Everyone likes to be recognized, and your employees are no different.

The good news is that you don’t need any fancy employee recognition software to make your team feel seen and heard. The more that you verbalize positive feedback, the more it shows you’re paying attention — which results in more trust earned from your team.

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According to Forbes, a study showed that nearly 90% of employees who were shown recognition from their boss felt higher levels of trust in that manager. However, only 48% showed signs of trusting the authoritative figures of those who did not receive recognition.

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Ready to be seen as a better people leader, increase business results, and make your team feel appreciated? Keep reading to find out how simple it is to accomplish all three with the right employee recognition ideas and strategy.

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What is employee recognition?

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Recognition is defined as “the acknowledgment of something's existence or validity.” This might sound like a simple and easy act — because it is! All you need is some organization (a simple calendar to start) and a little creativity.

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In terms of your business, showing your employees recognition can come in an array of forms, whether it’s a mentioning an outstanding employee in a speech given at a company-wide meeting, or, through an employee recognition gift sent to their email. Each form of employee recognition has its own unique advantages, and knowing what’s the best way to show recognition will be specific to the wants and needs of your business and the employee themselves.

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The benefits of employee recognition

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Among many more examples, the top reasons to make employee recognition a priority include:

• Positive business outcomes
• Employee retention (decreased employee turnover and creates a positive environment for top performers)
• The encouragement of core values

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Do employee recognition programs work?

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Let’s take employee retention as an example, as it can be one of the most cost-saving areas for your company. Glassdoor’s Employee Appreciation Survey showed that 53% of employees reported appreciation from their boss motivated them to stay longer at their company. What might surprise you is that from that same group, 68% of respondents said their manager was already actively displaying a sufficient amount of appreciation.

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This proves what we learned before: appreciation can’t be reserved for merely one holiday out of the year. Keep it continuous — in this case, more is more!

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What are some measurable criteria for employee recognition?

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Whist it’s important to regularly show your company’s teams and individuals recognition, having a measurable employee recognition criterion can make giving recognition easier and more valuable. This isn’t to say the act of giving recognition should be overly formalized, more that a criteria can help guide you and make noticing important employee moments easier to recognize.

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The top criteria for employee recognition include:

• Reward sales performance
  It’s an effective motivator when we remind our top performers that we notice and appreciate their hard work and ability to excel within the sales team. By celebrating and rewarding these employees, we can incentivize them to continue to push on and reach their sales goals.
• Recognize individual progress
  While leaderboards and Employee of the Month awards are fantastic, you want to bring a human element to this. It's important to recognize individual growth and progress to maintain employee retention. Personalized, face-to-face expressions of gratitude from leaders make a lasting impact. By appreciating our employees when they improve or show growth, we remind them that their hard work and progress are noticed.
• Celebrate exemplary attendance
  Recognizing punctual employees is important, as attendance directly impacts productivity and profitability. Absences and tardiness can lead to decreased profits and negatively affect team dynamics. The CDC said that absenteeism costs roughly $1,685 per employee every year, for a total of $225.8 billion in the United States alone.
• Acknowledge important milestones
  There are many corporate milestones that are worthy of recognition in an employee’s time at your company. These include passing probation, yearly work anniversaries, and birthdays. Although not directly tied to company efficiency (like sales performance), employee recognition gifted for milestones tells your employees that you value their overall contributions to the team.
• Appreciate effective team work
  Real, honest, compassionate teamwork is something that can transform workspaces. When employees feel they can rely on one another or lean on each other, you’ve created a positive network of support where a business can thrive. Those who contribute to this positive culture of teamwork deserve to be recognized.
• Reward a positive attitude
  Recognize employees who consistently maintain a positive attitude, lift spirits and contribute to a cheerful work environment. It is not easy to wear a happy face to work all year long, especially with the many difficulties and stressors that come with daily life.
• Recognize compassionate customer support
  Your customer support team takes on the responsibility of being the voice for your business. They face a variety of different clients, all with different moods, stress levels, agendas, and so on, being careful to represent the company with respect and patience. Those that go out of their way to help customers reflect positively on the entire company as a whole.

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How to create an employee recognition program

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Now that you have some criteria for what events warrant employee recognition, it’s important to strategically plan how you intend to execute your company’s recognition program. Below are some key steps that will help you in developing an effective, productivity-driving employee recognition program.

