Employee Recognition – A Great Way to Motivate Your Staff!

Quite often we can get so wrapped up in checking projects off the company’s to-do list that we forget to recognize the labor that went into each accomplishment. Acknowledging milestones provides opportunity to show appreciation to the employees who helped you achieve them. This will go a long way in retaining top-tier staff. Use a few of our fresh ideas to recognize your team members:

• Surprise them. A totally unsuspecting employee will be blown away when they receive unexpected acknowledgment for their work. Take it up a notch by having friends and family show up for your employee’s spontaneous celebration.
• Capture celebratory moments. If you have regular award ceremonies or even during spontaneous surprise moments, capture the celebration on video or in a photo so you can share it with your team and even your clients.
• Do something thoughtful for the employee’s family. Offer tickets to an amusement park or a sporting event. When your employee is working, they are spending time away from their –so you are acknowledging the family’s contribution to your company as well.
• Share personal anecdotes. When it comes to motivating employees, the recognition of their peers is very effective. Ask staff to nominate an employee for recognition and to write down outstanding qualities of the nominated staff member. Then share these comments during the recognition event.
• Create a scrapbook. This might take a little work, but it will be one of most memorable acknowledgements you can offer an employee. Have pees and even clients write comments about the difference this employee has made. Along with some photos have it all printed within a scrapbook (print or digital).

Getting into the habit of recognizing your dedicated employees is well worth the effort in terms of employee productivity, motivation and loyalty. Use the ideas above as a springboard for creating your own employee appreciation traditions.