Top Employee Recognition Tips

Recognizing your employees for a job well done is fundamental to building employee loyalty and retention. Companies are finding out that investing a few dollars in extra perks is worth it. Why? Because by keeping good employees around, businesses save a small fortune in employee turnover.

Employee recognition programs are one fun part of managing employees. If you need more time to recognize your employees with rewards and perks, call on your employee leasing services. A good PEO should help you take care of time-consuming tasks like payroll. By taking full advantage of your PEO’s administrative services, you’ll be able to concentrate on employee recognition.

As you focus on employee recognition, here are some thoughts to get your program going in the most effective direction:

• Not only do employee recognition programs help you retain employees, but they also reinforce the behaviors you want to see repeated.

• Be careful with competitive rewards that target one winner. Employees may skimp on customer service or make mistakes just to be the one who gets the reward. Performance-based rewards are best given to any and all employees who reach a certain goal.

• Avoid recognition that relies on favoritism, like when a manager chooses the employee of the month. It rarely works to motivate employees.

• One effective type of recognition is a hand-written thank you note, accompanied by a valuable prize like a gift certificate to a restaurant, supermarket, or electronics store. The note should specify what is being rewarded and how that action served the company.

• Once in a while, also give out recognition that is a surprise to an employee or department. People enjoy and remember the element of surprise.

• Give recognition publicly, for example, at a meeting.

• Make sure that recognition is timely. Recognition is best when it occurs right at the moment of the valued deed.

• Recognition should be continual, not only during the employee’s first few months of work.

• Recognition should be sincere and specific. Acknowledge exactly what action was well done.

• Don’t offer praise and criticism at the same time. This is confusing and sometimes insulting to the employee.

• Try to praise those values that are consistent with your organization. If you value quality, you might refrain from recognizing an employee who increased output by skimping on quality.