Strategies developing successful employee recognition program

Recognition programs are a sometimes-underutilized tool that can help organizations engage and retain workers, experts say. Creating an atmosphere that fosters good relationships at all levels. Really listening to what employees have to say.

Celebrating successes as they occur. Sharing ownership for goals and achievements. Emphasize recognition of increased quality in performance, instead of simply quantity of effort.

Recognize workers regularly; sporadic recognition may be worse than no recognition. Measure the cost of the recognition reward system and the benefits gained. The report highlighted case studies of restructured recognition programs at Scotiabank, Delta Airlines and MGM Grand to demonstrate that recognition programs: Must include multiple award forms to satisfy different worker needs.

Need not be costly and, in fact, may have no real monetary value. Are effective when the recognition is of value to the individual worker, and is awarded for behaviors linked to specific job performance goals. Instead of measuring things like the number of awards given, organizations should measure things like: Costs vs.

Productivity and performance gains. Company values and strategic objectives. Program reach. Employee Engagement Rewards and Recognition. It reads: "We are deeply connected.

These individuals are honored for their contributions. By interlocking and working together as a team, we grow strong as individuals. Ring A Virtual Bell. Our sales team members are distributed and live in a virtual world when communicating and collaborating with their colleagues. To ensure our wins were shared across this setup, we incorporated a virtual bell that is rung when we have a deal go through.

This is easily achieved through tools like Slack, and each team member even gets to get creative with their own virtual bell GIF! Implement Personal Recognition Traditions. I firmly believe that tradition creates a sense of belonging and pride. If you are using recognition software, your managers will need to be the ones to get it started.

Measuring employee satisfaction allows you to really benchmark your recognition efforts. But how do you measure employee satisfaction? The ESI is primarily hinged on three essential questions that you need to ask your staff.

Real back to the basics stuff. Simply asking. Once you receive this feedback. You will need to analyse this data to give you an accurate measurement of employee satisfaction within your organisation. The results vary from 0 to The higher the score, the more satisfied the employee.

The limitations with the results from this specific methodology is that it can be difficult to base very focused actions to solving satisfaction issues, as the base questions are relatively broad. This method, however, does provide baseline insights as to how healthy or unhealthy your levels of employee satisfaction are. Many organisations use this methodology alongside a more in-depth employee satisfaction survey to yield greater results.

The key to higher success rates of these surveys is anonymity. Anonymous surveys are a great tool for gauging levels of engagement and workplace satisfaction. You will, however, need to make it known upfront that the data they share will be anonymous. This creates a greater sense of comfort among survey participants. It can even link questions in the pulse survey to strategic business goals.

They then use the feedback from the surveys to creatively overcome any major problems employees may be having. You can find 10 more highly engaging questions here. If you are using these methods of measurement, it is recommended to conduct this survey at least every six months. This close analysis will ensure your satisfaction levels are always on the up and up. Enter pulse surveys. A recent addition to the survey arsenal are pulse surveys. Pulse surveys are extremely useful in understanding employee sentiment on topics such as job satisfaction, work environment, leadership and so forth.

Organisations can disseminate them regularly - monthly even weekly - to really zero in on specific areas of improvement within the organisation. Twice daily happiness index: is used as a method of measuring employee happiness and satisfaction. This methodology uses a set of easy questions, one that can be scaled, and one that is open-ended.

These questions should be asked twice a day, you can then collate and analyse these answers. Over time these answers should provide you with insights into any trends that may be impacting happiness in both positive and negative ways. It is an easy, simple measurement method that works well for companies to garner intuitive analytics that can be used for strategic, actionable insight. It helps companies to respond quickly and stay ahead of any organisational challenges. As with all surveys, it is important to ensure anonymity - employees need to feel comfortable sharing their feedback.

Above all, share the results. Sharing the results ensures inclusivity - a problem shared is a problem solved. Tracking the levels of productivity from before the implementation of a recognition program to the levels of productivity you are experiencing during the implementation period, will be a primary metric to understanding all your recognition efforts.

Then reconvene every quarter with the same data and discuss what the differences are with the program in place. These metrics will enlighten management to the real experienced benefits of a successful recognition program and what it can mean for the entire organisation.

Your program budget is a pre-determined amount per employee. These amounts USD, British Pound, ZAR - depending on the geographic territory you find yourself in will be rendered into the relevant recognition currency - points are the recommended currency for your recognition program.

As so often points have the ability to remove any monetary interpretation from your program. Your points can be measured through a metric called a redemption rate.

And as such non-redemption of points must be a consideration when budgeting for a points-based program. Remember, not all points issued are used to redeem rewards. Different recognition partners also bill on either a points-issued or points-issued model so it is good practice to fully understand the cost implications and benefits of both points pricing models as well as its impact on your recognition budget.

If your program participants are actively engaged in your program you should see a rise in your redemption rate as a result. This should also form a part of your assessment and analysis.

