Category All, Best Practices Top Ways to Recognize Your Employees’ Hard Work Employee recognition has many benefits for employees and employers alike. Find out what are the top ways to recognize your employees’ hard work. April 3, 2020 By Guest Author Making it a habit to acknowledge your employee’s efforts can be a big game-changer for your employee’s morale. In fact, Forbes reports that nearly 90% of employees who feel appreciated by their boss tend to have higher levels of trust in that team leader. While it may be nice to make a huge announcement or host a grand party to show your employees’ appreciation, recognizing their hard work can come in small yet meaningful ways, too. 📚 Take a look at our Employee Recognition Playbook to learn about how to implement a successful employee recognition program. Hand out an Effective Employee of the Month Award The employee of the month award is a tried-and-tested formula. But if you present this award in an uninspiring way – simply handing out in a plain piece of paper, for example, your employees will view it as a boring office routine. It’s key that you put an exciting twist on it so it can be an incentive that they actually want to work towards. After all, the award is celebration, so try to make it as fun as possible. First, you can start by using an eye-catching Employee of the month template. This way, they have more reason to put it on their desk. Another way to keep things exciting is by changing the category every month. One month can be “Most Hardworking Employee,” while the next can be “Most Inspiring Worker.” Lastly, you can try getting your employees involved by inviting them to nominate the candidates they believe are most deserving. Not only will this way of employee recognition enhance your company culture, but it also ensures that no one is left behind. 📚 You can download these editable Employee of the Month templates to award your employees. Display Your Employees’ Appreciation by Showing Them Off In most company websites or social media pages, the only employees shown are those that at the executive level. While they’re indeed fundamental figures of the organization who understand the company message, it’s equally important that your staff members take part it in sharing the spirit as well. You can put up your employee of the month awardee on the homepage or set up a section that highlights some of the best work from your staff. Feel free to pair it with a meaningful appreciation letter. When you show off your staff online, you’ll be hitting two birds with one stone — not only will they feel recognized by the company, but they’ll have something nice to share with their family and friends. 📚 Find out why employee recognition is crucial for company’s success. Host Creative Team-Building Activities Team-building activities tend to get a bad rap when they’re executed poorly — think of boring corporate videos and unimaginative games. Despite this, they’re crucial for cultivating strong relationships in the workplace, which makes team-building activities perfect for your employee recognition program. To truly reap the benefits, you should conduct team-building activities that foster creativity. You can encourage creativity with innovative employee recognition ideas as well. Team building activities will naturally allow your employees to be more in sync and facilitate effective communication. Take your team-building event up a notch by hosting activities that allow employees to let their creativity shine through. In fact, a list of team building activities by Comeet stresses the importance of team-building activities when it comes to honing your employees’ talents. Games like Shark Tank, for instance, can inspire innovation like never before. Other activities you can do are having cook-offs or visiting an escape room together. Ultimately, you want to provide employees with a warm and friendly environment to think outside the box, while giving them opportunities to show off their other talents. Personalize Your Employees’ Rewards To be an empowering leader, your employees must feel genuinely recognized by you. Whether it’s an award at a company event or a token gesture during team building, veer away from generic gift cards, and go for a prize that relates to their personality, instead. This can help you significantly improve your employee experience. Sincerity goes a long way in company culture, which is why you must take the time to get to know your employees. Try finding out what their hobbies are, or what they do in their spare time. Your workers will notice if the prize has been thoughtfully selected and appreciate the reward even more. That way, employee recognition will boost your employee motivation and productivity. Appreciate Your Employees with a Shoutout Chances are that your business uses an online messaging system like Slack or Microsoft Teams to stay in touch with one another. So why not use it to acknowledge an employee’s excellent output? It doesn’t even have to be a lengthy paragraph, because a simple shoutout in the group chat can do a world of good for their self-esteem. You can look at these employee appreciation messages for inspiration. Alternatively, you can create a system where you give a shoutout to an employee every week to show your workers that you value their efforts. After all, The Harvard Business Review states that being acknowledged more is often a good motivator. If you want to make sure each member to feels like they’re part of the team, ask them to join in congratulating their co-worker. This is a great way to sustain employee engagement, thanks to the positive workplace environment you’re cultivating. Recognize Your Employees with a Simple Note Although your employees’ hard work definitely deserves to be recognized, it’s important to keep in mind that some of them might prefer a much simpler celebration. For instance, if you have staff members who are introverted, they could feel uncomfortable if their work is praised all over the workplace. Instead of grand gestures, a simple yet effective way to show your appreciation for soft-spoken employees is by leaving them a hand-written note on their desk or directly sending them an online message. You can easily appreciate your employees with our Recognition and Reward platform JobPts. Click below to take a tour. Appreciate your employees every day with JobPts. Read more Say Thank You How often do you say “thank you” to your employees? Do you only express gratitude when they submit a successful task? Or do you say thanks only when you’re in a good mood? While it may be two simple words, saying “thank you” is one of the most powerful ways to increase your employee appreciation because it shows that you respect them and their work, too. And don’t forget to be sincere when you give gratitude, whether it’s looking them in the eye or highlighting a specific part of their project. This is because a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology has found that employee productivity increased when they engaged in positive social interactions with their manager. All in all, an attitude of gratitude is key to effective communication. Important Facts to Know About Employee Appreciation In this blog, you have learnt about the importance of incentivizing and appreciating your employees’ work. As this has a direct impact on employee morale, wellbeing, satisfaction, motivation and, therefore, business success, many employers are now heavily investing in new employee recognition and rewards programs. When trying to prove the ROI of your employee recognition and rewards program, the best way to go is to show statistics from existing research in the business world. This way, it is much easier to get the executives’ buy-in regarding the importance of building a culture of appreciation at your organization. Take a look now at some of the most important facts and statistics about employee rewards and recognition. If you are looking for a detailed step-to-step guide that can help you build a successful employee recognition program, look no further! Get our Employee Recognition Playbook and start the positive changes in your company. v Other Creative Ways to Recognize Employees Since it is proven that employee recognition boosts employee productivity and decreases employee turnover, you can easily implement some of the ideas listed above. However, you can also get in touch with us to see how to implement a full-scale Recognition and Reward program in your company. Nevertheless, there are many more employee appreciation ideas you can use to showcase your employee recognition. Take a pick from a list below. Lunch with CEO Best Parking Space Celebration cake Tickets to an event Leave early Day off Achievement trophy Take a look at JobPts, our Recognition and Reward Platform, and see how you can implement a recognition program in your company. Read more AUTHOR BIO: Amanda Coles is an Austin-based freelance human resources writer with a fascination for how company culture continues to shape how businesses function. When she’s not busy working, you can find Amanda at home tending to her indoor garden or unwinding at the porch with her dog, Brady.
