Developing staff recognition program

While nice words are welcome from anyone, workplace recognition matters most when it comes from a direct supervisor. Make sure to involve supervisors in the recognition and reward process. It needs to be well thought out. Even with a committee focused solely on recognition activities, it can be difficult for small business owners to dole out positive words—but practice can make perfect.

Make sure the recognition is relationship based; there should be real emotions behind it. Skip to content. Business Cards. Payment Solutions. International Payments. Business Class. Katie Morell Freelance Writer and editor, Self-employed. They have a live interactive recognition dashboard, providing engagement and recognition results in real time. We know that through effective recognition strategies, rewards and analytics, companies can lower their staff turnover, engage a diverse workforce and track measurable results.

So you have decided which behaviours need to be recognised. You already have a predefined budget for your program, so deciding on your reward mix will be easy enough. Take a look at these ideas:. The rewards you offer can be as creative as you wish them to be. There are companies dedicated to developing highly personalised rewards strategies based on your companies needs.

Take a look at GET Rewards, they are a one-stop shop offering a full rewards suite that can also be tailored to your needs. Their awareness, ability and commitment to using recognition on an ongoing basis will determine the success of your recognition program. The kind of training that you provide your managers with will be dependent on the type of recognition program you plan on running; whether it be formal, informal or a top-down approach.

You will also need to take into consideration the resources and budget that have been made available for the holistic implementation of your program. You must provide the right resources as well as the perfect environment for the training needs of your managers. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to training and you may want to embrace a combination of the training techniques listed below, depending on how your managers prefer to do their learning.

Encourage your managers to note recognition opportunities that they have taken advantage of in the past, as well as any that they may have missed out on. These examples can be shared with the other managers and provide the perfect opportunity to foster a discussion on areas that managers may be struggling with and how they can improve upon these.

It incorporates micro-moments of learning to drive improved job performance and development. This learning is delivered in rich media formats such as apps, video and even animation.

This ease of use and access means that your employees have the opportunity to learn well, but also quickly in formats that are well suited to their needs. We also need to look through the skills that leaders and managers should have to make them effective in the recognition process.

Training cannot be a one-time event that only happens during the build up and initial launch of the recognition program. It should effectively only be the first step of a longer-term process. Regular training is well worth the investment as building up recognition skills within the company keeps your employees more engaged, encouraging them to improve their productivity and quality of work.

An organised training plan will help provide more structure and will also allow managers to know what to expect.

Therefore, before you jump in headfirst, it may be important to take a step back and think about these key areas:. Training your managers to effectively implement recognition will help them become better at coaching their teams to success and also successfully expand the reach of your recognition program.

The fact of the matter is anything new has to be reinforced several times before it becomes second nature. We all love raising a glass, taking a moment to high-five someone or throw a punch of accomplishment in the air. The sweet smell of success and achievement is something every employee, manager and company owner can relate to.

And how does celebration fit into the objectives and structure of your overall recognition program? As a part of that responsibility, you may want to consider them for the ideation, planning and creativity for the events and celebrations element to your program. So what resources have been made available to the celebration of employee recognition and appreciation within your organisation?

You need to plan an event and celebration calendar to make sure you keep up your program momentum up. These are only a few examples of the kinds of events you can include in your recognition calendar. This kind of forward thinking and strategic planning will ensure that you never lose the momentum you gain after the launch of your program. The key will be to put some real time into this.

You will want to make sure that it's highly personalised and contextual to your employees and organisation. The flip to that is making sure to organise special events, maybe every quarter, so roughly, four of these can be hosted in a year leading towards the year-end top event. These special events can be things like awards celebrations, where you really make the effort of celebrating excellent performance by employees on a quarterly basis. Appreciation, as we know goes a long way in the motivation of your program.

You will need to record all your event costs from the venue to the cost of food and drinks etc. Once you do you need to make them easily accessible for all the event attendees. You can also spend some time designing and writing a newsletter mailer that will update the rest of the organisation on the event and the various award winners.

You can select a few images to include in the newsletter. You can also spend some time embedding them into an internal company mailer or webpage. Images should be put up on your bulletin boards.

These images can be changed every quarter with new event images. If you are using an employee recognition platform like bountiXP you have the option of loading event information and company wide messages to the platform.

This provides a central place for messages to be dispersed. How do you harness a variety of employee recognition opportunities through the avenue of an event or celebration? The key here is to harness creativity and uniqueness to provide meaningful experiences that make your employees feel appreciated. You will need to accurately track levels of participation and the overall experience of the events hosted.

This needs to be done in order to provide you with a strategy for continuous improvement. Groupon celebrates employees Grouponiversarys by presenting them with a top of the range bright green Adidas jacket. Employees are also able to personalise their jacket with a nickname. This has helped create a sense of team and builds toward a positive company culture. It may be worthwhile putting up a plaque in a central place of your building, to act as a reminder and to show off your organisations achievements.

