Especially in this tenuous post-COVID economy, keeping employee turnover low is as important as ever. Employee recognition programs are a great way to boost morale at your company, but maybe it hasn’t seemed that important in the wake of all the other difficulties businesses are having right now.
Implementing an employee recognition program is a simple but effective way to ensure that your workers feel excited about work when they’re recognized for their achievements. An employee recognition program will help boost engagement within the workplace, whilst also ensuring that workers stay on board, especially when rival organizations try to poach them. Loyalty with no strings attached is an extremely important aspect to instill within the workplace. If employees feel recognized, they’re more likely stick with your company.
Create Goals (& Incentives) to Work Towards
Vague guidelines and expectations don’t cut it. To get employees excited and in tune with a project or vision, create concrete goals with set expectations that they can work towards. A practical roadmap keeps employees on track and engaged. This will also lead to less burnout as staff won’t just be shooting in the dark. By being straightforward with expectations, employees will stick to what is expected. It’s helpful to incentivize them while goals and milestones are being met.
Depending on the project timeline, it can be worthwhile to implement recognition awards or gifts. For example, if your team succeeds in meeting a major milestone, it can be exciting to have a company happy hour. Bonus points if you let your employees know beforehand that they have the event to look forward to. At the event, you can gift our engraved bar and drinkware that features the team and project’s name. A simple gift like this serves a practical purpose, but it will also be a staunch reminder of how they were treated during the process of a much larger project. Imagine how excited employees will feel if they receive a personalized pub glass for each milestone met? At the end of the year, they’ll be able to look back on their collections of personalized corporate gifts and feel excited about what awards await them the next year.
Celebrate Employees with Annual Award Ceremonies
A great way to encourage employees to meet expectations and to get them excited to work above and beyond is to have annual award ceremonies. These dates can either be impromptu or planned months ahead, depending on your company’s work culture. Some might go all out with after-work functions at halls with catering, while some organizations might implement an in-office happy hour with snacks. Whichever you try to execute it, the importance is that employees should be recognized for their achievements.
Ceremonies can be divided into different sections, which employee receiving their own special awards. Those who closed the most deals can celebrate the day with top sales awards. Award ceremonies are large events, so it’s best to treat employees with traditional trophies and awards that stand out during photo-ops. Of course, traditional form doesn’t have to mean execution, as you can treat employees to one-of-a-kind art glass awards that can be displayed both at home or at the office. Award ceremonies are also a great time to look back on the company’s accomplishments throughout the years. They can serve as a great moment of reflection, especially for those who are on their way out. Don’t forget to shine some light on those who are calling it curtains with engraved retirement awards. An engraved plaque is a great choice for retiring employees.
No matter how you execute your awards ceremony, make it clear that your employees deserve a day for themselves. Let employees give speeches recognizing their fellow co-workers and take a step back as they revel in their various accomplishments. When hiring, let prospective employees know that they’ll always be recognized one way or another when they join your team. At the end of the day, employees care more about being acknowledged than receiving a gift. A physical token of appreciation is just a bonus.
Award Star Employees Privately
While award ceremonies are a great way to boost general recognition, it’s a style that may not be in line with your company’s values. If you have a small team, you may want to celebrate achievements individually in a private manner. This can be just as special as being recognized in front of all your peers. Give the recipients an opportunity to speak with you in your office and create a safe space to discuss their performance. Of course, the point of the meeting is to point out their contributions, so make it clear that they’re being recognized.
Each employee should receive a special, personalized corporate gift in this instance. Staff should walk away feeling empowered after the meeting and gift, so it’s crucial that each gift stands out. The best way to is engrave each gift with an employee’s name, alongside a special message that isn’t boiler plate. During private gifting meetings, it makes sense to bestow luxurious gifts as they have a more personal touch. Premium engraved nameplates or one-of-a-kind crystal vases are great options that don’t feel generic.
Each company may have different mindsets when it comes to implementing recognition programs. At the end of the day, what’s most important is to make the programs about boosting employee engagement and retention. Worker’s love being empowered and a recognition program is a fine way to do so. It’d also important to understand how workers feel. So, before you take your next step, give yourself some context for exactly how the US workforce is feeling. Understand why employees are flocking to companies that put workers first.
Here are some useful resources on statistics about employee retention and turnover:
https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/17-surprising-statistics-about-employee-retention
https://legaljobs.io/blog/employee-retention-statistics/
https://blog.vantagecircle.com/employee-retention-statistics/
https://www.springworks.in/blog/employee-retention-statistics/
https://edume.com/blog/employee-retention-statistics-2021
https://www.zoomshift.com/blog/hr-statistics/
