Every day millions of men and women wake up, get dressed and head off to their jobs. They answer phones, sell merchandise, construct buildings and provide their customers with the services they need. It is important to many of these individuals that they are successful at what they do. Hard workers want to be appreciated and have their efforts recognized. Implementing an employee recognition program can be a good tool to encourage a positive work environment. Effective recognition reinforces the outstanding work that many employees perform which leads to business success. A company’s continued success depends on its employees, yet many employers lack recognition programs.

Making Employee Recognition Effective

An effective employee recognition program should be simple, immediate and have powerful reinforcement. Utilize these tips to ensure the recognition program your company offers will be viewed as motivating and rewarding by your employees:

1. Define which employees are eligible for the recognition program.

2. Design the program to supply the employer and employee with specific information about what behaviors or actions are being rewarded and recognized.  

3. Ensure that the employees who then perform at the level or standard stated in the criteria receive the reward.

4. Make the recognition occur as close to the performance of the actions as possible, so the recognition reinforces the behavior the employer wants to encourage.

Supervisors who want to recognize an individual or a team’s non-specific accomplishments should reward their employees randomly, using the element of surprise. This keeps the reward from becoming expected. For example, if you thank a manufacturing group every time they make customer deliveries on time with a lunch, gradually the lunch becomes a “given” and no longer a reward.

Forms of Employee Recognition

There are many kinds of recognition from which to choose.  One of the easiest, most effective and under-utilized forms of recognition is praise. Many supervisors seem to believe that praising their employees regularly will somehow diminish the value of the praise. This is misguided. It is nearly impossible to provide too much positive feedback to deserving employees.

There are many great ways to recognize your employees. Using a combination of options will keep your employee recognition program fresh. Here are a few ideas:

• Create an award for employees who go “Above & Beyond the Call of Duty”. As the prize, offer logo items such as a t-shirt or mug.

• Have employees vote for the top Manager, Supervisor or Employee. The reward could be a special parking space, engraved plaque or a cash reward.

• Give employees who recruit new employees a cash bonus.

•  Present employees achieving specified goals with an engraved pen set. Make it extra special by having the president or supervisor present it.

• Hold a raffle for members of an outstanding work group and award cash or gift certificates.

• Reward all the employees at once by celebrating the company’s success with a party.  Highlight individual awards with an program during the event and present employees with rewards at that time.

• Award gift certificates to fun restaurants

• Give a family gift set of 4 or 5 movie tickets

• Utilize local discount programs such as those available for the State Fair, the Renaissance Festival, Valley Fair, Knotts Camp Snoopy and give away pairs and packages of tickets.

• Create a “Free day with pay” certificate and award it to allow an extra day of vacation

Summary

When a company remembers to take care of its employees’ need for recognition, appreciation and the occasional round of applause, they create the vital and energized workplace that is needed in order to succeed in the challenging world of business today. These programs make employees feel good and encourage them to stay on board and keep trying. They provide inspiration and a clear idea of what the company expects of them. Employee recognition is not just a luxury for companies that can afford it. In fact, with the profitable returns that come from the emphasis on recognition, it is more than likely a company cannot afford to go without it.

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Past articles are available to read here.