It will allow you to better allocate funds and resources for different elements of the program going forward should it be needed. If you are using recognition technology, such as bountiXP to help you collate all these metrics, then simply use your available dashboard to frequently keep yourself and all your managers up to date. Zappos runs a number of activities to ensure their employees are always engaged. An initiative like this allows employees to actively be recognised and rewarded for great work and motivates an increase in productivity.

But, your next challenge awaits you in the area of communication. How are you going to strategically communicate and position your program toward your participants? We get it…. Depending on your choice of recognition program, whether it be peer-to-peer, top-down, formal or informal you need to ensure that communication is an essential tenant to your implementation process.

The goal with your communication plan should be to communicate the benefits of the program and set out the expectations of participation upfront. This kind of communication will help create awareness and interest in your upcoming program. This is always a great place to start. Your organisational values form the foundation of your company and the culture that you have subsequently created from that point Start by giving your program a name, you can be as creative as you like here; brainstorm a couple of names, have a logo designed, add the logo to any recognition technology like bountiXP that you may be using, place the logo on your internal emails and any other print you may need as a part of your communication strategy.

This is done to give your program a clearly defined identity that will ultimately create awareness, understanding, adoption and participation. A successful recognition program will aid in achieving those objectives, through a highly engaged and productive workforce. Piktochart is a great example of embodying their company values as a part of their recognition strategy. They have a team that largely works remotely. They come together once a year to celebrate all their achievements and brainstorm new ideas for the upcoming year.

As a part of this process, they adopt a recognition program called Hopeful Awards. These values help align their recognition strategy as a part of that; the types of recognition received will be for exceptional teamwork, leadership skills or moments of humility. This process of deeply understanding and embodying your core organisational values needs to inform your program identity and values.

This will ensure that you are not creating a program that sits separately to your organisation, where very little overall value is created. There is obviously so much more that can be added to this list and tailored to suit your organisations industry. So please feel free to use this as a baseline. The aim in communicating this is to paint a full picture for your participants.

There are three areas of communication that are important to encouraging program participation:. Pre-launch can even see the development of training manuals and guides for the select managers implementing the program. This helps to establish the expectations managers have and provides an avenue to voice any initial concerns or suggestions.

Sending out informational newsletters and emails to program participants will assist in program interest. You might find that by gathering everybody together for a brief program introduction, where you can define some baseline understanding and really outline the value, would be a significant program promoter. This person has indicated that they will be responsible for the effective implementation of the program. They should be fully aware of all the ins and outs of the program, should any participants have any questions or queries surrounding the program, its objectives or even about the software you will be using.

They will be responsible for resolving any confusion. You could gather everybody into a central meeting place, ask a senior executive to prepare a launch speech to create some hype around your program. The implementation, adoption and participation of your program needs to see you at the forefront. You need to ensure that your communication with participants as a manager is ongoing.

They will need to be constantly reminded about the recognition program and its benefits for them. TIP: Recognition does not only have to be outcomes based. You can and should recognise your employees for just being part of team. Remember recognition should always be human-centric. We live in an ever-evolving digital space, so email is not your only go-to here. Recognising your employees need not be boring.

Set your organisation apart with your program by really encouraging your employees to strive for only the best! It all starts in the design phase of your recognition program - so plan, plan, plan to get the recognition word to your people. Remember that creating a healthy corporate culture takes time and effort. He stuck them on a sign board right outside his office for everyone to see. You could place a board up in a central space in the office and place sticky notes and pens around that motivate employees to write notes of encouragement and praise towards excellent work.

Many bigger organisations will choose to use recognition technology to help them properly implement and streamline their program efforts. Your organisation will need to consider the budget and resources available to the implementation of your recognition program, before deciding on which technology you will be using.

There is a wide range of employee recognition software available to aid successful recognition implementation, such as bountiXP.

They have a live interactive recognition dashboard, providing engagement and recognition results in real time. We know that through effective recognition strategies, rewards and analytics, companies can lower their staff turnover, engage a diverse workforce and track measurable results. So you have decided which behaviours need to be recognised. You already have a predefined budget for your program, so deciding on your reward mix will be easy enough.

Take a look at these ideas:. The rewards you offer can be as creative as you wish them to be. There are companies dedicated to developing highly personalised rewards strategies based on your companies needs. Take a look at GET Rewards, they are a one-stop shop offering a full rewards suite that can also be tailored to your needs.

Their awareness, ability and commitment to using recognition on an ongoing basis will determine the success of your recognition program. The kind of training that you provide your managers with will be dependent on the type of recognition program you plan on running; whether it be formal, informal or a top-down approach.

You will also need to take into consideration the resources and budget that have been made available for the holistic implementation of your program. You must provide the right resources as well as the perfect environment for the training needs of your managers. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to training and you may want to embrace a combination of the training techniques listed below, depending on how your managers prefer to do their learning.

Encourage your managers to note recognition opportunities that they have taken advantage of in the past, as well as any that they may have missed out on. These examples can be shared with the other managers and provide the perfect opportunity to foster a discussion on areas that managers may be struggling with and how they can improve upon these.

