You probably know many of the statistics around employee recognition. That recognition can double employee engagement. That a 10% increase in employee engagement can increase profitability by $2,400 per year per employee. And so on.
But, you may have also read that 75% of companies have some sort of a recognition program, but only about half of employees know about their employer’s recognition program.
Having a recognition program is important, but it can be intimidating to start one or revamp an older program. That’s why we’ve put together a list of 10 tips you can implement today to turn your employee recognition program into one that inspires engagement and encourages flow experiences. If you are just starting one, these 10 tips will help you create a motivational recognition program.
Defining a Successful Employee Recognition Program
Let’s take a moment to define what a successful and inspiring recognition program aims to do. Each company may have a different focus or measure of success for their recognition program. But, most companies strive to create a recognition program that does the following things:
- Increases employee engagement
- Lengthens retention
- Builds connections between the employee and the workplace
- Sets standards around workplace values
- Increase peak experiences in flow
- Express appreciation for employees
As you create your employee recognition program, it’s important to remember the reasons for your recognition program so you can maintain the right focus.
1. Start Where You Are In Recognition
When it comes to employee recognition, it can be easy to wait a while while you try and get the program lined up. But, too often, employers wait months and sometimes years before they finally set up a program.
Analysis paralysis causes doubt about the myriad of options and choices in employee recognition. That doubt can lead to a paralysis that keeps employers from implementing an employee recognition program because of the fear that the wrong choice will be made.
Instead, it’s best to start where you are and make changes as needed. Showing up, however imperfectly, is still 100 times better than not showing up at all.
And most employers find that once they have started an employee recognition program, it’s a lot easier to change direction when you have momentum than it is to change while standing still.
So, get started and work with the parts of employee recognition that already exist, whether it’s work anniversaries, birthday celebrations, or one large annual event.
2. Incorporate Peer Recognition
Take advantage of the power of peer recognition by getting all your employees involved. Peers can have twice the impact on employee performance than managers. (But don’t discount the influence of managers either).
There are many reasons why peer recognition can be so powerful. It’s sincere, usually timely, and specific, and it builds the relationship between peers. Additionally, peer recognition has been shown to increase those feelings in the colleague giving the recognition, not just to the one receiving it.
Both the giver and receiver experience feelings of happiness and greater connection. Peer recognition increases employee engagement twice as fast as employer-led recognition because twice as many employees enjoy the recognition benefits.
3. Incorporate Recognition Software
While at it’s core, recognition doesn’t require software, it’s a good idea to incorporate technology into your recognition program. Technology makes it easier and faster for employees to recognize others that aren’t in their immediate vicinity.
Millennials care about the right technology and want to interact with technology more. Outdated employers are often viewed as behind the times. Up-to-date technology can encourage and facilitates recognition.
Recognition technology can help you tract who is participating in recognition, highlight star employees that may fall under the radar, and make it easier for employees to connect. Good recognition software provides the tools for remote and on-site employees to participate in recognition.
Points can be shared, awarded, or donated. Employees can choose which awards are the most meaningful to them, which means that the awards you spend money on are the most effective.
4. Understand the Difference Between Awards and Rewards
Many managers confuse rewards with awards. If you do a search online about recognition rewards, you’ll see plenty of articles that confuse the terminology. Simply put, rewards are used as a “bait” for employees to change their behavior.
Employees are incentivized to change something and do better for a set period of time. But, for the reward to be effective, it has to grow in size. Otherwise, the resentment employees feel for losing control over their choices overcomes their natural desire to do a good job. As a result, rewards tend to decrease employee performance overtime.
Rewards eliminate intrinsic motivation. But, awards are different. Awards are not used to control employee behavior but to inspire it.
When a manager gives a reward, they tell employees, “If you’ll do X, I’ll give you Y.” Employees jump through the hoops and they get the reward. But, once the reward is obtained, the behavior reverts back to the original behavior. Even those employees who previously did the behavior un-rewarded often stop performing the behavior.
