I came across an article featured on IncentiveMag.com last month that discussed how to teach recognition from the top down and I would like to expand on the author’s points and provide some insight on how each tip can be applied to an employee recognition program over the next two weeks.
(The italicized text is from the IncentiveMag.com article with my comments below)
1. Don’t hide your recognition strategy. Make your recognition philosophy, purpose, and plans known through your town hall meetings, e-mail blasts, and intranet.
Depending on how an organization is structured and employee demographics, promoting a recognition program can be done a number of ways. Printed materials such as posters can be displayed in the company lounge and letters or statements can be mailed or individually handed to employees to communicate the staff recognition strategy or philosophy.
On the other hand, recognition websites can also keep employees informed and provide a space online where employees can be recognized. For the clients I have in call center environments, or other workplaces where the staff is familiar with computers and has computer access on the job, employee recognition websites serve as a central hub of recognition activity and communication.
Keeping employees informed on what activities they can do to earn recognition and how and when they will be awarded is vital to a recognition program’s importance to employees and its long term success.
2. Don’t have employees guess how to recognize people. Create clear recognition policies if they don’t already exist and review them from time to time in management meetings.
There are many reasons clients of mine award and recognize employees and over time these reasons change. Recognition awards are commonly given to employees who reach anniversary milestones, meet/exceed budget guidelines, reach job-specific objectives and make safety achievements among other reasons.
Many times companies will keep recognition award cards on hand so that employees can be recognized on the spot for the above reasons and are presented with a stylish card that has award ordering instructions on the back side and the company logo or design on the opposite side.
3. Don’t send people down the wrong road. Establish clear and measurable objectives for your employee recognition practices, aligning them with your organizational culture.
Making sure employees understand exactly what is expected in order for recognition and/or an award to be given is vital to maintaining employee engagement. Employers can increase employee engagement by not only establishing goals for staff to pursue but also by explaining to employees exactly what steps to take in order to be recognized for achieving a program goal. Specific examples of what an employee did in order to earn a safety recognition award, for example, will help other employees understand what they can do to earn similar recognition.
4. Don’t have recognition owned by one wizardly person or department. Encourage everyone to be responsible for giving each other recognition.
Peer to peer recognition programs have been gaining popularity in the past couple years as many organizations are realizing the impact of co-workers nominating and being nominated for recognition awards by fellow co-workers. Some of my clients also allow 360° recognition where anyone in an organization can nominate any employee for a staff recognition award regardless of his or her position or relationship with the employee.
5. Don’t forget to count the costs of your recognition journey. Analyze recognition practices and outputs and correlate the impact on employee engagement.
By establishing benchmarks at the beginning of a recognition program and then evaluating the program’s impact on a quarterly or annual basis, justifying the recognition program’s budget is a much easier process. Organizations usually track metrics such as productivity, attendance and loyalty or retention rates and use these as their benchmarks to determine the recognition program’s impact on employee engagement.
In addition, many of my clients ask me to prepare recognition award reporting to show whether or not employees are actually redeeming the awards they receive and also what kinds of gifts they are selecting. These award reports allow companies to evaluate the interest level in the program and also determine what kinds of recognition awards employees prefer.
Be sure to check back next week for the next 5 tips from IncentiveMag.com and more insights on their practical application in modern employee recognition award programs.
Leave a Comment