Why Frequently Recognizing Employee Contributions Is Essential

by Kylee Stone May 1,2023
Engagedly
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The People Strategy Leaders Podcast

with Srikant Chellappa, CEO

What is employee recognition and why is it Important?

Employee recognition is defined as the act of managers and other leaders publicly recognizing and appreciating the accomplishments of their team members. The success of a firm depends heavily on recognizing employee contributions, which can come in many different forms. The type of employee recognition program that a firm chooses is crucial in fostering workplace engagement, increasing productivity, and retaining talent.

A carefully planned and executed employee recognition programme can do wonders for a company. It can have a favourable effect on motivation, purpose, morale, performance, and production. Employee engagement levels increase even further when their contributions are acknowledged.

Key is to recognise employees. They won’t give it their all if the company doesn’t value their efforts and treats its personnel with respect. Thus, rewarding employees is essential to success. These are some reasons why it’s crucial to recognise your workers.

Five benefits of recognizing employee contributions

Promotes excellence

Employee appreciation and empowerment are encouraged by employee recognition, which improves relationships and gives people in the workplace a sense of direction and purpose. All of this leads to developing an excellent culture where team members constantly strive to improve and advance the business.

Increases engagement

Employee engagement is influenced favorably by employee recognition. Giving credit to employees who are already engaged has a greater impact. Recognizing employee contributions can go a long way toward making workers feel valued for their accomplishments.

Creates a sense of shared purpose

Employees feel more grateful and committed to the company when their efforts and contributions are acknowledged, and this fosters a feeling of purpose among the workforce as a whole. Their shared sense of purpose, beliefs, and ideals, which they share with one another and the entire firm, become profoundly ingrained in their behaviour and perspective, leading the organization toward success.

Profitability and trust are interdependent

Trust follows dedication. Profitability will come after there is trust in the company. It follows that trust in the organization and profitability are closely related because employees who have confidence in management and its leaders are more likely to love their work and be engaged. In showing their appreciation for their employees, employers can foster a culture of trust that encourages job satisfaction and improved performance.

Provides objective performance information

An employee recognition programme provides management with unbiased, real-world performance data that may be used to pinpoint top performers and get insight into the team dynamics and corporate culture.

Benefits of Employee recognition (1)

Also Read: 10 Ideas For Employee Recognition Programs For Remote Teams

What is the best way to recognize employees?

Employee awards and recognition will differ depending on the organization. Depending on the organization’s needs, different employees receive different awards and recognition. Depending on its particular requirements as well as the requirements of its employees, the business must determine the most meaningful approach to show its appreciation for its staff.

Written gratitude

Writing a thank you note may seem elementary, but it may go a long way toward expressing gratitude for an employee’s effort. Receiving a thank-you note, whether it’s written by hand or delivered by email, is incredibly encouraging. It serves as evidence of the worker’s contributions.

Applauding in words

Verbal praise is a peer-to-peer type of appreciation for a team member’s efforts at work, delivered by coworkers. It is still a part of an employee recognition program even though it is informal and unwritten and has great potential.

Spot rewards

The name “spot bonuses” refers to bonuses that are awarded immediately. These are usually tiny bonuses offered in appreciation for contributions. Spot bonuses have a significant impact since they are provided right away, as soon as the contribution is made; “now” is the greatest time to express gratitude or appreciation.

Applaud employees for good workAlso Read: Tips for Employee Recognition and Rewards

Few employee recognition ideas that can work in your business:

10 effective suggestions for rewarding employees –

There are several options for rewarding employees. Some of them can appear to be extremely simple. They can, however, be exceedingly powerful. Companies must carefully craft their concepts and make sure their employees find value in them. Here are a few noteworthy suggestions:

  • A system of awards based on points
  • Employee feedback surveys on recognition
  • Recognizing employee efforts in public
  • Celebrate achievements
  • Honor individual accomplishments.
  • Integrate employee appreciation into the corporate culture.
  • Write a thank-you note
  • Motivate managers to recognize others
  • Encourage peer-to-peer praise
  • Reward career advancement

Celebrate milestones

Celebrate significant career milestones for employees. An employee’s dedication to the organization, for instance, can be shown by celebrating a work anniversary. Unquestionably something to be honoured for and compensated for as a thank-you gift. Give the worker the chance to choose the gift they desire. Add a note from coworkers, managers, or the CEO to make it more special and significant. This will help to create a milestone that will be remembered.

