Employees respond to appreciation at work, especially when it’s expressed through recognition of their efforts because it confirms their work is valued. A simple thank you goes a long way and will not only make your employees feel good, but will actually benefit your business in the process. Here’s how:
6 benefits of Employee Recognition
1. Productivity
It’s well-known that engaged staff are significantly more productive, working efficiently and proactively in order to do a good job. If efforts are likely to be praised and rewarded, then it makes sense that a member of staff will work harder to receive such employee recognition
2. Job satisfaction
Recognising an employee’s efforts demonstrates that the job they’re doing is valuable to the business. It sends the message that their hard work is worth rewarding and therefore must be important. This, in turn, makes the individual feel that they are making a difference.
3. Employee happiness
A happy and fulfilled employee can be motivated to perform better because of the positive feeling they have towards the company. If an employer treats its staff with respect and gratitude, then those staff members will want to do a good job in return. This positivity can also be felt across the business, creating a happy working environment that people will want to be a part of.
4. Retention
A high staff turnover leads to poor morale that can make others want to look elsewhere. The time required to find and train new staff affects utilisation and the fiscal costs are high, so retaining staff has to be a priority. The provision of rewards gives employees a tangible reason to stay.
A happy and fulfilled employee can be motivated to perform better because of the positive feeling they have towards the company.
5. Loyalty
If your employees are engaged with your business, they will be able to promote and sell your brand far better than someone who does not believe in or care about it. Rewarding hard work generates loyalty and helps your team to feel an emotional bond with your organisation.
6. Team culture
Rewards that incorporate peer-to-peer recommendations are great for team spirit, as they encourage staff to see the positive attributes in one another. Teams are well-placed to do this, as they work alongside each other every day. Plus, allowing colleagues to nominate one another for rewards is empowering, as it demonstrates that they value each other’s opinion.
How should you provide rewards and recognition?
Employee recognition programme
The most efficient way to provide a staff incentives scheme is via a structured employee recognition programme, which is run on an online platform. This places all the information at both management and employees’ fingertips, allowing the entire business to easily engage with it. Employee Rewards are visible to staff to provide an added incentive to work hard. Performance metrics are also visible to the senior team, so that they can monitor progress and proactively recognise efforts at appropriate times. This kind of platform is straightforward and inexpensive to implement, while making it easy to reward your staff, so high performance does not get overlooked.
What should your employee rewards programme include?
To get your scheme up and running, there are five key areas that should be featured:
- Peer-to-peer recognition – empower your staff to celebrate each other
- Long-service awards – celebrate milestones to shout about loyal staff
- Instant recognition – visible performance metrics to reward employees immediately, rather than delaying until a standardised time, like Christmas
- Rewards –desirable wins, so staff will work hard to achieve them
It’s also important to tailor your scheme to your organisation, so it reflects your culture and brand. Run in the right way, an employee recognition scheme will have a huge impact on your business.
