Employee recognition is impacting teams’ productivity and helping small to large companies attract and retain talent.
Workhuman found in its 2019 research that only 49% of UK workers are in companies with employee recognition programs. However, the majority of employees believe that such programs boost company culture and productivity.
We will explore why employee recognition is so important in the workplace and give you 10 ideas you can introduce in the office today.
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What Is Employee Recognition and Why Is It So Important?
Employee recognition is a key element of any successful employee engagement strategy. It is defined as an ongoing process of recognising employees for their achievements and behaviours that are directly tied to your company’s values and goals.
A lot of companies have already discovered the power of a strong employee recognition program. In fact, The Employee Experience Index from Workhuman and IBM reported that 83% of employees enhanced their work experience when participating in recognition programs.
Showing appreciation to employees is not a new concept. It is a proven leadership strategy. Organisations use employee recognition programs as an engagement tool to motivate their workforce. Studies show that when employees are recognized for their accomplishments and contributions, they are more engaged, more productive and remain with their employers longer.
Benefits of Employee Recognition Programs
Employees need to be recognised for their arduous work and performance. When you promote recognition culture and professional growth, your team members feel they can make a career at the company.
By awarding and recognising your team members, you can boost morale, increase productivity, and improve employee loyalty. And in these times when turnover rates are costing near £30,000 to replace staff, an employee recognition program is key to saving time and money in recruiting.
It’s vital to guide your team toward company goals and foster employee well-being. Moreover, pay bonuses and peer-recognition programs are also great to retain and attract talent.
How to Build an Employee Recognition Program That Works
The more appreciative your employees feel, the more likely they are going to stay with your company for years. So, what you need to do is create a culture of appreciation that will make employees feel valued and motivated. Here are ten ways to do so:
Be a Coach
Coach your employees on career development and show an interest in their professional growth. Give them advice and tips on how they can become better at daily tasks, and more valuable to you and the company. Stay close when they need a push and support to overcome personal barriers.
Build a Peer-To-Peer Recognition Program
It is how colleagues award tasks that may get unnoticed by managers. Huge companies like Google offer peer bonuses to encourage teamwork and peer feedback. Even when amounts are not high, it helps to promote a good attitude at work and boost morale.
Give a Shout Out on Social Media
This is just one of the public recognition approaches you can follow. You can use company social media profiles to highlight your employee’s work and inspire them. Some companies have an “employee of the month” award and use their public profiles to announce the winner.
This approach not only builds a relationship with your staff but also shows your audience how your employees are the centre of your company culture.
Celebrate work anniversaries
It is a nice gesture to remember employees’ anniversaries. You will show them you care about the work done together and that you’re expecting to keep working in the future. Besides, it is a great opportunity to recognise the hard efforts and highlight how they helped the company grow during that period.
Offer Flexible Work Hours
As a member of a team, there is nothing comparable to feeling that your boss trusts you.
You can make your staff feel more confident by complying with flexible work contracts when they are requested or discussing workhour reduction without a pay cut. If you can trust your team, then it is easier to try new approaches that could increase productivity and make your team happier.
Set Accountability Sessions
Establishing clear goals will guide your teamwork towards company priorities, and it is also an excellent way to show recognition in the workplace. For example, if visitors to your website are increasing due to a particularly successful social media campaign, you can praise the efforts of your social media manager.
Provide Ongoing Feedback
Be sure that you provide actionable feedback to every worker. At this point, it is crucial to be able to track progress and measure productivity across the workplace.
By using our HR software, you can easily track employees’ performance and generate customised reports to make better decisions about your workforce.
You can try it for free to start managing your HR processes with ease and identify which employees are performing well.
Host Regular Gatherings
If you work in an office, you can try saving some time to share with your team and promote employee engagement. It is great to strengthen the relationship among your staff members and build trust in a relaxed environment. You can leverage this space to praise employees that make the office a better place publicly.
On the other hand, if you work with virtual teams, it’s crucial to organise team-building activities to avoid isolation and lack of confidence in the workplace.
Encourage Personal Growth and Learning
Get involved in your people’s interests and help them explore with free courses and learning programs. Moreover, you can help them improve skills that could be useful in the workplace with company training and exclusive resources.
Offer Pay Bonuses
Employers can motivate employees by giving them small bonuses (or juicy ones) for adding valuable contributions to the team. Some companies also offer quarterly or annual compensation based on achievements. Besides, you can implement peer bonuses to encourage team building and make everyone interested in each other’s progress.
Keeping a team involved, productive, and happy is not an easy task. But you can craft employee retention strategies to show your team that you notice their hard work and innovation. From public recognition to pay bonuses, there are many approaches you can use to increase performance and workers’ well-being.
