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10 employee recognition initiatives you can implement today

Employee recognition has never been so important. During a period of mass employee disengagement and high turnover rates due to factors such as burnout and ineffective management, recognising the good that your people do and making them feel valued could make a huge difference to the success of your organisation. Especially while the competition for talent remains white hot; employee recognition is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘must have’.

The effects of employee recognition

Employee recognition may be the cornerstone of effective management, but it is also a crucial part of employee engagement and happiness. Every employee wants to feel appreciated, and recognition is one very effective way to meet those needs.

Low morale or disengagement amongst employees can lead to poor productivity and low staff retention, which will ultimately have a negative impact on a company’s bottom line. On the other hand, staff who are recognised for their efforts are likely to work harder, speak more highly of – or go the extra mile for – their employer, and take less time off sick. They feel like they are valued and so too are their efforts.

Because recognition is one of the top drivers of employee engagement and high employee engagement is vital for the success of a company, all employers who both value their people and want to succeed should either have, or be putting into place, employee recognition initiatives.

Appreciation or recognition?

Before we list some recognition initiatives, it’s important to note that employee recognition is not the same as employee appreciation. Appreciation has more to do with feelings and expression whilst recognition is calling specific attention to something special or well done.

The key is seeing and understanding that both are valuable and needed if you want to create a culture where every employee is ‘loyal’ and engaged. To learn more about the difference as well as how to correctly deliver it, watch this webinar.

Employee recognition initiatives you can implement in your business

There are countless ways to help your employees feel recognised and appreciated from an individual, team, or peer-to-peer level:

  1. Positive feedback – feedback is so easy to share on a regular basis whether that’s in person, over a communication platform like Slack or via email and, in many companies, it just isn’t done frequently enough
  2. Time off/wellness day – with employee health and work-life balance being so important today, you could give an employee an extra day off work or organise a wellness experience – fitness classes, meditation sessions or on-site massages could go down a treat!
  3. Host awards – you could hold quarterly awards at work where each member of your leadership team picks an employee who is doing an exemplary job
  4. Meeting announcements – similarly to the awards, department team leaders can come together before the monthly team meeting and select one/a handful of employees to recognise that have stood out to them recently.
  5. Lunch out – if your team performs especially well one month – say, hits all targets, – you could take them out for a nice meal to simply say well done
  6. Rewards and treats – for those employees who are shining bright, you can offer them an experience or even something branded like an extra hoody, mug, water bottle or notebook
  7. Volunteering – if you know your employees are passionate about helping others, you could offer to sponsor a volunteering day
  8. Small messages – sometimes it’s just nice to come to your desk and find a little sticky note or handwritten letter of thanks
  9. Office goodies – if your team has experienced a tough week, why not offer a round of coffees, a pizza party, or bring in a box or two of treats? Sometimes there doesn’t have to be a reason to do something nice.
  10. Social media praise – social media is proving so useful for companies today. Why not use it to shout out some praise for an employee for a change?

Whether it’s via a full recognition programme or simply by implementing a few small actions to thank and recognise your staff, there are so many ways to show your team you care, whilst helping to make them feel supported and appreciated.

We have given you a head start but it’s also a great idea to ask your team to see if you can come up with some unique recognition initiatives of your own!

For more information on the importance of employee recognition, watch our webinar. Or, if you’re interested in learning more about our employee engagement platform and how it can support with recognition, please book a demo with our team.

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