employee-recognition

Employees are the backbone of all companies. There is a direct correlation between the quality of work your employees produce and the success of your company. They play a crucial role in the success or failure of your business. By being able to recognize the role that employees play and appreciate them, you will have played a big role in their motivation. By integrating worker recognition in the company culture, you will have happy employees that feel like they belong. You can therefore expect them to have better career fulfillment and productivity.

How to Boost Employee Recognition and Acknowledgement

1. On the Spot; In the Moment

A good deed is always positive even when it goes unnoticed. Therefore, why not take the chance to appreciate it on the spot when it happens. This is a good way of making the worker feel that their efforts are being appreciated, and you care about their progress.

This is why supervisors should use on the spot acknowledgement on their juniors. When a supervisor is doing their usual rounds in the office or workshop, they should make a point to acknowledge a worker for their efforts, especially in the presence of other colleagues. The action lifts the employee’s moods and encourages them to do even more. As for the other employees, they will realize that a good deed doesn’t go unrewarded and will strive to do more in order to have their moment in the spotlight.

2. Be Authentic

Recognizing an employee is one thing, and the manner in which you do it is another. If you can be able to make worker recognition a crucial part of your organization, you can go even further. You can do so by making the act feel genuine. You may not always have to organize a formal ceremony so that you can endorse a worker, but the simple act of congratulating a member of staff when circumstances allow it is all that you need.

It should be an abrupt thing, an act that wasn’t planned for. These unplanned activities put a smile on the face of a worker because they show that you mean it with the endorsement. Alternatively, you can write a thank you note to an employee or just call them and appreciate them. Such actions show honesty and make employees feel wanted and loved within the company.

3. Engage Your Team

Employees always work in teams and with synergy to achieve the goals of the organization. By allowing them to be part of your worker recognition strategy, you can make them feel more engaged. They are likely to be more motivated to do more than just perform normal office errands; they will be more enthusiastic when interacting with the customers.

You can decide to have the employees choose among themselves who deserves the endorsement for something they have done. Employees can also vote on who they feel deserves the honors. The action brings members of staff together and makes them feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves. The recognized worker enjoys the confidence of both the management and their peers. Colleagues can then engage in their usual activities knowing that someone can vouch for their good work when the time comes.

4. Set Goals and Reward for Achieving Them

Everyone has their plans or order of how they do things. Running an organization is no different as there are standards to maintain, projects to be done, and goals to be achieved. Being in management, you need to set specific goals for your department. The workers shall be in charge of meeting those targets. If you want the performance to be constant, and your team to always perform at their level best every time, you should give them recognition after meeting those goals.

There should be set rewards that can be awarded to every person in the team. If it was a joint effort from different departments, acknowledge the good teamwork. This will keep them focused on future goals. Despite being in different departments, having a goal and rewards to achieve can bring out the best in everyone and unity of purpose. Working together can lead to enjoying the rewards together.

More and more, organizations are rewarding their employees with a physical product, also known as Corporate Awards. While a simple "Thank You" is often great to hear and boost employee morale, physical gifts and products can say so much more.

Common employee gifts and rewards include:

  • Gift cards
  • Engraved plaques, rotating trophies and awards
  • Trophies
  • "Employee of the Month" wall of fame
  • Announcement on your website and social media
  • Catered Lunch
  • Free day off or sick day

Looking for employee recognition ideas? Go to the source!

"More and more companies are coming to us for unique ideas on how reward their employees", says Lou Scalia's Awards owner Rob Comito.

Lou Scalia's Awards specializes in creating personalized and custom awards, trophies, plaques, and more. They're the perfect source for the latest and greatest in employee recognition.

5. It’s the Small Things That Matter

Sometimes the small things are the ones that matter the most. While there are goals to be achieved in an organization, you can also decide to go beyond that. You can be able to expand the scope of what worker acknowledgement means. You can decide to sponsor some of best performing employees to advance their professional qualifications.

You can also do simple things such as recognizing an employee’s birthday or an important day in their life, such as a graduation. This enables the employees to know that the acknowledgement from the management is not just for the big accomplishments, but also for the smallest things that matter the most to them.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways in which we can recognize great achievement by our employees and teams we manage. Knowing how to do it in the best manner is important. Always keep recognizing the good things that your employees do, and you will have consistent good results.

Author's Bio: 

Writer, digital marketing pro., and SEO consultant.