Celebrate personal achievements

Remember that employees are more than just workers at all times. Since they are unique people, acknowledge them for both professional and personal accomplishments. Examples include:

  • Gaining fresh knowledge
  • Working together with a teammate
  • Fulfilling a target
  • Achieving a goal for health and wellness

Integrate employee appreciation into the corporate culture

A strong corporate culture is built on the foundation of employee recognition. It has a favorable effect on the company’s success. When a company promotes a positive workplace culture, it not only wins over its workers and has higher employee retention, but it also wins over job searchers. It consequently becomes a highly sought-after workplace and draws top talent. The actions listed below are some that a company can do to begin establishing a culture of recognizing employee contributions:

3 ideas to promote employee appreciation in your company

  • Make team, leadership, management, and peer-to-peer appreciation a regular occurrence.
  • Decide on a few positive qualities that align with the values of the firm, and then link recognition to those particular traits. When employees are praised for their good work, it inspires them to continue acting in that way, which in turn affects the culture of the organization.
  • Social recognition involves expressing gratitude to staff members verbally or in writing. This is yet another method of incorporating employee recognition into organizational culture. For social recognition to be effective, it must be provided immediately after an employee performs something deserving of it, rather than waiting until the next internal meeting to bring it up. When it is done at the moment, it is more memorable and effective, and it is also more likely to be repeated.

https://engagedly.com/pillars-of-a-high-engagement-culture-2/

Also Read: Is Employee Recognition Only About Employee Perks?

Compliment the person

A straightforward thank-you message can convey a lot. It has a personal touch and the potential to be quite profound. It may be typewritten or computerized. It’s a technique of communicating to the employees that they are valued and that the management and company appreciate what they have done. While composing the note, keep the following in mind:

  • Be thorough when describing the work or contribution.
  • Describe the impact the work had on the organization.
  • Truly thank them for their efforts.

Motivate leaders in recognizing employee contributions

It has a good effect on their morale and productivity when top management acknowledges their employees’ efforts. The recommendations that are given below are for commendation:

  • By frequently praising staff, leaders can serve as examples for their group.
  • Organize gatherings to thank the best performances in front of the public.
  • Encourage and promote a recognition culture across the entire firm in meetings with top management.
  • Find out whether financial or social rewards are the most effective method of employee recognition.
  • Provide leaders with simple ways to recognize team members, such as one-click recognitions, so they can choose that choice if they are too busy to go through more involved recognition procedures.

Promote peer-to-peer recognition

Recognition from peers is equally as vital as acknowledgment from leadership. They work with these people, and thus being acknowledged by them fosters feelings of comradery, trust, belonging, and well-being. It aids in fostering a positive work atmosphere and can improve employee performance. These are some suggestions for implementing peer recognition in the workplace:

  • Ensure that all employees, whether on-site, traveling, or working remotely, can participate in the employee recognition program.
  • Ensure that all employees have the opportunity to comment on and be a part of employee recognition celebrations, whether it’s an anniversary or a personal achievement. This can also be done digitally, with all team members signing and personalizing the digital card with a special message of thanks.
  • Make it simple for colleagues to recognize team members, such as one-click recognition.

Recognize and reward professional development

Excellence in performance must be recognized. It is a way for the organization to show their employees that their contributions and exemplary work are appreciated. It encourages employees to stay with the company in the long run, resulting in higher retention. Rewarding employees do not always have to take the form of a promotion; there are other options. More autonomy, for example, or more responsibilities. It’s a way of putting faith in the employee.

If the employee earns a new certification, give them new business cards that display their new certification credentials and a gift to show them how delighted the company is with them. Give an employee the chance to attend a conference or training if they have reached or exceeded the target.

Make sure to publicly recognize them across the entire organization; this encourages others to adopt similarly admirable traits and demonstrates to them the company’s commitment to employee success.

Top Employee Recognition Statistics 2023

  • Surprisingly, 65% of Americans were not recognized in any way last year.
  • Only 31.5% of US workers report feeling engaged.
  • The most typical form of appreciation is for years of service.
  • Employee engagement is higher in the first six months of employment.
  • If they received at least one recognition per month, 75% of workers would be happy with their jobs.
  • Productivity is boosted by happiness by 13%.
  • According to some estimates, peer-to-peer recognition has a 35.7% greater effect on financial outcomes.
  • If recognized, 63% of workers would remain in their current position.

https://engagedly.com/research-study-engagedlys-impact-on-employee-experience-productivity-in-hybrid-work-environment-by-jennifer-dole/

Also Read: Why Do Employee Recognition Programs Fail?