But, when a manager notices some employees doing an action without an incentive and give recognition of that behavior, it is an award. Awards are not guaranteed rewards for behavior. Employees don’t always get an award. It’s not consistent. It’s not “payment” for behavior.
Awards are approached as a “Thank You” for behavior. They are given sometimes, but not always.
Awards should be a part of a recognition program but should not be as frequent as simple, straightforward recognition. It’s far more important to say (write, announce) “Thank You” than it is to gift something with that thanks.
5. Measure Recognition Goals
One of the benefits of good recognition software is the ability to provide reports. Those who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them than those who just think their goals. Those who track their progress toward their goals have an even higher success rate.
If you don’t measure the impact of your recognition program, its hard to know how effective it is or what kind of an impact it’s having on your employees. As you implement recognition software, choosing one with reporting tools is important.
The Thanks platform, for example, can highlight which employees are giving the most recognition, departments that are struggling with recognition, and what types of recognition are most often given, among dozens of other reports.
6. Allow Autonomy in Recognition
Autonomy is a critical aspect of engagement because it’s one of our core needs. But, allowing autonomy to employees can feel like giving up control and be frightening for many managers. After all, allowing employees to choose when and for what to recognize others can mean they may recognize for the wrong behaviors or focus on behaviors that aren’t as important as those you want ot focus on.
But, providing autonomy to employees to recognize others will make the program more successful and has a greater impact on engagement across the company.
There are several ways to provide greater autonomy within your recognition program. First, give employees points that they can give away when they recognize others. This allows employees to have a say in the awards and who gets them.
Second, don’t dictate the frequency, means, or types of recognition employees must give. And, don’t make a mistake to “reward” employees for giving out recognition.
Lastly, allow employees to use their award points for the items that they value. When employees can use their points how they want to, the money spent on awards is used for the items that mean the most to employees and are most likely to incentivize them.
7. Inspire, Not Require
Don’t require employees to give recognition a set number of times. If your recognition program penalizes employees who don’t participate, it won’t be effective and recognition won’t be sincere. Encourage employees to recognize and inspire recognition through management example and workplace culture. As employees feel belonging at work and are recognized, even more hesitant employees will start to participate in recognition fully.
8. Teach Managers About Effective Recognition
For recognition to be effective, it must happen promptly. The sooner after the event or behavior is observed, the more effective the recognition will help encourage similar behavior.
Managers who wait until an annual event to recognize rarely see a behavior change. Likewise, monthly and weekly meetings should not be the only, or the first, time an employee is recognized. Instead, employees should be immediately recognized. Then, if they are also recognized at a later meeting, it can reinforce that behavior.
Recognition should also be personal. “You are all great” is an example of poor recognition (if that’s all that’s said). It should be individual to the person being recognized (or to the team being recognized). Recognition should be specific to the behavior that is being recognized.
Instead of saying “you did great yesterday,” teach managers to be specific. A manager who says “you really put in the effort to help us catch up and handle a difficult customer yesterday and that made a huge impact on our morale,” will have a greater impact than general praise.
9. Get Employee Feedback
Don’t forget to get employee feedback as you roll out your recognition program. Employee feedback will help you to fix the bugs in the program and focus on the parts that are working. Every workplace is different so it’s especially important to listen to what your employees value and to get their observations about the program.
Employee feedback helps to increase engagement in a recognition program because it grants additional autonomy to employees as they have input into the program. It also helps managers grasp things that may be broken or playing out differently than expected.
You can get feedback through meetings where employees are encouraged to give feedback, surveys, or during individual meetings.
10. Recognize Teams
Lastly, don’t forget to recognize teams as you deploy your recognition program. When individuals feel like a part of a team, they do better. It can be easy to recognize shining star employees who make a drastic difference, but its just as important to recognize the ways in which the team worked together and overcame differences to achieve a goal.
Even remote employees report working harder when they feel like they are a part of a team. Teams become a critical part of work culture so team recognition becomes foundational for any recognition program.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.