For employees to feel motivated and develop superior work ethics, proper recognition from their respective employers is crucial. Not getting proper recognition is one of the key reasons people leave their job.
The ultimate goal of recognition programs is to bring out the best in the employees and enhance productivity. Moreover, employees expect their workplace to be engaging and enjoyable.
For building a loyal and stable workforce, an organization requires recognition of its employees. However, there are certain factors that must be considered.
Impactful Ways to Recognize Employees
There is a major misconception that employees consider monetary compensation most impactful. Therefore, most organizations consider recognition and awarding programs as expensive.
However, as per the Gallup workplace survey, monetary recognition is not even in the top three recognition categories.
Public acknowledgment, recognition from superiors, obtaining recognition from evaluations are the top three preferable methods of employee recognition.
Publicly celebrating the achievement of employees gives them a well-earned boost to their capability. Moreover, other employees can be inspired by the recognized employees and ask for their help when needed.
At the same time, some introverted employees may feel uncomfortable in public celebrations. The management should consider their issues and recognize them more privately.
When the employees are recognized by the higher-ups, they will feel more visible. Also, often the upper management may not be completely aware of an employee’s potential and hard work. In such cases, peer-to-peer recognition can come in handy.
Some organizations may also prefer private recognition. It allows the manager to focus on the individual and be more elaborate. As a result, it may inspire the employees to be more engaged and positive about their workplace.
Attaching some perks with the recognition can take it up a notch. It can either be monetary or non-monetary. Some examples of simple but effective perks are:
● An additional vacation day
● Taking the employee to lunch
● A coupon for dine-in or have a message with loved ones
● A gift card to buy something nice
● Adjustable work hours
How to Provide Recognition for Achievements?
As you now know ways to recognize employees, now you require them to deliver it. As a matter of fact, delivering recognition is harder than drafting the recognition program. If not done well, it can backfire and create chaos in the workplace.
There are four steps you need to address before delivering the recognition for achievements. They are:
1. Context
First of all, the management is required to identify the achievement, goal, behavior they want to recognize. Give the employees concrete reference points to determine the behavior considerable for recognition.
Give the employees proper examples of the desired behavior. Any vague reverence can interfere with the proper recognition and create confusion among employees. You can provide multiple examples regarding the context of your recognition program.
2. Observation
Rather than stating “thank you” and “good job,” give the detailed behavioral skill that made you recognize the employee. This way, the employee gets the idea of what he’s doing right and what would require more work.
3. Impact
Discuss the impact of the behavior or achievement on the team or company. It will help others to replicate the results. Also, the recognized employees can get a sense of accomplishment and feel more involved with the organization when they know the impact of their work.
4. Next
This is the part where the employer provides the employees insight and encourages them to keep doing the good work. Also, the employer can tell the employee how they can enhance their capabilities and achieve greater goals.
So, here are the four steps to provide recognition to the employees effectively. When you follow these steps, You create a practice of transparency.
When to Provide Recognition?
Recognizing an employee in proper time is quite crucial. It is important to celebrate both small and large accomplishments. However, if not celebrated in proper time, the achievement may lose its significance.
After a successful achievement or completion of a project, recognition can be provided to the employees. Also, recognition should be a regular practice and announced at the moment. In many companies, there are traditional bells and whistles to announce the accomplishments right after the achievement.
Many companies can hold the recognition for various reasons. However, the sooner it is shared, the more effective it gets.
Crafting the recognition may take up some time. However, the management can announce and congratulate the employees right the moment they achieve a new milestone. The official recognition can be provided later with a huge ceremony and feedback. However, company-wide clapping, ringing a bell, or a high-five in the corridor right after the accomplishment will mean more to the employees.
Advantages of Timely Recognition
Employees are the most valuable assets of a company. When the company is keen to acknowledge the achievements and commitments of the employees, it motivates them to perform better.
By recognizing the employees’ success, the organization keeps them aligned with the company culture and values. It also ensures fewer employee turnovers.
When a company can keep the employees satisfied, they will stay with the company for the long run. Therefore, the company can achieve higher benefits from the employees. Also, they can reduce the cost of hiring new employees and use the asset in other improvements.
Therefore, a company should adopt employee recognition programs and deliver them accordingly.
Bottom Line:
For the prosperity of a company, the employees need to be motivated and carry out the company’s best interests. Similarly, it’s the job of the company to bring out the full potential of the employees and apprise them of the work they are doing. Employee recognition is the way to keep the employees happy and inspire them to give their best.
However, without addressing the proper procedure, the whole effort can go in vain. Therefore, the management should be aware of the proper procedure of the recognizing system and act accordingly.
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