The Importance of Employee Recognition

Your employees are the most important asset of your business and deserve recognition. When employees feel they are recognized, they are engaged, they work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. An engaged team is a successful team.

A recent survey found that Employee recognition has larger impact on engagement, productivity than salary.

The survey, which polled more than 4,200 employees and more than 1,600 human resources leaders, also found 64 per cent of employees would prefer to receive more meaningful recognition as opposed to more frequent recognition. The top three components of meaningful recognition are something specific an employee did, something they valued and the way they made a difference to the person who sent the recognition.

Half (53 per cent) of employees who believe their work isn’t authentically recognized by their employer are actively looking for a new job, compared to 27 per cent who believe their employer’s recognition is authentic, according to a survey by Gallup Inc. for software company Workhuman.

10 employee rewards and recognition ideas

Not sure how to best show your staff members that you value them? Here are 10 time-tested employee rewards and recognition ideas – whether you’re remote or in the office.

Celebrate important milestones. Hold a virtual celebration to recognize achievements. Arrange for festive treats to be delivered.
Put it in writing. Acknowledge employees’ great work in an email or certificate. Copy key executives for more exposure.
Host regular check-in meetings. Schedule videoconferences or in-person meetings to encourage face-to-face communication and foster connections.
Highlight successes formally. Cite specific accomplishments during performance reviews, including reinforcing the type of work you want to see.
Support professional development. Offer tuition assistance for professional courses or certifications. Provide reimbursement for industry association memberships, conferences and publications.
Give them a call. Reach out to employees regularly to ask how they are doing and to acknowledge their contributions.
Reward them. Recommend individuals for external and internal accolades and encourage peer nominations. Feature top performers in the company newsletter.
Give the gift of time. Consult with your HR and legal departments for this one, but given the okay, encourage team members to log off early on Friday and offer additional time off or extra vacation days for jobs well done.
Develop new leaders. Ask employees to mentor others. Promote from within when possible, and make sure team members know about career growth opportunities in the company.
Introduce them to management. Invite company executives to join a team meeting or conference call. Arrange for team members to present project results.