Predictive Success Blog

Employee recognition is a crucial component of efficient management, yet managers frequently neglect it in favor of other duties on their busy schedules. It’s crucial that your staff understands that their efforts have been noticed and acknowledged as they work to bring their valuable skills, insight, and ideas to the table. Nowadays, with the competition for talent heating up, the way companies embed an employee recognition culture in their workplace is more important than ever. Whether your company has an employee recognition program in place or not, here’s your full guide to integrating employee recognition into your workplace culture.

 1. What is employee recognition at work?

All the ways an organization expresses gratitude for the contributions of its personnel are referred to as employee recognition. This could be for work, conduct, or outcomes that support the objectives or values of the company. Examples of such things are:

• Going above and beyond job position’s roles and duties
• Achieving milestones like tenure
• Showing generosity and compassion to colleagues
• Showing creativity and critical thinking for problem-solution
• Resourcefulness and strategic thinking
• Positivity, dedication, and loyalty to the firm

2. What are the different types of employee recognition?

To build a culture of employee recognition, you should first familiarize yourself with the different types of employee appreciation. Here is a quick summary of the 3 main categories of employee recognition that your company should include to improve your employees’ experience:

• Formal recognition

Formal acknowledgment comprises several expressions of recognition that companies have used for decades. Everything from anniversary parties to positive performance assessments to bonuses and increases is included in this type of employee recognition. Even though formal acknowledgment is no longer sufficient on its own, it’s still crucial.

• Social recognition

Employees recognizing and empowering one another for excellent work is known as social recognition or peer-to-peer appreciation. It is a motivating factor, and when it gets ingrained in a company’s culture, it supports a diverse and cooperative workplace.

• Monetary recognition

Employees are given tangible confirmation that their work is appreciated when they are rewarded. Traditional incentives like bonuses and increases are a part of monetary recognition, but managers can also go above and beyond to offer personalized rewards.

3. Why is recognition important?

• Employee recognition benefits company performance

People feel a sense of pride and purpose after getting recognition, and it also satisfies our most fundamental human desire to feel appreciated. Employees in the modern era bring their entire selves to the workplace and give it their all, not just with their technical abilities but also with their enthusiasm and creativity. A recent survey showed that 80% of employees are likely to work even harder when they feel appreciated. Simply said, individuals care about their work, and they want to feel valued by both their team and their employer.

• Recognition of staff decreases employee turnover

Employee turnover is expensive, and talent retention is critical for your company’s growth. Luckily, recognition of staff is better value for money than constantly replacing them. Not to mention, hiring different people for the same position will hinder your business’s growth. With employee recognition, your promises during recruitment will be more in line with reality, and you’ll start saving time and money spent on constantly finding new people.

• Engagement increases when you recognize and reward employees

Many businesses have trouble with employee engagement. It’s challenging to maintain your employees’ enthusiasm for their work when the novelty has worn off and they have already shown their skills and talents proving that they are fit for this job. Employee recognition and rewards create a higher level of engagement at work, which leads to more initiative. They are likely to offer suggestions for improvement, offer insightful feedback, and take greater initiative and responsibility. This is the beginning to creating a close-knit community of workers, which is a priceless asset for any business.

• Employee recognition benefits the workplace culture and boosts morale

Employee recognition makes powerful use of the potent weapon known as positive reinforcement. People are more likely to carry on in the same manner when they feel recognized for the work they perform and acknowledged for particular techniques or benchmarks, resulting in a more motivated staff. Not to mention, employees feel cared for by the company when executives take the time to acknowledge those who perform well. This strengthens the bonds between managers and their teams and promotes the company’s overall culture. 

4. How to recognize employees effectively?

 Make the recognition of staff personal and specific

When it is connected to a specific success or business goal, recognition has additional meaning. Nothing could be more detrimental than misrepresenting the facts and recognizing someone for generic effort while neglecting specific accomplishments. Use encouraging and specific language with the employee to demonstrate that you truly see what they have accomplished and how challenging the work was.

Another point to consider is that recognition has more significance if it can be given in accordance with the recipient’s interests. So, as challenging as it may seem, it’s essential to match the reward with the employee’s needs and interests.

• Provide equal opportunities for recognition at work

Too often, employee recognition is limited to job positions that are often considered more valuable than others. Due to the nature of their employment or lower standards for some types of work, some employees are unable to reach their full potential. For instance, a company is more likely to acknowledge a salesperson as their job has a direct effect on the company’s performance than recognizing the role of other staff members such as labor workers, secretaries, and accountants.

It’s important to recognize and reward employees through all sectors of your business and provide opportunities for increased responsibility, training for career promotion, and cross-training in other firm functions.

• Make the recognition of staff an opportunity to connect the dots

When you take the effort to connect the recognition of staff and their role to the overall company’s strategy and goals, it makes your employee recognition culture a win-win situation. The company gains from a better return on investment for resources used for appreciation as acknowledging the role of its employees makes them aware of exactly how they are contributing to the long-term success of the organization.

This helps your employees see the bigger picture of every task and responsibility they are assigned and helps to create a culture of appreciation by getting everyone engaged in the same company goals.

 Recognize and reward employees in a timely manner

Timing is key when it comes to employee recognition at work. Delaying recognition results in a loss of intrinsic value as the amount of time from when the event or behavior occurred increases.

Providing timely recognition of staff behavior or actions as soon as they occur promotes them and also increases the likelihood of your employees repeating them in the future. Some businesses like to designate a particular day for employee appreciation. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to make sure that these occur frequently because waiting too long can lower employee motivation.

5. What are ways to recognize and reward employees?

You can express your recognition for your staff members by giving them verbal compliments, monetary rewards, unique presents, and rewarding events. Learning how your employees prefer to be acknowledged is key when you’re choosing the type of employee recognition to use on a regular basis. Here are some examples of how companies are integrating employee recognition into their workplace:

• Setting up an employee recognition wall

Companies create an employee recognition wall where individuals can leave messages of gratitude for one another to be motivated to continue their hard work and challenge others to put in more effort so they too can be recognized as well.

• Create a dedicated calendar

Create a calendar of reminders for staff appreciation practices, and important events and allow employees to also add their own.

• Small gestures and rewards

Provide a supply of small rewards that managers can give out when they give team members a little bit of casual praise to elevate informal and everyday recognition.

• Work anniversaries

Celebrating employees’ work anniversaries is an effective method to show your gratitude and appreciation for them and to let them know you value having them as a member of the company’s team.

• Team awards

Teams or departments who consistently provide quality work may be awarded office outings or a day of fun activities.

• Years of service awards

Years of service recognition to help long-tenured staff members keep motivated and inspire new hires to stay dedicated to the position.

• Surprise celebrations

Surprise celebrations for employees who have been performing remarkably well to honor their efforts and services to the company.

• Monetary employee recognition

Monetary employee recognition and rewards such as bonuses, paid training opportunities for career development, extra paid time off, and gift cards.