John Tschohl wrote an article on November 7, 2011 about motivating employees to be more productive. As an internationally recognized service strategist, Tschohl knows the importance of recognizing employees. Companies need to recognize the work that is being done today to bank on the higher productivity of employees in the future. This need spans across industries. Every employee wants to be recognized for the hard work he/ she are putting forward. I don’t think this can be stressed enough in these tough economic times.
From my experience I have seen the roadblocks HR managers come to with budgets. When planning an employee recognition program, it is important to set aside an actual budget that will be rewarding and not degrading to employees. Tschohl made a great point,
“Far too many executives, however, put more emphasis on monetary rewards than they do on recognition, costing their companies more financially and doing nothing to motivate their employees. Money is at the bottom of the motivational ladder.”
Herein lays the problem, on face value, monetary rewards seem simple and satisfying. But there have been greater successes with programs that use memorable merchandise versus straight cash. Please see,Merchandise Motivates - Cash and Gift Cards Can't Compete with Tangible Awards.
Tschohl goes on to say recognition awards are as important as employees’ daily needs of food, water, and shelter. HR managers should recognize that a recognition program is as important as payroll! In order to maximize your employees’ productivity, consider an attainable budget and put in motion a plan! Below are some quick steps to starting a program: