An organization is a team effort. It’s the people that keep operations moving that determine the trajectory of your organization. Your people are your most valuable asset. Still, human capital assets aren’t machines. You need to treat them with care, compassion, and appreciation—like human beings.
That’s why employee recognition programs are a necessity for successful organizations. So, what is an employee recognition program, exactly? They are structural features that ensure mechanical, day-to-day operations don’t neglect the people who keep them running.
Learn how to create your own employee recognition program in this complete guide and share your appreciation with your workforce.
What makes employee recognition programs crucial?
Any bona fide program serves a function within an organization. Your payroll program guarantees effective payment and tax compliance; your hiring program promotes optimal talent acquisition.
Employee recognition programs are sometimes hard to hammer down as a concept because their concern is far less intangible compared to other programs. Recognition programs in the workplace address nebulous metrics like employee engagement, employee experience, and morale.
While these metrics are hard to quantify at times, that does not diminish their importance: Employee morale and engagement are strong predictors of employee retention rates, turnover, the bottom line, and even productivity.
Organizations need employee recognition programs to keep their employees fulfilled. Fulfilled employees are more willing to give the organization their all to improve results in several areas. Let’s examine a few tangible results of an employee recognition plan.
Fostering employee involvement
Who knows the workplace better than the people showing up there every day? Employee recognition programs amplify employee involvement, whether through generating employee feedback or playing active roles in decision-making processes.
Increased employee involvement doesn’t just keep employees fulfilled; their input often has a positive impact on decision-making at large.
Shaping organizational culture
Company culture has an outsized impact on operations. If people love coming to work and the people there, they are more willing to give it their all. Employee recognition programs tap into the organizational culture and shape it in a meaningful, positive way.
By celebrating your employees or hosting recognition events that build bonds between them, employers create the online or in-person social work environment that epitomizes the team effort behind any successful organization.
Attracting and retaining talented individuals
Neglecting top performers is a guaranteed means of pushing them out the door. If the people who are giving their best don’t get your best, then they’ll take their talents to your competitors.
Employee recognition programs attract and retain top talent not only through incentives for their efforts but also through genuine acknowledgment and appreciation of their human value to the company.
Driving innovation and enhancing performance
You need to let employees know they’re on the right path if you want them to take you to new places. Neglecting your employees sometimes stifles their innovation and performance.
With an effective recognition strategy, human resources engages with employees, actively provides positive feedback and kudos, and encourages them to take the organization to new heights.
Promoting fairness, diversity, and inclusivity
Employee recognition programs amplify their target attributes: morale, engagement, or employee turnover. However, recognition programs are not limited to these metrics. They also promote fairness, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. Employers who seek out employees who exemplify these workplace values set a standard for the entire organization to follow.
Recognition categories in an employer’s acknowledgment program
The advantages of an employee recognition program are compelling, but how do you actively recognize employees through them? Let’s examine just how employers express their appreciation with a few types of recognition. Use any or all of these recognition methods in your employee recognition program.
Acknowledgment from colleagues
Recognition from upper management is a great encouragement for employees. However, if employers create a culture where the workforce itself is a source of encouragement, they establish a positive foundation for the entire organization. When hard-working employees get peer recognition through a culture of recognition, your program effectively runs on its own.
Recognition through social interactions
Recognition is as simple as an earnest compliment for a job well done. Perhaps the most basic form of appreciation employers express through their programs is social interaction through public recognition.
Appreciative social recognition efforts refer to a wide number of actions: celebratory emails to employees for years of service, a shout-out or letter of distinction for great work, awards programs, positive mentions on Slack, etc.
Financial acknowledgement
A reward is the clearest form of recognition. In this type of employee recognition, high-performing employees who demonstrate marked improvement through performance receive pay to reflect that.
After all, employees come to work day in and day out for a living. Bumping their pay is an unambiguous way to reward employees.
Steps for creating a successful employee recognition program
Recognition takes many forms and confers many benefits. For organizations just starting with their recognition program, connecting those two successfully sometimes proves difficult. Like any other program within the organization, an actionable step-by-step outline helps achieve your objectives.
Consider these steps when putting together your employee recognition program to get the best results.
1. Craft the program framework
Employers determine the strategies they plan to employ, existing departments that will take on these responsibilities, initiatives to put the program into action, and more. The clearer the framework and the more closely aligned it is with company values, the better the results.
2. Define program goals
Before launching a recognition program, employers have to define measurable goals. The objectives of the employee recognition program are relatively subjective compared to conventional workplace metrics: morale, engagement, etc. Determining what your goals are and how you plan to measure them provides your team’s clear aim for their targets.
3. Allocate necessary budget
As with any organizational program, your employee recognition program needs a budget to be successful.
Your outline indicates all the proposed allocations necessary to fund the program, including project initiatives, financial allotments for raises, mony for team-building activities, or resources for improved communication platforms. A comprehensive project ensures you have everything you need to succeed.
