When your workforce is committed and producing solid results, your company can move much faster towards market goals. However, maintaining the morale and loyalty of your employees, especially if you have a large global team, can be challenging. Ensuring proper employee recognition is one of the most simple yet effective ways to keep your employees with the company.
Studies have confirmed that showing your employees that you properly recognize their efforts has many positive results. These include improved employee well-being, less sick leave, and better performance through increased productivity.
In this article, we define what employee recognition means and how it contributes to your team’s success. We also list six ways to immediately improve staff recognition and ensure that your employees feel valued for their work.
What is Employee Recognition?
Employee recognition is acknowledging and appreciating an employee’s contributions to a company or organization. This can be regarding significant company achievements, smaller day-to-day tasks, and exemplary behavior.
Top-down recognition is when an employee’s supervisor or manager commends them for their work.
Peer recognition is praise given by fellow employees and team members. Team leaders can still encourage this through public events celebrating individuals or teamwork.
Each kind of recognition helps to reinforce the importance of the employee’s role in the company. In the case of top-down recognition, supervisors and managers can reward employees for their positive impact with promotions or move their careers forward.
Peer recognition builds team spirit and helps to reduce necessary management time. We explore more of the benefits of employee recognition below.
Why Does Employee Recognition Matter?
Your employees make up the most essential part of your company. Without an effective workforce, you can’t take on clients or sell products or services that a company needs to provide. When you take the time to recognize and celebrate your employees’ efforts and hard work, everyone benefits.
Other benefits of employee recognition include:
Increased Retention Rates
When you spend time onboarding and training an employee, you want to reap the benefits of your investment. This could be by having the employee stay with the company long-term.
Employees who feel like their work is vital to the company are much more likely to remain with the company than those who never receive any recognition.
Highlighted Model Behavior
Public approval of an employee’s innovation, diligence, or consistency is an easy way to signal to other employees that this behavior will be rewarded in the company. It also clearly shows other employees workplace expectations and reduces necessary training time.
Boosted Employee Morale
When employee morale is high, productivity results are also high. Company culture needs a work environment that celebrates accomplishments and hard work.
Cultivated Attitude of Improvement
Having an employee recognition program or culture of recognition motivates employees to put their best foot forward or even go above and beyond the minimum.
When employees know that their effort will not be overlooked or minimized, they’re more likely to work on improving their skills and competence.
Employee Recognition: Six Ideas You Can Apply Today
Monetary Rewards
Outside of official bonuses, you can also set aside smaller funds or provide gift cards to reward employees for a job well done. Project completion could also mean you can allot some funds to team leaders and managers. This way, they can give rewards directly to the employee that has been invaluable to the team.
Another idea is to schedule a regular monthly or quarterly reward system where one employee will be voted on by a committee and receive a monetary bonus.
Written Acknowledgement
Thank you cards, appreciation emails, and even Post-It notes are easy and effective ways to show your employees that you appreciate them. When you put your sentiment in writing, it shows that you value them enough to take the time.
You can also make certificates of appreciation and give them to employees with top performances.
Group Events
Recognition as a team strengthens the positivity of your staff and raises group morale. This could be done by taking your team out for meals, spa days, or other off-site events.
If you have multiple teams working on a project, you can offer employee rewards to the most efficient team through a small fund. This could provide the funds to go do a group activity like skydiving or visit a wellness retreat.
Anniversary Recognition
Public recognition of employee birthdays and company anniversaries are ideal occasions to celebrate your staff’s hard work and dedication. They are group events where work can be paused and they don’t even have to be held on the day an employee’s birthday or anniversary. Instead, many companies choose to group together multiple events at the end of the week or month.
You can also note the day each employee joined the company and recognize their contributions to the company each year.
Company Merchandise
Company merch, or company swag, is any item with the company’s brand name that a business uses for promotional purposes. Swag ideas can also be rewards to recognize employee engagement.
Invest in quality products for a swag kit that are both practical and attractive, such as watches, pens, or electronic devices.
Workplace Add-Ons
Sometimes showing recognition to your employees is best done by improving their practical environment. You can enhance breakroom facilities, install a comfortable rest area in the workplace, or change the café menu to have a greater variety of options.
These not only improve the work environment but also show your employees that you care about their well-being. This may be particularly helpful for companies wondering about how to balance the office with the role of working from home (WFH) or remote work.
Manage Your Employees with INS Global
A good employee recognition program should be personal, sincere, and consistent. The bottom line is that you need to consider the individual needs of your employees and expenses budget.
Local business culture and employee expectations are also essential factors to consider. For example, some promotional items or examples of employee swag may not fit the culture of every market you work in.
INS Global can help you manage your staff team and handle all your HR services to focus on market goals. We have counselors and advisors with experience who can advise on your particular needs.
With INS Global, you can also securely recruit, hire, onboard, and pay employees no matter where you are.
Contact us here today to learn more.
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