The desire for recognition is natural and a strong driver of employee motivation. In fact, in a Nectar survey, 81.9% of employees say that recognition of their contributions improves their engagement, and another 71% say they would be less likely to leave their organization if they were recognized more frequently.
Having a strong employee recognition program is more than just a ‘feel-good’ initiative; it is a practice that can strengthen your company’s overall culture and performance.
Creating Your Recognition Program
Because your recognition program is for your employees, involve them in the process of designing it so it will be far more likely to resonate with them. Avoid creating a plan in a vacuum or taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
Gather input from your different departments and roles, as your crew members can be driven by different types of recognition than managers and office staff. Discuss the frequency you want to recognize employees. It could be on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis, but however often you decide to structure your program, make sure it is something you can be consistent with.
Also, ensure the program is aligned with your core values so it can help recognize and reinforce those behaviors.
For instance, Environmental Management, Inc. (EMI), based in Plain City, Ohio, created a safety champion program that encourages team members to focus on safety. Managers nominate employees on a weekly basis, and the employees with the highest rating from each department are named the monthly safety champion, and each receives a $100 gift card and a certificate of safety excellence.
At the end of the year, all the monthly winners have the opportunity to be voted the grand safety champion. The winner receives $1,000 and a glass-encased ring with the year and ‘Grand Safety Champ’ inscribed on it.
Meanwhile, Ground Works Land Design, based in Cleveland, Ohio, rewards any employee who is mentioned in a positive Google review with $100 in cash during their Monday morning meeting.
Making Recognition Meaningful
To ensure your recognition program is personal and meaningful, it’s best to focus on specific behaviors or contributions rather than a generic ‘good job.’
Train your leaders to recognize what motivates and means the most to their different team members. For instance, some may enjoy a monetary reward while others may appreciate extra PTO more. Even if employees like cash, you can make it more personal by giving them a gift card to one of their favorite restaurants.
You can also structure your program where employees are rewarded and can pick and choose what reward they’d like the most. For example, you could award employees with culture coins worth different amounts when they show initiative, demonstrate integrity, or deliver consistent quality work. These can then be saved up and spent on PTO, company swag or dinner with the team.
Stay Green, Inc., based in Santa Clarita, California, has a program called ‘Gotcha’ where they catch someone doing something intentionally right for the client. These employees are then rewarded with ‘gotcha bucks’ that they can accumulate and redeem prizes at different dollar amounts.
Others may find more validation by being publicly recognized in front of their peers or receiving a handwritten note in private. What matters is taking time to understand what drives your various staff members.
Ensuring Your Program Can Go The Distance
If you want your recognition program to be truly successful, it needs to be something you’re willing to commit to, rather than only do sporadically.
Additionally, the program needs to be easy and accessible to ensure your team participates. If your managers find it a chore to nominate winners every week, it is far less likely they will take the time to do so. Stress to them it isn’t something they should just check the box on.
Develop clear criteria for your program to avoid favoritism and make sure your team is recognizing small wins along with the more major milestones. Also, it’s a good idea to balance your recognition program between rewarding teams and individuals.
One way to keep your recognition program fresh is to rotate the themes on a quarterly basis so that as the seasons change, the team’s focus shifts as well.
Track your metrics so you have hard data on who is being nominated the most and how it is impacting employee engagement. Review your program annually to see if there are any ways to increase engagement. Don’t be afraid to fine-tune your program if it seems it is only highlighting the achievements of some or not engaging all your staff.
