In a recent article from NBC News entitled “5 Signs You’re Appreciated at Work,†they give a list of ways to tell if you are appreciated as an employee at your place of employment. The article concludes with the advice that if you don’t feel appreciated at work, you should either say something, or move on to a new position. Don’t lose employees because they feel overworked and under-appreciated. Recognize them throughout the year for their hard work.
A standard plan of recognition can do several things for your business, including:
- Increase employee engagement and sense of ownership in the company.
- Reduce turnover and likelihood of people leaving your company.
- Enhance your ability to attract top talent.
How do you appropriately recognize your employees, you may ask? Read on and we’ll tell you!
Provide them with a strong human resources department that gives them a safe place to go.
While we are trying to sell you on our services here, we are also just offering some really sound advice. The less able your employees feel to speak up about behaviors, actions, and interactions around the workplace, the more hostile their work environment will seem. By making your human resources department a strong, safe place for your employees to go in a time of conflict, you are recognizing the fact that working with other people is hard. And you are giving them somewhere to go.
Set attainable goals with attainable rewards.
Workplaces can be competitive places. If you give your employees goals to work towards or incentive plans, make sure that they are attainable for everyone on some level. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have a President’s Club or a Diamond Circle for your top employees. It means that your top performers are just as important as the your mid-level performers.
Be specific with why you are recognizing a certain employee.
If you choose to do an ‘employee-of-the-month’ type program, make sure to highlight two or three specific reasons why this person was chosen for the honor. The more you can pinpoint places where your employees have gone above and beyond, the more your people will feel that you do see where and how they are performing well.
Choose consistency all the time, every time.
When you establish your employee recognition program, make it clear to your staff what behaviors will gain them recognition and then stay consistent about them. If you give your people clear goals to work towards, you will imbue your office with a sense of diligence and purpose that will go along way in making your recognition project work for you.
Remember that recognition is situational.
Your sales department may have a different metric for what excellence looks like than your administrators do. Take the time to talk to your people individually and in group settings to find out what they value the most about their positions and what they feel they should be recognized for. You can set different points of recognition for different departments, which will make your program more effective.
The end of the year is rapidly approaching. This is the time that most businesses choose to say ‘thank you’ to their employees and recognize them for their hard work. This year, we encourage you to practice employee recognition throughout the entire year. Make 2018 the best year for your company yet by letting your people know how much you see their hard work and recognize it.
