“People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards.” -Dale Carnegie.
The corporate culture you boast about can have a huge impact on your bottom line. It is been known that when employees feel appreciated they are ready to out more efforts to assist the organization to reach its objectives. There are a number of ways to show your employees that they are important. Here are some of the wonderful employee recognition ideas that can assist you making a difference in your efficiency levels and profit margins.
• Keep it personal
It doesn’t matter if you are rewarding great performance with monetary incentives or giving certificates to outstanding performers, you must try and include a personal touch with every reward. Just including a bonus in pay check won’t have the same effect as giving the check to your employee with a smile and humble handshake.
• Try to find out what team members want
It is important to give employees the recognition that they desire, and you can know what your people want by having a straight forward, simple conversation with them. In some organizations, a wall of top achievers who delivered great performances is a huge hit. Other teams may prefer a more personalized gift. When you put in efforts to personalize the award to your employees, you will create more interest in the program.
• Empower other staff members
Managers are not aware of every small thing, but the people on the floor are well aware that who is putting extra efforts and deserves recognition. You can try a simple system where people can nominate their colleagues for the recognition or the award.
• Honor the teams
In most of the cases, it is a team effort that leads to winning members. While you may be interested to focus on the top performer, the fact is that this employee may not have succeeded without an effective support system. Be sure to offer parties and awards that all the members of a team can be part of.
• Make it fun
Your aim may be to give a small award every time an employee achieves a particular target, but this can get boring. Make it more exciting by adding an element of surprise. Instead of clear-cut, obvious incentives, use a roulette wheel, drawings and scratch off tickets. When there is a probability that they will get something exciting, they will put more efforts in their work.
• Give work hour flexibility
Sometimes, the best reward is a little more flexibility in working hours. Even if you can’t give your employees an extra leave for outstanding performance, you may be able to give them little flexibility during the office hours. They will feel valued and enjoy the change in routine.
When you have a team of hard working people, it is essential to show that you are aware and appreciate them. Whether you give monetary incentives or some other type of rewards, you can augment efficiency levels and decrease employee turnover.