Best of the Best

Many companies are finally realizing what sales managers have known all along: Recognition should play an integral part in managing employees. According to the National Association for Employee Recognition, a nonprofit organization based in Naperville, Illinois, 80 percent of poll respondents said their companies plan to do more to recognize staffers in 2005. Finding creative ways to make recognition more memorable, however, can be a challenge. Sure, it's always great to get a pat on the back …

…process. MSED, for instance, gives two to three awards from a highly qualified field of about 20 to 35 nominees, and only after an exhaustive interview process based on their sales and marketing successes, their mentoring abilities, and their community involvement. "Their overall success with their company is important, [but so is] the other criteria," Marsolais says. "We also look at respect among peers. [The awards] have a lot of name recognition in the industry." -Julia Chang