Employee recognition is relatively cheap, yet it has a extremely high payoff in terms of morale, reduction in staff turnover, and most importantly customer satisfaction. We would say part of the difficulty is that when you work with employees for a protracted amount of time, it’s difficult to find original ways to recognize them.
Employee recognition is a tool that reinforces and rewards employees for positive actions, and encourages them to continue these behaviors in the future. You are able to strengthen the actions and behaviors you most want to see repeated. Employee recognition isn’t rocket science – it is an obvious thing to do. Despite the unquestioned gains arising from employee recognition, one of the problems in the workplace is that recognition customarily is done badly, if done at all. Which employee wouldn’t like to be honored for his continuous service in a company? Employee recognition is a proven management tool that can be used to dramatically improve workplace satisfaction and loyalty. Even a small gift can lift employee’s motivation considerably.
Some employee recognition ideas include: comp time off with pay, a gift certificate to a favorite retailer, or a dinner for two (or four) and a local eating establishment. Some of the things that employees don’t really appreciate are the things that companies like to hand out most and include items like logo merchandise (pens, notepads) and apparel (shirts, jackets) unless they are highly desirable and of the highest quality. You may want to consider some more personal rewards such as tickets to a favorite sports team, movie theatre, or drama.