Employee recognition ideas open your mind to various ways designed to acknowledge the efforts or accomplishments of employees in your company or organization.
You may be wondering about the kinds of ideas you can come up with to properly recognize your employees, maybe your sister companies and organizations are beating you at the game and you feel a bit threatened that you may lose your best hands to the competition, well, worry no more.
We are going to put you through amazing ideas that are crucial to ensuring a smooth working experience for your employees.
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What is Employee recognition?
Employee recognition is, at its core, the open acknowledgment and articulated appreciation for employees’ contributions to their organization.
Employee recognition is seen as a company’s act of acknowledging their staff not just for a general effort made but for exceeding expectations on a particular task.
Asides from the beautiful ideas which we will mention in our subsequent paragraphs, employees do appreciate recognitions that will boost their positive mindset toward the work set before them.
Imagine having employees who toil the throughout the night to get a project done and it turns out successful, and they do not receive any recognition or appreciation aside from their monthly payment. You will agree with me that this will be a big turn-off to the employees and such energy may not be applied in the next project.
Employee Recognition ideas are backed up by programs set up to monitor each staff’s performance.
Phases of Employee Recognition
Employee Recognition comes in different phases, they can be done yearly or monthly.
However, one does not need to wait that long knowing the power that comes with consistency.
Daily affirmation and recognition of your employee’s efforts consistently will help boost their morale to perform daily tasks and not just wait until a big project is given
This has made it easy to divide employee recognition to be either
- Specific
Employee recognition can be specific in the sense that as a company you do not just make a general appreciation to everyone like “thanks”.
But then you set out an outstanding work done outside what was expected.
- Immediate
It must be Immediate in the sense that it shouldn’t take long before recognition is made.
When an employee produces high-quality work, he or she should be recognized right away.
If you wait too long between positive action and reward and recognition, it loses its impact and the individual will forget why they were rewarded initially in the place.
- Regular
As already mentioned, Employee gratitude can’t be demonstrated once a year. Employee recognition must be given consistently for it to be effective.
Research on staff from different companies, the majority view was that they wanted to be recognized for trying new things even if they fail and living the company’s values.
This does not imply that you must show some appreciation on a regular basis, as this may reduce the impact, but you ought to make efforts at least quarterly.
Types of Employee Recognition
Asides from Getting inspiration For employee Recognition there are different types of employee recognition.
- Bonuses
- Employee Promotions
- Verbal praise
- Written praise
- Bonuses
Why is Employee Recognition Important in your Company
- It creates an unending bond between the organization and its employees
When hiring managers to employ workers, they must not only train them but also encourage them to continue performing their duties to the best of their abilities.
Employee retention is frequently associated with decreased productivity and morale. Praising your employees, on the other hand, gives them the inspiration they need to stay on the job.
It also prevents your employees from leaving to work for a competitor.
- Boost Morale
Employee Recognition breeds value, respect, and appreciation.
Holding employees in high regard and commending them for their efforts makes them feel good about their acting skills, improves their mood, and can lead to increased job satisfaction.
Furthermore, it frequently leads to increased productivity and creativity.
- They can improve employee engagement
Putting employee recognition ideas into consideration can improve employee engagement. This includes Improvement in productivity or work performance
When you compliment an employee for their work and effort, you’re telling them that they’re a good fit for their role and the company.
Co-founder and CEO of “Bonusly” Raphael Crawford-Marks describe employee engagement:
“Engaged employees are typically described as passionate, committed, and enthusiastic not just about their job, but the company they work for and its overall mission and goals. An engaged employee is aware of both immediate, tactical goals, as well as long-term, strategic ones, and proactively work to advance both.”
This motivates them to perform their duties well in the future. Their happiness also leads to greater productivity which can help a company’s profitability and allows it to reach its goals.
- Increases sense of purpose
Recognizing employees’ efforts and their contributions to the team fosters a sense of purpose.
This level of transparency assists employees in understanding how their work contributes to the larger picture of the organization and how their efforts are valued.
We are motivated as humans when we know how our work benefits others. This concept applies to everything from working toward a company’s overall mission to encouraging cross-team collaboration.
Essentially, it allows them to see how their work actively or passively contributes to the success of the company. Knowing that their work has an impact motivates them and improves productivity.
Beautiful Employee Recognition Ideas
Here are 11 beautiful and amazing Employee Recognition Ideas:
- A day off
Giving your employee’s a day off or two after a hectic project will definitely not be a bad idea.
Take into account an in-kind or monetary contribution to recognize the employee’s efforts.
Send an email to the team with a brief clip declaring the day off and commending everyone for their efforts.
The video will prevent the announcement from being lost in the inbox. Also, a brief video may feel far more personal than a few lines of message text.
- Monthly Praise Emails
You can express your gratitude to your employees not only verbally, but also in writing. Writing thank-you notes, in particular, shows your appreciation while also offering tangible proof of your contributions.
You can also send a thank-you email instead of a handwritten note to your employees; however, a handwritten note demonstrates extra effort on your part. You can also add your own originality and customization.
Employees appreciate not only this type of praise but also the time you took to write the note yourself.
- value-based awards.
Provide a monthly or quarterly company award in which the leadership group selects an employee who demonstrates the organization’s values.
It will not only make your staff feel more motivated with the goal, but it will also ensure that everyone is on the same page.
- Company Branded Gift
As an employer, you can provide company-branded gifts such as t-shirts, T-shirts, bags, or coffee mugs to your employees.
This not only serves as a reward for their efforts but also elevates brand recognition when people from outside your firm see them wearing company-branded swag.
- Out to lunch
Allow your employees to choose the location for lunch. Try to keep work-related conversations to a minimum. utilize this opportunity to learn more about their interests and hobbies outside of work.
- Core value call-out
Every company has its Core values that are used as a guide to dictate the behavior of each staff or employee, therefore, hosting a “core value call-out” in an all-team meeting is a great employee recognition idea.
Managers identify an outstanding employee that has exhibited these core values via his/her conduct and they can be rewarded with a gift card or a larger price.
- Publish a yearbook.
Publishing a yearbook is an intelligent employee recognition idea.
This is a permanent way of showcasing employees to the world for their work over the months.
- Shout out to employees on social media
A shout to an employee for the week or for the month is a great way of improving the act of recognizing an employee.
This does not just boost the said employee or staff, but this will motivate other staff to work harder.
I mean who doesn’t want to be on the Company’s Social Media
- Give LinkedIn recommendations
Linkedin recommendations are a great employee recognition idea. If you have an employee who is great and highly talented with a particular skill, the company’s recommendation will help boost such an employee’s LinkedIn profile.
- Increase in Salary
Increment in salary can also boost employees’ morale, especially for long-standing employees who have served the company for years without a salary increase.
- Work anniversaries and team birthdays
Making your employees feel very special on their big day is a great way to recognize them.
Conclusion
Organizations frequently make the mistake of expressing gratitude for the wrong things.
It’s easy to become engrossed in day-to-day tasks. Recognition that is frequent and visible reassures everyone that they are all working toward a common goal.
Aside from business outcomes, people overwhelmingly desire to be acknowledged for slight actions that they perform on a daily basis but often go unnoticed.
Businesses are increasingly instituting and re-evaluating Employee recognition Ideas in light of this. When used correctly, they can improve employee engagement, reduce turnover, boost productivity, build confidence, and foster a sense of purpose.
