The Benefits Of Starting Employee Recognition Programs

The Benefits Of Starting Employee Recognition Programs If  youve been  running  a business for any length of time, you quickly recognize the value of engaged employees. In order to continue to encourage  this  enthusiasm,  you  have  to  do  a lot more than pay your employees well. While money, of course, is an important incentive, its not the only thing that motivates employees. People also work hard for the sheer joy of being recognized for their accomplishments. While there is some personal satisfaction in a job well  done, this feeling of making progress is amplified when others also  notice. Its gratifying for an employee to have others see what they have managed to accomplish.  For  this, and other reasons, you need to find formal ways of initiating  employee recognition  programs. Lets take a closer look at how to recognize employees  who go the extra mile  to benefit your company,  at why  employee  recognition  is important, and at what  the  results you  might expect    if you  simply take your employees efforts for granted: How to  recognize  employees  accomplishments. While a few words of recognition by a manager will probably make your employees day, you will achieve far more if you create an award-giving  night during which time you recognize  employees  exemplary  accomplishments  before the entire  company.  Custom awards, like handing out plaques or trophies as the audience claps, puts the finishing  touch  to  your  presentation,  a way to immortalize the wonderful evening  for prize-winning employees and their family and friends. Another way of recognizing employee accomplishments is by tying it in  with goal setting. So,  for example,  if you want to achieve a certain sales figure by the end of the year, you can create a contest for your sales team. Perhaps, you could reward the top five performers with a week-long  family vacation to a five-star  hotel in  Hawaii. Then, of course, you could always recognize employee achievements through cash rewards like spiffs, bonuses, and other forms of compensation well above their regular paychecks. Naturally, you dont have to have just one form of  employee recognition.  You can have multiple programs running at the same time. There is no reason, for instance, why you cant  have  an  awards  night,  a  contest that awards  special performance with a wonderful  grand  prize,  and  offer many financial incentives  during  the  course  of  the  year. Why  employee  recognition  is important. When you create  formal employee recognition  program,  you set off a chain reaction of wonderful events. A positive spiral, if you will, of positive benefits. Here are a few things that might happen: You might notice that employees start to increase productivity. Not only those who won awards, but also those who aspire to get ahead in the company.  Positive reinforcement in the workplace  is a way of encouraging excellence, and it creates a desire among top employee to produce even more exemplary behavior.   Heres how: Stimulates greater  companywide  awareness  of  what  role models  do to  perform  well enough to  achieve  outstanding  results. Increases general levels of employee satisfaction  because employees begin to feel that they are working for a company that cares for them. You might even find employees  who  are  now  actually enjoying  their  work  more. The level of complaining drops in all departments and more time is spent in staying focused on work. You might see both individuals and teams ask for feedback to better understand how well they are doing. Customers,  too,  notice  that  company employees are more helpful in finding ways  to serve them better. As a result, customer satisfaction and  loyalty  will improve over time. What to expect  if you  simply take your employees efforts for granted. If you dont do anything different to make employees feel special,  then they will not bother to ask for any feedback on whether or not they are doing a good job. There will also be no noticeable difference in productivity, nor in customer satisfaction. And teamwork among employees will continue to be uncoordinated and unremarkable. However, if things  deteriorate  below mediocrity,  then you can expect it to be more difficult to retain quality employees and there will be a generally higher level of employee  turnover. Safety records may fall below standards, with more accidents on the job. And you might notice a correlation between an increase in overall  negativity, more  stress on the job, and higher rates of absenteeism. In  conclusion, the difference between going out of your way to make employees feel  good  about their work to not giving them  any  special attention,  or even in making your company a  gloomy  place,  is something that you will be able  to  measure.  Happy  employees  will  improve the bottom line while discontented employees will help increase costs and decrease profits.