How to recognise your employees 

Employee recognition can have huge benefits for businesses – how can you recognise employees’ efforts and build an employee recognition programme of your own?

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Work Life

Employee recognition is about acknowledging the successes, accomplishments and hard work of individuals and teams, creating an emotional connection, level of trust and mutual respect between management, leaders and team members. Here are some ways you can recognise your employees. 

Start at the top

According to research by Gallup, the most memorable recognition comes from an employee’s direct manager or the CEO. If a business is trying to promote employee recognition, senior management need to lead the way in order to help create this culture. If they are vocal with their praise, then other people within the businesses will do the same.

Give instant, specific praise

When someone has done something well, like giving a great presentation or completing a particular piece of work, don’t leave it until a formal review to tell them. Be as specific as possible about what was done well, and how they could replicate it in future.

Be personal

If you’re going to give praise, make sure it’s personal. If you’re a smaller company, a quick ‘phone call or face-to-face meeting can be a great way to deliver praise. In a larger company, a personal email will suffice.

Acknowledge when whole teams have done well

Employee recognition doesn’t just have to be given to an individual; sometimes it’s just as rewarding to offer praise to a whole team. Recognise how each member of the team has contributed, be clear about the success and vocalise to the entire company why it was successful. This can also help to inspire other teams.

Be vocal

If someone’s done something well, take the opportunity to tell the whole team. You can do this in meeting, in-person or on a call or by email in relation to a particular success. If you let people know about a great achievement in the business, chances are other employees will follow suit.

Express an interest in professional development

Recognition doesn’t always have to come in the form of direct praise. Taking a clear interest in an employee’s development indicates that you’re invested in their future. Sit down to discuss what they’d like to achieve, projects they’d like to be involved in or new skills they are interested in learning from another team member.

Give bonuses

Employee recognition doesn’t necessarily have to come in a monetary form, but a bonus is a great way to show you value an employee. 

Align employee recognition with your core values

If you’re serious about creating an employee recognition programme, make sure it aligns with your organisation’s core values. Your values should be a guideline for your employees to understand the behaviours you value as an organisation. If employee recognition becomes a key part of your value proposition, everyone is made aware of how important it is to the business and they are likely to take it more seriously.

Try public recognition

There are plenty of ways to encourage team members to recognise great achievements – a bowl where team members can anonymously add a compliment about someone’s work, a points-based recognition feed, or a feedback feature on your HR platform. 

Employ a dedicated member of staff

If you’re really focused on how to show recognition to employees, have someone focus their time on improving your employee recognition programme. Having a go-to person for improving employee recognition ensures that it won’t get forgotten and will stay at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Survey your employees

If you’re unsure what type of recognition employees want, send out a survey to your staff to find out. For some team members, extra holiday, learning and development opportunities, or the chance to do something with their team might be more of an incentive. Send out an online survey to find out what your team would value most and use this to refresh or create your employee recognition programme.

Have perks for everyone to enjoy

Gym memberships, retail discounts, the opportunity to work flexibly whenever employees want to, can help with talent recruitment and employee retention. They are great ways to show whole teams you value their hard work and commitment and are willing to invest in their happiness in the organisation.

Create clear performance metrics

In order to improve employee recognition, it’s important to show how to get there. Make sure there are clear KPIs set in every team and ensure employees know what they can do to reach a certain goal, and what they’ll get when they reach it.

Recognise milestones

Smart businesses know that employee retention saves a lot of money. Celebrating long service or milestones can act as an incentive for employees to stay with you. 

Keep up employee recognition

When work gets particularly busy, employee recognition can slip. If you’re serious about improving employee recognition, it’s important to keep recognising your employees to ensure they feel valued and engaged – if you drop off, so will your team’s motivation.