Amy Gallo: Managers who want to recognize employees for good work have many tools at their disposal.

Managers who want to recognize employees for good work have many tools at their disposal. One of the more traditional ways to reward a top performer is to give her a promotion or raise or both. But how can you know whether someone is truly ready for the next challenge or deserving of that bump up in pay? HR policies and company culture often dictate when and how people move up in a company. However, managers in most companies have a good deal of input into the decision, and in some cases they are the ultimate decision makers. Whether you have this authority or not, promotions and raises need to be part of an ongoing discussion with employees about their performance.

http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2011/01/when-to-reward-employees-with.html

Amy Gallo can be found on Twitter here.