If you don’t yet have an employee recognition program set up inside your company and you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about, this short article is for you.
We’ll cut through the clutter and get to the heart of the matter, then outline in broad strokes how you can go about creating one. If that sounds good to you, let’s jump right in and take a closer look!
First let’s talk about the why. The reason you need a recognition program of some kind at your company is this: Study after study confirms that the workforce is changing. As it changes, the needs that drive your employees change, by definition.
Gone are the days when paying someone a decent hourly wage was enough to keep them. Your employees want more than that. They want to be recognized for their achievements, both by you and by their peers. If they can’t get that recognition from you, sooner or later, they’re going to get it from somewhere else. On that day, you’ll find yourself losing your best and brightest talent.
The bottom line is that an employee recognition program improves morale, increases productivity and increases your employee retention rate. Those are powerful benefits, and they’re yours for the taking, which brings us to the how.
Setting up an employee recognition program is both easier and harder than you think. In its simplest form, your recognition program could be little more than a ‘recognition wall’ where every month, you place a plaque with the name of an employee who did an outstanding job in the service of your company.
That’s a decent start but of course, that’s only the beginning. If you truly want your recognition program to be effective, you’re going to need buy in from both your management team and your employees themselves.
Start by having a meeting. Bring everyone together and tell them you’re considering creating a recognition program. Ask your employees themselves for input. Form an employee-based committee to help you design and implement the recognition program. Make them a vital part of the process.
By giving them some ability to shape not only the form and structure of the program but how awards and recognition are handled, you’ll be amazed at the level of enthusiasm and buy in you get.
Naturally you, as the company’s owner, have the final say in its form and structure, and you’ll do well to provide your employee committee with some guidance about the kinds of behaviors and accomplishments you’re most interested in recognizing, but once you’ve given them some parameters to work with, by all means, step back and see what they can create from those parameters.
Remember, you have the final say so if what they come up with isn’t to your liking, you can always tweak or change it, or send them back to the drawing board to try again.
The process should be fun and iterative and by the end, you’ll have a robust recognition program that everyone from you to your managers to your employees will be proud of!