight employee achievements. Actually, the recognition wall is a growing trend in business today (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdfai8r1bQE ). We've always seen similarities between superstar professional athletes who work tirelessly to win a championship ring and employees repeatedly going the extra mile to be recognized as the leaders in their field.

I'm guessing we'll never see the Gatorade shower at the end of a successful meeting or presentation but at the end of the day there are probably more recognition similarities between sports and business then differences!