Employees would work harder if their efforts were recognized in a better way. The best employee recognition programs refers to employee needs and align with company values. Which have an effective influence on your firm’s bottom line.
When employer acknowledge employees work, they put more efforts to their work and responsibilities. Employee recognition helps to:
- Retain top talent
- Increase employee engagement
- Encourage high performance
Employees who don’t feel recognized can hardly describe what makes their workplace great
Employees who don’t feel appreciated at work responded to the same question with phrases such as “plays favouritism”, indicating there isn’t much that makes their workplace better. The only positive theme was “match company benefits.”
When asked what would make their company better, the employees who felt unrecognized responded with phrases that indicated feelings of unfair and a manipulative work environment. Words like rampant favouritism, scare tactics, stop eliminating were most common among the unrecognized employees.
How to create a purposeful employee recognition culture
Many clients, even those with strong company cultures, face problems when it comes to team and individual employee recognition.
While there is no universal program for every organization, there are many key points of meaningful employee recognition that all supervisors can use.
Make employee recognition a priority .Recognition that arrives periodically after the fact isn’t nearly as meaningful as recognition received promptly.
Recognition is more meaningful when it is tied to a specific achievements or business aim.
Types of Employee Recognition
- Micro Recognition
- Informal Recognition
- Formal Recognition
Micro recognition
Micro recognition, also known as day-to-day recognition, is periodically take place.
This includes sending notes, giving cards, posting on notice boards, or whatever you can do to appreciate employees fairly quickly and easily.
Micro recognition is the flawless way to support organizational values on a regular basis and make employees feel recognized without requiring a ton of time and efforts.
Informal recognition
Informal recognition is given to individuals or teams for completing certain milestones, when they achieve goals, on the successful completion of a particular project or when client give bonus or a good rating on the project.
This may be given in the form of a small pizza party, Lunch to the whole team, a trip to the pub for happy hour or a short leave to the employees
Informal recognition doesn’t mandatory to happen on day to day bases. But also it is not as organized as formal recognition programs.
Formal recognition
Eventually, formal recognition is more structured. It involves a proper nomination and selection procedure or a criteria and a ceremony or special event.
Formal recognition programs happen less frequently once or twice in a year and typically requisite a huge budget and more planning. No matter what recognition method you’re using, if you’re using all three the above types make sure the recognition must be meaningful for your employees.
Employee Recognition Examples or Ideas
Now that you understand how important meaningful recognition is, below are the few employee recognition ideas
1. Team lunch party
Team who have completed certain project on a specific time may reward. All the team members who are involved in the project or work can go on a treat. This is the best way to spend time with the seniors and with the team members to know each other in a better way.
2. Shout out your best employees on social media
Use your company’s Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to recognize your employees in a public.
Social recognition is a prominent way to share how proud you are of your employees. And it also helps build your company brand by putting your work and ethics on display for the world to see.
Employees who are recognized are likely to share social recognition posts with their followers, creating brand that represent your organization well.
While recognizing employees on your social channels, highlight their names, their job role, what they’ve done to deserve recognition, how it impacted the organization and also tag their social media profiles
3. Recognize hard work with an off-site day
Sometimes teams just need a little change in their routine to boost engagement and productivity. Plan an off-site day at a cafeteria or any safe location that meets your team’s needs.
One imperative thing is that the employee must know that for what reason they are being recognized or appreciated for. An off-site is a way to acknowledge the half-way mark and appreciate them for their great work so far.
4. Say it with a sticky note
A handwritten note can add a positive impact. Leave a handwritten note saying thank you and put the sticky note on their work station and also write the reason why you’re thanking them. When they come into work the next day, it would be a pleasant surprise.
Be sure your message is, specific to the employee’s action and result in organization’s operations and ethics.
5. Recognize employees with a rotating trophy
Find a trophy that you can showcase to other employees. Those who have performed steady in the whole year or on the monthly bases. Fix a criteria on the bases of which monthly and yearly rewards and recoginition can be given.
Write a note on a card about why the employee has earned it with the trophy explaining what it stands for. Be sure their colleagues should know why they received it, too!
During the monthly team meeting, let other employees follow a similar criteria and hand it off to the next person who deserves the award.
6. Celebrate employee appreciation day
National Employee Appreciation Day is celebrated every year on the first Friday of March. It’s the perfect chance to show your employees just how much they important to you.
You can celebrate the event with food, team-building games, contests, and other activities.
Ask your employees about their thoughts via a suggestion box, and align activities with your company culture.
7. Create an employee wall of fame
Photos help paint a picture that words can’t. Plus, they create a positive impact and eagerness between other staff to showcase their skills and take that place.
A wall of fame is a way to spot the accomplishments of both individuals and teams and it’s a special way to put your culture on display for all to see.
Frame photos of your employee’s achievements or take candid shots of them hard at work. Encourage other team mates to post notes of gratitude for featured employees around their photos.
8. Make them a part of the managing process
Talking about making employees feel appreciated, a great way to do so is by involving them in the decision-making process, whenever possible.
To elaborate, ask their opinion during decisions like introducing new technology or a specific project. This will make them feel valued and a part of your business and not just an employee.
Take Employee Recognition to the Next Level
While some of these employee recognition ideas may seem relatively inconsequential, it is a kind of variety of recognition that keeps employees engaged towards their work and become more productive.
Tekki Web Solutions try different employee recognition strategies to make their employee appreciated and which company must aware of what their employees want in order to make more meaningful efforts. The motto of the company is to keep its employees happy and in return, they will take care of the company’s clients.
Your employees will always appreciate you taking the time to say, “I see you and I appreciate you,” and your organization’s bottom line will benefit because of these efforts.
