What is the Best Way to Recognize Employees?
What is the best way to recognize employees?
Employee recognition is a powerful way to boost morale, retain talent and decrease employee turnover. It can also help to create a healthy work environment by encouraging teamwork, collaboration and shared responsibility.
A strong and active workforce is essential to any business, but it can be difficult to build and maintain high levels of engagement with a group of people that are often distributed across multiple locations and time zones. To ensure that your company remains competitive and thrives, you need to make a concerted effort to recognize employees whenever they do something that goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Whether it’s a major milestone or a small accomplishment, employees are naturally motivated when someone sees them or their work as important to the company. However, employee recognition is a delicate art, as it needs to be tailored to the individual and their personal preferences.
Some employees prefer a public thank you, while others appreciate more quiet recognition. Take the time to get to know your employees before creating a program so you can tailor it to their specific preferences and make sure that every person gets the praise they deserve.
Keep it timely
When an employee does something positive, they need to be rewarded immediately in order for them to feel appreciated and continue to improve their performance. Otherwise, the recognition will lose meaning and become less effective.
Sending an employee a thank you note or gift card to their home is a simple but meaningful gesture that can have a big impact on morale. Similarly, leaving a card on an employee’s desk or ordering a branded card can also be a great touch.
Showing appreciation for a small accomplishment can be especially helpful to your team if they are working remotely and don’t get to see each other as much as they would like. Keeping a list of the things your team has accomplished and praising them for these moments can help to reinforce the bond between employees, making them more likely to support each other in times of need.
Rewarding a team member who has gone above and beyond can be as simple as sending them a quick email or shouting them out in front of the whole company at an all-hands meeting. It’s a simple way to acknowledge a team member for their hard work and a great way to encourage them to do better next time!
Displaying a wall of fame
For companies that are predominantly virtual, a ‘wall of fame’ can be as easy as a page on your website or in-house social media. These pages can feature photos and a short description of each individual for their outstanding contribution to the business.
Offering late starts
If you’ve got a few staff members who are particularly dedicated to their work, consider offering them a later start. This can be a real lifesaver in times of busy schedules and can help to alleviate pressure on other members of the team.
