When to Recognize your Employees

When should you recognize employees?  Well, in an ideal world you would reward them every time they did something right.  Even if that “reward” was just a pat on the back paired with honest praise, your employee would understand that you liked what they did.  This “carrot” approach to motivation signals to the brain that a certain behavior should be repeated.  Consistent employee recognition has been shown to increase retention, engagement, and motivation. However, you can’t very well hover over every single employee, rewarding them for every properly done task.  Managers and owners must instead prioritize the most important occasions for recognition.  The following tips will help you understand when to recognize employees.

1. ASAP. If you take nothing else from this article, remember this:  employee recognition is most effective when it’s given immediately after the performance you hope to encourage.  So don’t wait.  If you do, the employee won’t associate your praise with their performance. Dole out your praise quickly if you have the chance.
2. Annual Organizational Recognition. Many organizations hold an annual picnic or party to reflect on the previous year’s accomplishments.  This is a great venue for recognizing group efforts, long-lasting or especially difficult projects, and overall company growth.
3. Jump-Start Recognition. Organizations move through cycles, and sometimes teams get stuck in a certain pattern.  If your employees seem to be in a rut, creative recognition can jolt them out of the doldrums. Arrange a positive experience and pepper it with sincere praise.  Perhaps you’ll throw a party and come up with funny titles or awards for each employee.  Or you could show up with popcorn, sodas, and a projector and show an inspirational or appropriate film, complete with a confidence-boosting awards ceremony for your team. Your employees will likely enjoy a burst of productive creativity following your surprise recognition.
4. Just Do It. As you look for opportunities to recognize your employees, remember that financial rewards are nice, but not necessary; humans respond to recognition regardless of monetary value.

Additional Resources:
25 Staff Appreciation and Recognition Ideas that Won’t Break the Bank
Customer-Based Employee Recognition: How to reward your unsung brand champions
Three Ways to Mix Up Your Employee Recognition Routine

Top image by photos8.com

Tags: employee engagement, Employee Incentives, employee recognition, Motivating Employees

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Employee Incentives, Engaged Employees, Motivating Employees, Retaining Employees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.