4. Gain endorsement from senior leadership
Every project needs proper approval from senior leadership. With a clear framework, a set of definitive objectives, and a budget to sustain it, you have everything you need to secure an endorsement for the employee recognition program. To improve your chances of endorsement, give ample consideration to your pitch proposal.
5. Specify operating guidelines
With approval granted, it’s time to actively implement your program in the workplace. Typically in this stage, you will interface with team managers and specify their operating guidelines.
Operating guidelines will be specific to the program framework and the demands of your workplace, so make sure you’re open to on-the-ground feedback to improve your chances of success.
6. Identify a fitting recognition platform
To ensure the best results, many organizations turn to third-party employee recognition platforms to optimize their recognition program. Instead of asking yourself how to communicate a reward and recognition program, a third-party platform seamlessly shows employees the basics of your new rewards program.
When it comes to financial recognition, Payscale’s comprehensive compensation software helps you pay your people fairly. Check out how our compensation planning solutions optimize your employee recognition program.
Examples of employee recognition programs
Building an employee recognition program is easier when you have successful instances of award programs or initiatives to reference. To create an effective program from the get-go, consider these employee recognition ideas and initiatives.
Hall of distinction
Good organizations elevate high-performing workers who reflect core values. One way they do this is by establishing “halls of distinction.”
Like their personal hall of fame, halls of distinction catalog the very best the organization has to offer, their achievements, and their value to the company. Putting your employees in your own hall of distinction is a grand gesture of appreciation.
Excellence in customer service acknowledgment
Customer satisfaction is vital to organizational success. High rates of customer satisfaction also provide the material to recognize outstanding employee performance.
Customer service acknowledgments are doubly meaningful; they don’t just indicate that the company appreciates the employee but that customers do as well. Leverage customer reviews and feedback and let your employees know the great things they have to say.
Customized tokens of appreciation
Gestures of appreciation are amplified when you are willing to go the extra mile. For instance, organizations sometimes utilize customized tokens of appreciation to recognize employee achievements.
Tokens like these take many forms, like swag bags designed for one particular employee in mind or organization-centric gifts like badges. Tailoring your tokens of appreciation adds the personal element that amplifies its effects.
Commemorating birthdays
All work and no play damages team morale. Take every opportunity to have fun and celebrate in a professional setting.
An effective way to accomplish personalized employee appreciation and introduce fun into the office is by commemorating birthdays, work anniversaries, or similar milestones. Making any added effort to celebrate an employee’s special day will make them feel special.
Programs for employee well-being
Employers give back to their employees in several ways. With increasing emphasis on well-being in the workforce, employers sometimes make strides in their employee recognition program through well-being programs.
Perks like guided meditation courses, yoga sessions, and assorted wellness initiatives help have a massive impact on employee morale and their sense of value at the company.
Financial incentives for employee recognition
The definitive way to recognize your employees’ work is through financial incentives. Employers provide financial rewards to acknowledge their employees in a few ways.
Incentive pay structures automize financial rewards by integrating kickbacks into their compensation package. Of course, there are always bonuses or even gift cards that employers distribute on special occasions to employees who demonstrate their commitment to the organization.
Regular social media commendations
An organization’s social media presence provides a great means to platform exemplary team members. For instance, some organizations take to their social media pages to highlight some of their star employees. It’s a way to introduce their followers to the people that make the organization special; it’s also a unique way to let employees know how much they are appreciated.
Monthly standout employee recognition
Perhaps the most classic example of employee recognition is naming an employee of the month. Monthly standout employee programs are an extremely effective way of both appreciating hard-working employees and incentivizing hard work on a monthly basis.
When workers look forward to these monthly employee award celebrations of their performance, they’ll be more inclined to give each month their very best.
Final thoughts
Choosing the right employee appreciation program transforms your workforce for the better, with improvements to employee morale, retention rates, and performance. No matter which path you choose, remember to have an earnest sense of appreciation at the core of your program. The genuine pursuit of employee appreciation is the engine that drives its success.
For financial solutions, Payscale is your go-to partner for fair, equitable compensation. Check out our resources to see how we help you promote employee satisfaction throughout the organization.
FAQ
More questions about employee recognition and what it means for you? Let’s go over some frequently asked questions people have about employee recognition so you are empowered to start building yours.
What is the best recognition for employees?
Every employee is different. The best way to recognize an employee depends on how that individual employee best responds to praise or acknowledgment. That said, a guaranteed way to show employees your appreciation for good work is through financial incentives—everybody likes money!
What makes a good employee recognition program?
The heart of any effective employee recognition program is a genuine sense of interest in the employee’s well-being. Organizations employ several measures to improve an employee’s sense of appreciation, but they will easily fall flat if they are not accomplished with an earnest effort.
Earnest concern for your employees isn’t something you fake. Take time to connect with your employees, invest your time in them, and your employee recognition program will improve immensely.
How should employers address employees excluded from recognition programs?
The risk of elevated outstanding employees is that other employees will feel more neglected than before. To avoid alienating the rest of the workforce, it is essential that employers make it one hundred percent clear how acknowledged employees achieved their recognition.
In doing so, they provide a blueprint for success to the entire workforce.