The goal with this is to show genuine care, excitement and celebration with your employee on their special day. These celebrations aid the success and ongoing implementation of your recognition program. It is a basic human need to feel appreciated and respected for a job well done. Recognising this at quarterly or annual events may not be enough to give your company the engagement and culture boost it needs. Workplaces change.

People change. Companies change. Gone are the days of traditional, physical rewards like a shiny gold watch on your five-year work anniversary. In fact, Bersin by Deloitte found that tenure based recognition and rewards actually had no effect on organisational performance and did very little to improve staff retention. Think of your Facebook feed. Linda could have shared that last photo of her pet Labrador in a private message to her loved ones, but no, she shared it on Facebook to all of her friends to get as many likes and comments as possible.

The onus of recognition no longer sits solely on the shoulders of leaders and managers within an organisation. Instead, everyone is now expected to be involved. The art of recognising your employees is more of a marathon than a sprint. In order to win the race at the end, companies should be setting themselves up to improve mile upon mile.

A key consideration to any program change should always be employee feedback. Company goals should never be ignored in your recognition program. The sales division of a major corporate company, looking for rapid expansion into the African market, for example, might decide to include a recognition method specifically for new sales into Africa, encouraging and engaging staff to focus on a key area for the company.

The other key factor to consider on a constant basis is exactly what you deem worthy of recognition. After all, all of these behaviours are directly related to significant moments within your company, like new sales, awards or project launches. Whilst peer-to-peer recognition is on the rise internationally, the key to maintaining the success of a recognition program remains the buy-in from management.

The added bonus of involvement from management in the recognition program means they will be able to interpret the results of the program far better. Those measurements, however, often take time to reflect and be evaluated. There are tools and techniques to measure the effectiveness of a program in real time, providing comprehensive views into the likes of:.

All of which provide the metrics to calculate what management is often concerned with most; the ROI of the program. The simplest, and often most effective manner in determining the results of a recognition program, however, is simply to ask. Naturally, you can ask around the office verbally. Free online survey tools such as Survey Monkey or Google forms, however, are easy, quick and cost-effective ways for management to judge the reaction to a program simply and anonymously.

The concept is not limited to developer teams. Short cycles of development for recognitions methods and layers, punctuated by short periods of review will allow your company to deliver constant and effective improvements to your program, as the needs of your company and your staff change.

The effective construction of your recognition program lies within your strategy, your planning and your level of effective communication and structure implementation. Technology is enabling the world to move faster and as a result companies are innovating at rapid rates. The demands for seamless customer experiences are yearning to be met.

We have never needed our employees more. With bounti XP. So where and how do you start? Align employee recognition with your organisational goals.

Develop a robust employee recognition strategy. Launch a social recognition program that your employees will love. Plan your program commitments. Identify your key program role players Manage and measure your program for effectiveness and impact. Communicate strategically to encourage high levels of employee adoption. Part 1: Setting the scene for Employee recognition. Part What is employee recognition? There are four types of recognition Recognising people Recognising work Recognising dedication Recognising results But, what does employee recognition do?

On-the-spot rewards and real-time recognition encourages intrinsic motivation. Short story: Jill is an events manager who has a big event with complex logistical requirements to pull off in record time. The day of the event everything goes according to plan and is dubbed the event of the year! Recognition vs. Part 2: The business case for employee recognition. The business case for employee recognition Did you know companies that excel in employee recognition are 12 times more likely to have strong company outcomes?

Employee engagement is not a destination. Now for the good news… Recognition is highly correlated to increased employee engagement. The worst of all? Chapter Do you need employee recognition? According to a WorldAtWork Trends in Employee Recognition report, , the most frequently cited goals employers want to achieve are: Recognition for years of service.

Motivate high performance. Reinforce desired behaviours. Support organisational mission and values. Increase employee morale. Increase employee retention and decrease turnover. It fulfils a human motivational need.

It affects heart rhythms that directly impact mental and physical performance. It can positively impact the bottom line. So how do you choose an employee recognition program that suits your company and its goals? The good news? Therefore you need to choose a program that will help you: Clearly define recognition goals and targets.

Create a measurement system that defines program performance metrics. Link recognition opportunities to strategic priorities. Implement easy registration and onboarding across your company. Recognise exceptional performance with day-to-day, informal and formal recognition types. Drive program comittment with company-wide social engagement likes, posts, comments.

Administer intrinsic e. Create strategic dialogue, targeted one-on-one communication and announcements. Aligning your company goals to your recognition program Recognising employees is a great way to really live out your company values.

