Following is a collection of ideas that we pulled from HR sources over the last few years. We feel it contains a good framework for anyone attempting to implement formal employee recognition in your organization and help you avoid potential problems that may come as you recognize people in your workplace.
Determine what you want your outcomes
to be
At face value this may appear to be an
obvious step, but too many companies don’t start with this. When you put serious thought into this step,
you will increase the chance that your program will be successful and produce
results. Recognition should reinforce behaviors
that lead to successful conclusions
Emphasize fairness and be
consistent
Anyone who contributes should have an
equal likelihood of receiving recognition for their efforts.
Recognition is not just for the top 10%
Except for the poor performers who
need to be dealt with in other ways, your entire workforce can be motivated to
improve performance. Make sure you look
for all the opportunities to recognize the things that are important to
you. Recognizing only the highest
performer will defeat or dissatisfy all of your other contributors.
Set guidelines so leaders can acknowledge
equivalent and similar contributions
Monitor the performance of your
managers to ensure fairness to all your workers.
Employee recognition approaches and
content must also be inconsistent
Contradictory? No, not really. You
should do what is necessary to make sure your employee recognition efforts do
not become expectations or entitlements.
Be as specific as you can in telling
the individual exactly why he is receiving the recognition
The purpose of feedback is to
reinforce what you’d like to see the employee do more of; the purpose of
employee recognition is the same. In fact, employee recognition is one of the
most powerful forms of feedback that you can provide.
Avoid “Employees of the Month” type
programs
The most
overused employee recognition system is the “Employee of Month”. If you want to build a strong culture of engagement, you should always be
looking for ways to recognize your employees!
You shouldn’t be meeting once a month to try to find just the right
one. Having a recognition culture that
recognizes and rewards on an often basis, even using diminimous awards to save
budget dollars, will provide a great deal more engagement and employee
satisfaction than an Employee of the Month program.
Offer employee recognition as close
to the event you are recognizing as possible
When a person performs positively,
provide recognition and a thank you immediately. This will positively affect the employee’s
confidence and ability to do well in your organization.
Remember that employee recognition is
viewed differently by different employees
Each individual has a preference for
what he finds rewarding and how that recognition is most effective for him. One
person may enjoy public recognition at a staff meeting; another prefers a
private note in her personnel file. The best way to determine what an employee finds rewarding is
to ask.
Recognition programs are about changing behavior
Any time you reinforce
employee performance with recognition, you are in the process of changing
behavior. Tangible reinforcement (an
award) can go a long way to changing this behavior into a habit. Awards do not have to be expensive to be
appreciated. Whenever possible, allow
the employees to choose what they want instead of giving them something you
want them to have.
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