Each year, at our firm holiday party, we present the highest honor our firm has to offer – the Rosie Award.

This year the award went to James Sanderson. James has been with the firm for more than a decade and has served in nearly every capacity.

He’s an extraordinary member of our team.

But he’s more than that.

He is someone who embodies our firm’s purpose.

He works to enhance the quality of our client’s lives. He strives to help us become known for changing divorce from a damaging process to a healing transformation.

James works to help clients heal each and every day.

I couldn’t be more proud of the Rosie recipient for 2009.

Let me tell you more about the award and how something like this can work for you.

The Rosie is a sculpture made by a local artist. She handcrafts a new piece each year. They are all of the same design.

The award comes along with a check for $1,000. More importantly, it also comes with a second check for #1,000 to be given to the charity of the recipients choice.

The nomination process is open to everyone in the firm. The nominator is recognized at the award ceremony with a check for $250.

Nominations are collected in October and considered by a committee in November. The committee is composed of prior winners and the management team. Several meetings are held during which a fairly vigorous discussion takes place. Consensus emerges and we have our honoree.

The benefits of the award are multi-faceted. Obviously, it makes someone happy and proud to be the recipient. Beyond that, the award promotes the behaviors you seek to achieve the firm’s purpose. Positive recognition is the most effective means of generating more of a desired behavior.

Most importantly, the award reminds everyone of what you’re all about, why you exist and what you’re trying to achieve. It’s hard to remember those big picture ideas when you’re fighting in the trenches. It’s important for people to be reminded of the fundamentals.

You don’t have to create a sculpture or award a bunch of money for this to be effective. It truly is the thought that counts on this sort of thing.

The anticipation surrounding the award and the actual ceremony are a terrific high note for ending the year. It’s the perfect thing to have people thinking about as they wrap up their work and head in to the holidays. It’s all positive and you can’t go wrong implementing a program like this in your firm.