It incorporates micro-moments of learning to drive improved job performance and development. This learning is delivered in rich media formats such as apps, video and even animation. This ease of use and access means that your employees have the opportunity to learn well, but also quickly in formats that are well suited to their needs. We also need to look through the skills that leaders and managers should have to make them effective in the recognition process. Training cannot be a one-time event that only happens during the build up and initial launch of the recognition program.

It should effectively only be the first step of a longer-term process. Regular training is well worth the investment as building up recognition skills within the company keeps your employees more engaged, encouraging them to improve their productivity and quality of work. An organised training plan will help provide more structure and will also allow managers to know what to expect. Therefore, before you jump in headfirst, it may be important to take a step back and think about these key areas:.

Training your managers to effectively implement recognition will help them become better at coaching their teams to success and also successfully expand the reach of your recognition program. The fact of the matter is anything new has to be reinforced several times before it becomes second nature. We all love raising a glass, taking a moment to high-five someone or throw a punch of accomplishment in the air. The sweet smell of success and achievement is something every employee, manager and company owner can relate to.

And how does celebration fit into the objectives and structure of your overall recognition program? As a part of that responsibility, you may want to consider them for the ideation, planning and creativity for the events and celebrations element to your program.

So what resources have been made available to the celebration of employee recognition and appreciation within your organisation? You need to plan an event and celebration calendar to make sure you keep up your program momentum up.

These are only a few examples of the kinds of events you can include in your recognition calendar. This kind of forward thinking and strategic planning will ensure that you never lose the momentum you gain after the launch of your program.

The key will be to put some real time into this. You will want to make sure that it's highly personalised and contextual to your employees and organisation. The flip to that is making sure to organise special events, maybe every quarter, so roughly, four of these can be hosted in a year leading towards the year-end top event. These special events can be things like awards celebrations, where you really make the effort of celebrating excellent performance by employees on a quarterly basis.

Appreciation, as we know goes a long way in the motivation of your program. You will need to record all your event costs from the venue to the cost of food and drinks etc. Once you do you need to make them easily accessible for all the event attendees. You can also spend some time designing and writing a newsletter mailer that will update the rest of the organisation on the event and the various award winners.

You can select a few images to include in the newsletter. You can also spend some time embedding them into an internal company mailer or webpage. Images should be put up on your bulletin boards. These images can be changed every quarter with new event images. If you are using an employee recognition platform like bountiXP you have the option of loading event information and company wide messages to the platform.

This provides a central place for messages to be dispersed. How do you harness a variety of employee recognition opportunities through the avenue of an event or celebration?

The key here is to harness creativity and uniqueness to provide meaningful experiences that make your employees feel appreciated. You will need to accurately track levels of participation and the overall experience of the events hosted. This needs to be done in order to provide you with a strategy for continuous improvement. Groupon celebrates employees Grouponiversarys by presenting them with a top of the range bright green Adidas jacket. Employees are also able to personalise their jacket with a nickname.

This has helped create a sense of team and builds toward a positive company culture. It may be worthwhile putting up a plaque in a central place of your building, to act as a reminder and to show off your organisations achievements. Post a job. Find resumes. Help Center. Find jobs. Post a Job. Post a Job Are you a job seeker? What is an employee recognition program? Related: How to Motivate Your Employees Benefits of employee recognition programs Rewarding outstanding behavior in the workplace can be a great motivator for employees and create a company culture focused on growth and achievement.

The following are a few ways that employee recognition can positively impact an organization: Encourages engagement. Years of service award An employee award that acknowledges years of service helps tenured employees stay engaged while encouraging new hires to stay committed to the role.

Customer service award You can show appreciation for employees in customer service roles by rewarding them for meeting sales goals, demonstrating leadership skills, receiving positive customer feedback or providing exceptional customer service.

Employee appreciation events Hosting an employee appreciation event is another way to recognize employees. Other appreciation event ideas include: Surprise celebrations: If an employee has been performing exceptionally well, you can surprise them with a celebration that recognizes their hard work and contributions to the workplace.

Office outings: When a team or department has been delivering consistently good work, you can recognize them by taking them out to lunch or a fun outing for the day e. Holiday parties: Annual traditions like holiday parties give employees something to look forward to.

Employee recognition wall Consider setting up a board or dedicating a wall where everyone shares messages of appreciation toward their peers. Monetary employee recognition awards Rewarding employees in a monetary way is another employee recognition tactic to consider. Employee of the month An employee of the month program is a classic employee recognition award that works when implemented strategically.

Tips for implementing employee recognition programs There are many ways to recognize your employees in the workplace. Make it a habit Make employee recognition a regular part of your management style as opposed to a one-time event. Provide recognition at random intervals Recognition that is unexpected can sometimes be more meaningful for employees. Employee recognition FAQs Should employers reward employees in the same way or do something different for each employee that receives recognition?

What should an employer do about employees who feel left out of an employee recognition program? What are the elements of a successful recognition program?