Staff recognition is a powerful tool in a manager’s work belt. The old Lombardi quote, “Praise in public, criticize in private” works because of simple human psychology: we want other people to recognize our great work and would rather they remain unaware of our blunders. Yet, as the HR Zone blog cited this spring, “[The] most recent employee engagement survey found that around a quarter of employees are rarely or never made to feel their work counts.”
Although this number is declining it is still startling to think that the contributions individuals make to an organization are not recognized on a regular basis and what this can mean for a company’s bottom line. Brian Amble, author of Happy Employees Generate Better Returns, reported in January 2008 that “companies on Fortune magazine's annual list of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work for in America’ between 1998 and 2005 returned 14% per year, compared to 6% a year for the overall market.” These returns are often attributed to lower recruiting costs and higher employee retention rates.
Savvy managers have learned that recognizing an outstanding performance in front of peers is not only an excellent way to reinforce positive behavior but is also an essential means to provide employee recognition. Susan M. Heathfield wrote an article on About.com that I felt really pinpointed a fundamental reason behind giving staff recognition awards, “Employee recognition is a communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for your business.”
But just having a staff award program is not enough, the presentation of the award is also important. The same article by Heathfield contained two tips that I wanted to highlight in regards to recognizing employees effectively. First, if you have a way to present the recognition publicly, this is the best method. Often, clients tell me that they will be presenting employee awards at a weekly meeting. I feel it is important that model behavior be demonstrated and that an employee can feel recognized in front of peers in order for the maximum benefit of the program to be realized.
Second, accompanying verbal recognition in public should be a gift. This gift may be preselected by the employee or may be symbolized by an award package with enclosed ordering instructions. Investing in employee awards will demonstrate to employees that you are invested in them.
Employee recognition has become common practice for many corporations, and should be regarded as a essential for success. A Blogspot article even goes so far as to say that employee recognition awards are a corporation’s responsibility. The author makes the point, “…attracting and retaining top talent is possible by offering employees proper compensation, a safe work environment and employee appreciation.”
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