Employee Recognition Tips

Employee recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people, it’s a communication tool that reinforces and rewards employees for a “job well done”. This is a good way to show your employees that they are truly part of the success of the business, and that the outcomes from their hard work contribute greatly to the continued growth and sustainability of the business.

There are several things that you need to consider when establishing an employee recognition plan. First you need to make sure that the plan you put together not only benefits the organization but the employee as well. Pridestaff Financial has put together some tips for a well structured employee recognition plan:

Specify Your Reward Criteria.
When recognizing an employee for a job well done, the recognition needs to be tailor made for that employee. Generalizing recognition- for example, “the employee was innovative or showed initiative” does not define exactly how the employee helped realize specific company goals. It may also lead to employees seeing the recognition as favoritism or luck instead of hard work and dedication. Criteria need to be as clear and specific as possible. This way others see that management really pays attention to what they do and how they do it.  

Reward Everyone Who Meets Your Criteria Plan.
Picking and choosing who gets recognized and who doesn’t is not a good way to establish cohesiveness and balance among your organization. You need to determine how often will you recognize employees? How will you distribute recognition? What does the employee(s) get for being recognized, and why? These questions will help you develop a well balanced plan for employee recognition. Different employees from different departments should be recognized in intervals. Recognizing the same employees every year can deter others from being a productive member of the organization. For long term impact and higher productivity, criteria should be individualized, publicized throughout the organization, and given in intervals (i.e. every six months or quarterly).  

Reward The Whole Team.
When looking at rewards and recognitions, it’s important to recognize when a team is doing an outstanding job. Employee recognition isn’t just about singling out one employee at a time. Fostering continued cooperation among team members is valuable to the productivity of the organization. If recognizing a team proves challenging due to different strengths and varying results; use a double tiered system, implementing both team AND individual rewards. This way no one is left out, but those who put forth more effort, or had higher productivity results see that their efforts haven’t been for nothing.

Remember that there are many ways to recognize and reward employees. According to Human Resource Management, 2011 Job Satisfaction Survey; job security and flexibility to balance work/life issues were the two most important factors to U.S. workers. Pridestaff Financial understands how important it is to the business, to keep employees happy and productive. Contact us today to see how we can help!