There is tremendous value in employee recognition programs. Your employees work as hard as you do. They are the ones who interface with your customers, fulfill the orders, assemble the products, manage the inventory, and generate sales. Your employees are spending a significant portion of their lives every week helping you achieve your dreams. All they want in return, besides their paycheck, is an acknowledgment of their hard work.
Putting together an employee recognition program is a great way to show employees that you appreciate their hard work. The program can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. They can encompass something as basic as a public thank you to the giving of employee recognition awards. What is most important is that your workers should feel that the recognition they receive is worth the effort they put in on the job.
This is where a lot of employers go wrong with their employee recognition programs. Someone who puts in 50 or 60 hours a week to ensure that the company meets their production deadlines may not feel particularly rewarded with a pat on the back and a “Nice Job”, especially if they had to give up time with their family to do it. A better way to thank your employee would be to give them a gift certificate to a family restaurant so they can take the spouse and children out for a nice dinner. This way, you are actually thanking the entire family for their sacrifice.
Other creative ideas for employee recognition include:
* Taking out an ad in the newspaper that publically thanks the employee for all of their hard work. This works especially well with an employee of the month program.
* Status upgrades for a limited time. For example, they get to park in a premium parking space for a month or you allow them to take longer breaks than everyone else.
* Gifting the employee 6 months to a year’s worth of their favorite things. For example, you can buy them gift certificates to the local movie theatre if they are a movie buff. This requires that you take the time to get to know your employees.
* Ask them what they would like in their employee recognition program. Many employers are scared to do this because they are afraid the employee would ask for something outrageous. Most employees will be reasonable about their requests. If you are still squeamish then, by all means, set some rules regulating requests.
Showing your employees how much you appreciate their hard work with an employee recognition program will go a long way towards earning their trust and loyalty. And companies with employees who truly care have people who will work hard to make it a success.
About the Author
MicroInfoSource is a knowledge blog that provides tidbits of useful information on a range of topics including marketing, home based business, holidays, fashion, home improvement, celebrities, product reviews, and much more.
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