The Secret Behind Employee Recognition Programs

While it's an unfortunate fact that employee recognition programs are overlooked in many companies (or worse, they're in place but ignored), the truth is such programs are necessary for results-based companies who rely on the amount of effort each employee contributes. Yet it shouldn't stop with a letter of congratulations and a logo-branded token of appreciation; performance-based recognition programs rely on their spontaneity, allowing the employee to concentrate on doing as good a job as they're capable of rather than measuring the amount of work necessary to achieve X reward.

These days the old system of mentioning someone's name in the company newsletter accompanied by the standard five-, ten-, or twenty-year gift are long forgotten. Employers are beginning to understand that even informal methods of recognition can be effective, such as taking aside and commending an employee who's gone out of their way to do something that benefits the company. Employees often strive for more formal methods of recognition, but the time and cost involved in such activities make the informal methods a good option in between these events.

Unfortunately, too many companies have decided to implement a recognition program involving various logo-branded items, with different colors or jewels to signify the number of years the employee has worked. Not only is this a costly method, but there are also a number of issues involved-especially if the company is rather large. It's simply too easy to automatize the program, taking out the human (and the most important) element. It's also too easy to miss the employee's anniversary, while it's certainly an important date to them. To make these programs effective, it's vital to record the starting date of each employee and remember that it's the people behind the recognition program, not the program itself, that make it important. In this way you keep the focus on the employee and the service they've provided for the company, not on the material value of the gift they receive as recognition.

For those companies who believe it's more cost effective to keep a high turnover rate to save on pension benefits, the truth is actually the opposite: a high turnover rate will cost you more in training when you multiply it by the number of new employees who will only stay between one and three years.

Although a pay raise and a salary bonus are commonly cited to be the biggest incentives for working hard, it's human nature to be willing to work to the best of one's ability if you know it's going to be acknowledged and appreciated. Rather than merely giving lip service and a program that doesn't promote increased performance, consider implementing less formal means of acknowledging a good employee's efforts; you'll see the difference within a matter of weeks.