What Do Successful Recognition Programs Accomplish?

If your recognition initiatives hit these FIVE "E's," you're on your way to a successful and sustainable program with increased employee engagement and improved morale!

ENGAGE .  First, you must capture the attention of the participants - and this means ALL participants, leadership on down.  This engagement will create a CULTURE OF RECOGNITION rather than "just another program."

EDUCATE.  Everyone must understand the rules of engagement and they must be simple and attainable for the entire population.  Everyone must have an equal opportunity to participate and be recognized.  Nothing will kill a program faster than the perception that only a few chosen employees will ever be eligible.

EXCITE.  Once the rules of engagement have been established and communicated, you

must REINFORCE the communication so you are able to generate ongoing excitement.  This is the "water cooler effect" - the office "buzz" around the program that has participants enthusiastic and eager to play.  This is often the most difficult element to achieve as it must be sustained.  You must stay creative, keep changing things up, and continuously solicit your employees for feedback.

ENCOURAGE.  Once the program is up and running, KPI's are in place, and you have selected the

award component, you must continuously ENCOURAGE.  Your program should be established with large and small behaviors that are both achievable and aspirational to everyone. Frequency, frequency, frequency and lots of public recognition.

EVALUATE.  Finally, you must have a measurement tool in place to evaluate program success.  Engagement is an amorphous thing - it's hard to get your arms around   Engagement is a Practice, not a Goal.  Don't let it just be a "vanity metric."  Decide what spells success for your organization and do regular assessments and evaluations of results.

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