What’s so important about implementing an employee recognition program?
Well, everything. Companies that prioritize recognition are prioritizing the values that make up a successful company.
1. It fosters a culture of intentional communication.
2. It improves retention of key employees and is valuable in a recruiting strategy.
3. It reinforces the company’s values.
How do you implement a successful employee recognition program?
It doesn’t matter if your company has 500 or 5 employees, a program is an incredible value-add in creating a professional, effective, and positive company. People should look forward to working at your company; an employee recognition is one way to ensure people are delivering results and enjoying their position. In a survey by CareerBuilder it was found that 50 percent of employees believe turnover would decrease if their managers did a better job of acknowledging their efforts.
But maybe you’re a business owner that has tried to reward employee performance before. But it didn’t quite go the way you anticipated. It may have resulted in complaining, confusion, or dissatisfaction.
In truth, most business owners don’t know how to create an effective recognition experience. It’s time to expand and truly understand how people want to be recognized. Build a process of how recognition works within your company office.
To create a system that rewards a job well done, keep these things in mind:
A recognition system is composed of providing informal and formal recognition.
Informal recognition consists of two approaches. The first is praise. It’s easy to call out bad behavior, but it’s important to reinforce good work as well. Acknowledging a person’s efforts can be given any point during a project lifecycle. Be sure to go beyond, “Good job”. What’s key is to be specific. Tell them how their work is impacting the company for the better. “Your attention to SEO has brought in over 3,000 new web visitors, which is increasing sign up rates. Great work”. Give out praise that’s personalized.
Another informal way of recognizing employee work is to enact real gestures.
Think of it like surprising your team with a catered lunch after they’ve worked a grueling project. Be careful though. Make sure employees see this as a special reward, rather than as entitlement. Do this by mixing up frequencies and the rewards themselves. Instead of lunch, give out tickets to the local basketball game, or give time off. These gestures tell your employees you see their hard work and they deserve a reward.
The formal manner of rewarding great work involves public awards.
It may involve “Employee of the Year” or a bonus. These rewards usually have some sort of policy or legal stipulations that a deserving employee has followed. For example, if the company set a goal for their sales team to deliver 3 new clients within 3 months, the first to accomplish the goal would get a certain reward. It’s important to announce these accomplishments at company events or meetings. Though be careful: make sure you announce everyone that delivered or contributed. Nothing loses morale faster than the boss forgetting one person’s efforts.
It’s important to gauge the status quo in your company. You may think you’re doing a fantastic job in observing employee engagement, but your co-workers may feel the opposite. It’s always best to get the lay of the land. An employee recognition feedback survey is just what the doctor ordered.