Share the Wealth Published April 22, 2010 By Lt. Col. Joe Santos 906th Air Refueling Squadron commander SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- In any organization, there are good, great, and excellent Airmen. Of course we can debate the "ratings" I've just assigned, but work with me. The excellent Airmen are always easy to identify. These are the individuals who may work longer hours, volunteer for the tough tasks, and simply get things done quickly, while making it look easy; they simply "float to the top" and are considered to be the "cream of the crop." As such, supervisors, try to take care of these Airmen by recognizing them in monthly, quarterly, and yearly awards. But it should not be at the expense of the rest of our valued Airmen. How many times can the same individual be recognized for outstanding achievement? The answer is, "as often as the supervisor wants." We've all seen it, the same person recognized as the monthly or quarterly awards winner time and time again. And then the same individual gets put in for the annual awards or whatever other "good deal" comes along during the year. But what's the cost to the rest of the hard working Airmen in the organization, and what does this do to morale? Every Airman needs to be valued because they are all essential to perform the mission. And when we openly recognize the same folks over and over again, it sends a negative message to the rest of our Airmen that we don't value their contribution to the organization and mission. The Airman who comes to work and gives their best effort day in and day out is just as valuable as the one or two squadron superstars. In fact, I could argue they are more important because the good and great Airmen make up the vast majority of our units. Don't be fooled into taking care of the few at the expense of the many, because it can create the unintended consequence of undervaluing the performance of our people while diminishing morale at the same time. As supervisors, we need to "value" every Airman, for they are our greatest resource, and we need every one of them to get the mission done. Share the wealth of recognition. It goes a long way to show we value every Airman.