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Use a survey to guide the development of your recognition program

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Poll the experts — your employees. You won’t know what will motivate your team the most until you ask.

An easy way to do this is by sending a Slack message (or whatever messaging software you use) to team members with a link to an online survey. Remember to keep it anonymous so your employees won’t feel reluctant to submit ideas.

Ask specific questions to help guide responses, such as the following:

• What motivates you the most?
  • For example, fun events, monetary rewards, time off, or social recognition.
• How long should a rewards program last?
  • For example, a month, quarter, year, or ongoing.
• What do you need the most motivation for?
  • For example: hitting sales targets, obtaining new clients, or reaching a new career milestone.
• What type of rewards system do you prefer?
  • For example, company-wide contests, incentives, a personal structure to challenge themselves, or teams vs. teams.

You can use the examples we gave here in a multiple-choice format or leave it open-ended.

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Determine an employee recognition program budget

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Setting a budget is crucial to setting realistic expectations for you and your employees and will also help structure the employee recognition program.

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Once you have considered the employee-submitted ideas, start grouping common entry types into themes. Determine which themes will accommodate your budget.

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Identify meaningful employee recognition rewards

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Once you’ve established the rewards system, time frame, and budget, it’s time for the fun part — determining the reward. Make it easy on yourself and keep it simple — a meaningful reward can also be easy.

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Employee gifts don’t have to be complicated, expensive, or grandiose. A meaningful reward will make your employees' lives easier or be a perk they couldn’t obtain otherwise.

Examples of valuable employee recognition gift ideas can include:

• Gift cards: The functionality of gift cards is famously easy. Make it even easier with instant digital delivery with Prezzee eGift cards. With options like Target, Chevron, HelloFresh, Airbnb, and hundreds more in Prezzee’s catalog, you can send your employees rewards they’ll actually use.
• Performance swag: Whether we want to admit it or not, a new wireless keyboard can be exhilarating. A customized mousepad with an image of their pet? Even better. You’ll earn some brownie points by providing an option to make their workday a little easier.
• Extra PTO day: Some may say an extra day off might be more valuable than a monetary reward. (Check with your human resources contact first to ensure that granting additional PTO days is approved.)

Ask for employee feedback over the course of the program

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Asking for feedback is an essential step in ensuring the adoption of your employee recognition program. It’s always a good idea to keep your employees in the loop to keep them involved and further invested in the reward system. When a teammate feels like they are being heard, they are much more likely to stay engaged and participate.

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Try periodically emailing a survey link to your team’s distribution list to monitor the program’s effectiveness and perception. You can use a ranking system (1 through 5 is best), multiple choice of provided answers, or an open reply box for responses.

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Examples of questions you can use for the feedback survey include:

• What about this program is keeping you motivated?
• What would you like to see continued? Discontinued?
• What is a feature or roadblock of the program that is hindering your usage, if any?
• What’s one feature you wish could be added to the reward platform?
• Does the timeframe of when points must be earned to redeem prizes work for you? Why or why not?
• Do you enjoy working independently towards rewards, or would you rather join forces in groups? (or vice versa)
• What are more ways you’d like included as opportunities to earn points? Are there any service awards you’d like to incorporate?

Look at critical themes across the board — what do most responses have in common? Don’t throw away outlier answers: This is an opportunity to understand what certain employees may need differently to be set up for success.

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Prezzee is here to help with employee recognition ideas

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At the end of the day, don’t overthink it. If you put effort towards showing up and bringing purpose and encouragement through appreciation each day, your team will notice. Remember: if you stay continuous with your signals of appreciation and keep them genuine, timely, and specific, you can’t go wrong.

Sources:

‍Why Employees Need Both Recognition and Appreciation | HBR

‍‍Anniversary Gifts by Year: Our Traditional and Modern Guide

‍How Recognition Makes WorkHuman | SHRM‍

3 Reasons Why Employee Recognition Will Always Matter | Forbes‍

Employers To Retain Half Of Their Employees Longer If Bosses Showed More Appreciation | Glassdoor ‍

Formal and informal employee recognition – which works best? | HRZone‍

It’s about time: Immediate rewards boost motivation | Cornell Chronicle‍

What is Homeostasis? | Scientific American‍

Positive Reinforcement and Operant Conditioning: Examples | Verywell Mind

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