Visualizing the old way of work, we can sum up a typical day along these lines: Monday morning, alarm clock rings, coffee, cubicles, disengaged, resentment, mundane, and counting down the minutes until Friday.

Fortunately, now, the work day is a whole lot different. 

As workplaces continue to modernize and technology increases the ease for collaboration, your company culture can exhibit one full of combined passion, innovative engagement, and unlimited enthusiasm.

If this doesn’t sound like your culture, it may be time to incorporate a new process of working. Today we’re going to discuss the importance of recognition in a company’s culture and how you can make it a part of your own culture.

What is Employee Recognition?

To summarize, employee recognition consists of methods to ensure that employees feel valued and that their contributions are recognized and appreciated. Undoubtedly, diligent employees want to understand how they are performing, and by incorporating a structure of recognition, success can be better measured for achievement.

The Importance of Employee Recognition

Introduced at very early age, the yearn for recognition spans through parents, friends, teachers, coaches, and yes-workplace bosses. Entering the workforce, hard work continues to crave recognition to ensure our successful performance and to keep motivation. One employee survey asks the question: “What is the most important thing that your manager or company currently does that would cause you to produce great work?” While there were a variety of responses 37% of respondents said that more recognition would encourage them to regularly produce better work. This direct response demonstrates there is no limit of success when employees feel valued by their company.

How to Create a Culture of Company Recognition

• Be Specific: Recognizing an employee’s efforts and performance are most effective when related to a specific work objective. This allows you to explain what the recognition is for and to encourage continued effort.
  
• Remember the little things count: While only significant accomplishments should be celebrated, be sure to focus on providing positive affirmation to daily tasks. Daily “thank you’s” online, in person, or on paper will preserve company morale and ensure best efforts.
• Prompt Response: Recognition for an accomplishment 2 months later is not as effective as being recognized right away. Be sure that success is celebrated in the heat of the moment. 
• Frequency: Just as important it is you that remain timely with recognition, it’s equally important that methods are consistent and essentially gauaranteed.

Examples

• Ease the way managers celebrate their employees: There are tons of outside recourses prioritizing employee recognition-programs, parties, quotes, and so much more.
• A manufacturing company recognizes it’s employees every year with handwritten notes from the CEO thanking them for their work.
• A high end hotel chain hosts Friday lunch every week where employees can share what they have accomplished during that time.
• An interior design team elects and votes for the highest achiever from the past month. At a company dinner the winner is announced and awarded a $30 gift card.

Previous employee recognition methods involving end of the year performance bonuses no longer cut it. To retain your top talent, increase engagement, and encourage high performance, it’s imperative to stretch your efforts of appreciation beyond basic protocol. How is employee morale at your company? Are people enthusiastic about their work and asking questions how they can better improve, or are they showing up late and unprepared with a dread on doing their usual tasks? If you find that your employees consistently miss deadlines, failing to meet objectives without a sense of care, it’s not too late to turn your situation around. If you are having trouble incorporating new recognition practices into your company culture, contact us to see how our unique approach continues to exceed expectation. Our team of experts offer competitive pricing and customized methods that are not only relevant to your situation, but can best generate the best results. Get in touch today!