The key to a successful employee recognition program? How many of your employees know or are able to list your values? A Google search will tell us that values are: A set of ideals or beliefs that are accepted or fought against by individuals or groups. Just in case you were wondering So how do you actually create this alignment? Short story: The role of connectedness in motivation Are you building a cathedral or laying bricks?

Recognition strategy To inspire exceptional performances, collaboration and engagement amongst your employees, you have to develop a solid recognition strategy for your company. A well-documented recognition strategy starts with the end in mind.

Establish strategic goals for your recognition program At the heart of every successful employee recognition program is a refined strategy. Take a look at the shortlist of recommended best-practice strategic recognition goals to help answer this question: Recommended best-practice strategic goals To improve employee engagement. To create and instil a culture of recognition.

To consolidate all recognition programs into one overall focused strategy. To align employees with your mission, goals and values. To recognise and reinforce desired behaviours. To recognise and drive desired performance results. To motivate individual and team performance, to positively impact employee performance. How to translate your strategic goals into meaningful objectives At what point would your recognition program be deemed successful? To illustrate the positive impact that employee recognition has on management and employee perceptions on: alignment to company goals attitude towards work motivation levels performance at work retention management practices Improve employee engagement To realise a positive correlation between recognition and improvement in employee engagement scores 3.

Here are some great questions to ask in determining eligibility for your program as well as which teams or individuals will be included or excluded from the program: — Who needs to participate in the program in order to achieve the strategic goals and objectives?

Determine the size of your program investment Central to the success of your recognition program is to determine how it will be resourced. Leadership and management responsibility Behind every great recognition program is a great management team.

Some of the responsibilities of senior leadership and management could include: To actively participate in the recognition program. Commit to the granular details of program implementation: To ensure the program is implemented with operational excellence including multiple levels of penetration across your company and to increase the frequency of recognition within your company.

To support and drive management participation and where possible. This could include recognition measures in scorecards so that people are measured and encouraged to perform specific values-based behaviours. To ensure they practice what they preach, show public support and to actively embody the culture of recognition. To present and participate in regular recognition review sessions. Mobilise any other other senior leaders and managers to endorse the program via communications.

So how can you empower your program administrators? Moving towards program delivery excellence. Program measurement How to effectively measure your recognition program. A statement not a question… Many companies cannot wait to get their companies or various departments running on a recognition program. What areas of your program should you be measuring? Program implementation: Why do we measure program implementation? So how exactly do you measure implementation?

This makes our hearts happy. In no time you will have your employees participating to see how it all works. Employee satisfaction: Measuring employee satisfaction allows you to really benchmark your recognition efforts.

Most commonly, organisations adopt the employee satisfaction index known as the ESI. How satisfied are you with your current workplace and job? How well does your workplace meet your expectations? How close is your current workplace to your ideal workplace? These questions will need to be asked on a scale of , where 10 is perfection.

But, how do you conduct these surveys? Do you feel proud to say you work at this company? Would you refer a friend to work at this company? So how often should you be measuring your levels of employee satisfaction? It is short, approximately between 1 and 5 questions long, and is very specific.

Pulse surveys are great because it is: Conducted frequently and obtaining pockets of relevant feedback enables organisations to respond much faster to employee challenges. Useful for focusing on specific areas of improvement or business objectives. Shorter, so the chances of employees completing it honestly is significantly higher. Excellent method to evaluate the effects of organisational changes.

Important for gathering real-time insights into your workforce. A great way to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and communication. Productivity measures: Tracking the levels of productivity from before the implementation of a recognition program to the levels of productivity you are experiencing during the implementation period, will be a primary metric to understanding all your recognition efforts.

What was your percentage of retention before program implementation? What was your turnover percentage before program implementation? What were your levels of productivity before program implementation? Once you know those statistics - measure them again six months after program launch. Points budget utilisation: Your program budget is a pre-determined amount per employee.

Key takeaways for effective measurement of your recognition program So what do all these metrics have in common? They are all used to determine the effectiveness of your program. So what are companies like Zappos doing to overcome this disengagement crisis?

Great, tick those bad boys off your recognition to-do list. Communicating the recognition process. Communicating whether there will be a launch or any events during this process. Communicating if there are any technical tools participants would need to familiarise themselves with. So how do we achieve this? Your organisation has overall company objectives, do you know what they are? Communicate the program process: So you know what the process is. So what are the different types of behaviours that could merit recognition?

Workmates is a powerful communication, engagement, and rewards and recognition platform that gives you everything you need out of your recognition program.

Highlighting exemplary behavior becomes fun and encourages future recognition and effort. In Workmates, top kudos recipients are showcased on a prominent leaderboard. We use cookies to improve your browsing experience. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy. Employee Engagement. Quick links. Back to top.

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