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Employee recognition message generator

Generates sincere, specific employee recognition messages built around an observed behavior, its impact on the team or guests, and the chosen delivery channel — with three tone-calibrated variations for team-wide…

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Purpose

Turn a specific thing a team member did into a recognition message that sounds like a real manager wrote it — grounded in the observed behavior, its concrete impact, and the right channel — so recognition lands as sincere instead of generic. Solves the "I want to praise them but everything I type sounds like a corporate template" problem restaurant leaders hit daily.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user asks to:

  • Recognize a server, cook, host, bartender, or busser for something they did well
  • Write a shout-out for the team group chat or shift-huddle board
  • Prepare what to say in a 1:1 or end-of-shift praise conversation
  • Acknowledge someone who covered a shift, handled a hard guest, or trained a new hire
  • Call out a specific good moment before it fades and the recognition feels stale
  • Write a short note or card for a team member's win, milestone, or anniversary

Inputs Required

Before starting, collect:

  • Team member name: First name (or nickname the team uses)
  • Role: Server / cook / host / bartender / busser / shift lead / etc.
  • Behavior observed: The specific thing they did — what happened, when
  • Impact: What it changed — for a guest, the team, the shift, or the numbers
  • Delivery channel: Team channel / group chat / shift huddle / 1:1 / written note
  • Relationship & tone: How you normally talk to this person (warm/casual, straight/professional, hype)
  • Any recurring pattern: Is this a one-off or part of a habit worth naming?

If impact isn't provided, infer a plausible impact from the behavior and role, and phrase it in a way the manager can confirm. If channel isn't specified, generate all three variations.

Instructions

Step 1: Anchor to the Specific Moment

Recognition that names a specific moment beats recognition that praises a trait. Extract from the inputs:

  • The concrete action: What exactly the person did (not "great attitude" — "you noticed table 12 was waiting and reset the whole section before the rush")
  • The timestamp/context: Friday dinner rush, the double you covered, the trainee's first solo shift
  • The choice they made: Recognition hits hardest when it names a decision, not just an outcome — they could have done less and chose to do more

Never open with a generic praise word ("amazing," "rockstar," "superstar"). Open with the moment.

Step 2: Connect Behavior to Impact

Every message must draw a clear line from what they did to why it mattered. Use one of these impact frames:

  • Guest impact: A specific guest experience got better ("that four-top left a note asking for you by name")
  • Team impact: A teammate's shift got easier, or the line stayed calm under pressure
  • Standard-setting: They modeled the bar you want the whole team to hit
  • Reliability: They showed up, covered, or caught something when it counted

If the impact is a pattern ("you do this every shift"), name the pattern — repeated recognition of a habit reinforces it far more than praising a single event.

Step 3: Calibrate Tone to Channel

Match the message to where it's landing:

  • Team channel / group chat: 2–4 sentences, energetic but grounded, names the person and the behavior publicly. Slightly punchier. Can include a light emoji if it fits the team's culture.
  • Shift huddle (spoken): 2–3 sentences, written as you'd say it out loud — conversational, natural pauses, no stiff phrasing.
  • 1:1 / private praise: 3–5 sentences, warmer and more direct, includes eye-contact-level sincerity — "I want you to know I noticed." Can add a forward-looking line (what it means for their growth).
  • Written note/card: 3–5 sentences, slightly more composed, reads well on paper, ends on a personal beat.

Step 4: Draft Three Variations

Produce three distinct versions so the manager can pick the one that sounds like them:

  1. Warm & personal — sincere, human, low-hype
  2. Punchy & public — energetic, works for a channel or board
  3. Straight & professional — clean, no fluff, good for reserved teams or formal cultures

Each version must reference the same specific moment and impact — vary the tone, not the substance.

Step 5: Sincerity Pass

Before finalizing, strip anything that would make it sound like a template:

  • No empty superlatives without a reason attached
  • No praise that could apply to any employee ("hard worker," "team player") unless tied to the specific action
  • Keep it short enough to feel spontaneous — over-long recognition reads as forced

Output Format

  • Structure: Three labeled variations, each ready to copy-paste or read aloud
  • Length: 150–300 words total across all three variations
  • Format: Labeled short blocks (Warm & Personal / Punchy & Public / Straight & Professional), each 2–5 sentences
  • Sections: Brief one-line note on which variation fits the stated channel → the three variations
  • Tone: Sincere, specific, human — the way a well-liked GM actually talks to their crew, never corporate-HR

Quality Checklist

Before delivering output, verify:

  • [ ] Every variation names the specific behavior — not a generic trait
  • [ ] Every variation states a concrete impact (guest, team, standard, or reliability)
  • [ ] Three distinct tone variations are present and genuinely different in voice
  • [ ] No empty superlatives appear without a reason attached
  • [ ] The team member's name and role are used naturally, not slotted in mechanically
  • [ ] Each variation is short enough to feel spontaneous (2–5 sentences)

Notes

  • The single biggest lever for sincerity is specificity — a message that references the exact table, shift, or moment always beats one that praises a quality.
  • Public recognition motivates most people; a few prefer private praise. If in doubt for a reserved team member, lead with the 1:1 variation.
  • Recognizing a repeated behavior ("you do this every Friday") is one of the most effective retention tools a restaurant leader has — it tells the person their consistency is seen.
  • If the manager only gives you a vague behavior ("she's great"), ask one question: "What's one specific thing she did this week that made you want to recognize her?"

How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

Installing in Claude Code:

  • ~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
  • <your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:

  1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
  2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills