Human Resources
Knock your Employee Recognition Program Out of the Park
May 11, 2015
How often do you say “thank you” to your employees? Recently, Accenture took a survey noting that over 1/3 of employees quit because of lack of recognition from their supervisors. Recognizing employees is essential to their development, and is crucial to the advancement of a company.
Recognition should not be an end of year deal either. If you wait until the end of the year to give each of your employees a gift, it may seem impersonal. Employers should continuously reward their employees who have exceeded expectations. Recognizing your employees creates an open communication platform where people are comfortable expressing their opinions. The end result leads to the retention of key employees.
10 employee recognition ideas to take back to your team:
- Acknowledge colleagues when you arrive and leave the office with a simple “hello” or “goodbye”
- Take your team out to lunch to celebrate a great week.
- Give a shout out during a staff meeting or in a monthly newsletter.
- Ask peers to nominate and vote for employees of the month.
- Organize off-site activities such as retreats, company outings, holiday parties.
- Set up a suggestion program to allow employees to give input and make them feel that their opinions and ideas are taken seriously.
- Give employees an extra long lunch break on occasion.
- Express an interest in the employees career development goals.
- Once a year, have a “Employee Appreciation Day” where the managers supply, cook and serve food.
- Smile. It’s contagious.
Extra Help strives to recognize their employees in various ways. We enjoy rewarding our employees with assorted benefits that will make them feel appreciated. Recognition can be traditional with items like bonuses, gift certificates, or additional benefits. Extra Help takes the non-traditional route at times and rewards employees with team building experiences and corporate retreats. For example, every year all Extra Help employees get together and attend a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Being part of a company that strives on recognition of their employees makes people feel valued. See how you have recognized your employees in the past, and compare it with your turnover rate. Are your key employees sticking around or are they leaving since they do not feel appreciated? Take a look at that and then reevaluate your employee recognition program accordingly.