Demographics-Related Statistics on Employee Recognition

  • According to Canadian studies, just 12% of workers switch jobs in search of a higher salary-

Businesses assume that individuals leave their jobs in order to make more money elsewhere, but 88% of Canadians identified 11 additional reasons, including poor management, a lack of professional advancement, poor cooperation and communication, a lack of training, a ton of work, and inadequate tools and resources. The fifth-place finisher was a lack of recognition at work.

  • According to the most recent employee recognition statistics for the United Kingdom, engaging employees outside of the workplace has a significant impact on performance –

This does not mean engaging your employees outside of work; rather, it means caring for and catering to employees outside of the business aspect. For example, Specsavers, a British company, wants to provide optometric services to its employees and is collaborating with Reward Gateway, a company that offers its engagement platform in the form of eVouchers. Employees can use the vouchers to get the necessary eye care.

  • The Australian HR Institute strongly recommends customising employee benefits –

Ben Thompson, the CEO of the HR platform Employment Hero, asserts that giving younger employees access to a gym membership, a fancy gadget like Bluetooth headphones or a tablet, or even a cheap mobile phone plan will increase their productivity.

Employee recognition statistics for Australia show that as employees enter their late twenties and thirties, health and life insurance, credit cards, and restaurant discounts become increasingly important, whereas older employees will be looking for more leisure time, such as vacations, which is why different types of benefits should be available within the company.

Also Read: Best Employee Recognition Ideas For 2023

Conclusion 

As previously stated, there are numerous methods for implementing employee recognition in the workplace. But, at the most fundamental level, what matters is the company culture; a company culture that believes in its employees and recognizes the value of recognizing employee contributions. This is the foundation of any successful organization.

Furthermore, employee recognition statistics show that, while monetary compensation is appealing, it is not the only option. Other alternatives to employee recognition in the workplace can do just as much for your company while costing less and making your team happy and satisfied at work.

https://engagedly.com/leading-with-love-as-a-people-first-approach-with-amaris-mccomas-ep-6/



Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Why do employees need both recognition and appreciation?

Ans. Employees need both recognition and appreciation for several reasons:

  • Motivation and Engagement: Recognizing and appreciating employees’ efforts boosts their motivation and engagement with their work.
  • Job Satisfaction: Acknowledgment and appreciation contribute to employees’ overall job satisfaction.
  • Psychological Well-being: Recognition and appreciation positively impact employees’ psychological well-being, reducing stress and enhancing mental health.
  • Building a Positive Culture: A culture of recognition and appreciation fosters a positive work environment, teamwork, and morale.
  • Retention and Loyalty: Recognized and appreciated employees are more likely to stay loyal to the organization.
  • Performance and Productivity: Recognition and appreciation directly influence performance and productivity.

Providing verbal praise, rewards, career development opportunities, and meaningful feedback helps create a positive work environment, enhancing engagement, satisfaction, and business outcomes.

Q2. Recognizing employee contributions examples: 

Ans. Some examples of recognizing employee contributions include:

  1. Verbal praise and acknowledgment in team meetings or one-on-one conversations.
  2. Employee appreciation events or celebrations.
  3. Employee of the Month or other recognition programs.
  4. Awards, certificates, or plaques honoring achievements.
  5. Publicly recognizing employees through newsletters, internal communications, or social media.
  6. Providing opportunities for professional development or advancement.
  7. Monetary rewards, such as bonuses or performance-based incentives.
  8. Offering flexible work arrangements or additional time off as a token of appreciation.
  9. Giving personalized thank-you notes or messages.
  10. Providing opportunities for employees to share their expertise or lead projects.

These examples demonstrate various ways to recognize and appreciate employees’ contributions, fostering a positive work environment and motivating them to excel.


Kylee Stone

Kylee Stone supports the professional services team as a CX intern and psychology SME. She leverages her innate creativity with extensive background in psychology to support client experience and organizational functions. Kylee is completing her master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational psychology at the University of Missouri Science and Technology emphasizing in Applied workplace psychology and Statistical Methods.

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