At 87% of recognition programs, years of service is the most common form of employee recognition. However, employee appreciation can be delivered in various ways. While years of service is not a bad way to recognize and demonstrate employee appreciation, 58% of employees believe receiving recognition from leaders would improve their engagement. Additionally, companies experience 31% lower voluntary employee turnover who utilize recognition programs.
Here are some ways you can boost employee appreciation and create a healthier, stronger company culture:
Recognize employees
It may seem basic and straightforward, but recognizing employees is the first step in showing appreciation. One way to demonstrate recognition is through public acknowledgement. This could be a shoutout during a team meeting, on the internal employee intranet or in the moment you appreciate the employee (i.e., a job well done).
Another great way to extend appreciation is to encourage peer-to-peer appreciation. You can facilitate a team activity where each member must say one acknowledgement of appreciation to a team member. In fact, 41% of companies that implement peer-to-peer recognition experience a rise in customer satisfaction.
Additionally, celebrating together is a great opportunity to show appreciation. Celebrating birthdays, personal achievements or hosting employee appreciation days are great ways to boost employee appreciation.
Related: How Understanding Multigenerational Workforces Can Make You a Better Leader
Track progress
It can be difficult to manage employee recognition when you don’t know what they’ve achieved. Implementing a way to track employees’ progress, such as personal career successes, milestones (i.e., years of service) and special honors (i.e., certificates of great service, industry-specific certifications, awards, etc.) can help you not only track and celebrate your employees, but also manage performance reviews.
Furthermore, tracking progress can also create opportunities for employers to develop mentoring and career development programs. Advocating for employee upskilling and continued professional growth are great ways to demonstrate employee appreciation.
Creative rewards
While food (i.e., catered lunches and gift cards) and career-based rewards (i.e., promotions and bonuses) are well appreciated and encouraged, try to get creative with your rewards. If an employee meets a goal, offer them some additional time off or an opportunity to work remotely, if applicable.
Other opportunities may be smaller like commuter benefits, access to additional company discounts, free or discounted swag or a chance to be the boss for the day.
Whatever you choose, make sure
- You personalize the reward to the individual and
- You allow your employees to express what they would like.
Actively seek and listen to feedback
As mentioned above, seek feedback from your employees. How do they prefer to be recognized? What types of rewards would they like to receive?
Actively listen to your employees’ feedback and offer them the opportunity to lend insight to their interests and desires. For example, if an employee expresses concerns over something and an employer does nothing to resolve the issue, any sort of reward for a job well done may be counterintuitive.
If you’re looking to expand your voluntary benefits or best practices for boosting employee appreciation, contact AccessPoint. Our HR management team understands the value employees brings to companies and have the experience, resources, and tools to improve employers’ abilities to support their employees.
