Here’s Some Ideas For 2014 To Engage Your Workforce With Recognition and Thanks
Many of us spend time formulating our own resolutions this time of year, but how about looking at ways to revolutionise your organisation by putting into place actions relating to recognising and thanking your employees for the effort and dedication they put into their work, thus increasing employee engagement.
There is certainly a difference to be made in the general contentment and performance of your employees by thinking outside the normal team lunch date. Here are 8 great ideas to engage your staff with recognition and thanks.
1. Organise an appreciation event every quarter
Events geared to recognising your employees should be booked and in the calendar now.
They don’t have to be huge, time or money consuming either. Just by taking your team out for a lunch or to the local bowling alley after work on a regular basis will soon pay off with a more devoted and engaged workforce.
2. Pledging to start small straight away
Now is the time to start thinking about the small acknowledgements if you aren’t already doing so.
It can start with a verbal show of gratitude, or gifts with a card. Starting off small is the first rung of the ladder to thinking big.
3. A simple ‘thank you’ for the previous year
Everyone should be recognised for the hard work they give your business. December is a particularly good time to assess the efforts your staff have put in over the past year, why not send a ‘thank you’ card noting their commitment.
4. Note life events on the calendar
The New Year is just the right time to get everyone’s birthdays or other life events i.e. weddings and births, onto the calendar.
Be sure to set a reminder a few days before the event and organise for a card to be signed by all colleagues or arrange for a collection to buy a gift. While everyone should be recognised and feel appreciated for what they do at work, it’s just as important to show that you are a caring employer by making note of your employees’ life events.
5. Begin with your management, encourage a more informal appreciative culture
Get together with your managers to encourage them to begin communicating their gratitude and thanks for the hard work of their employees in a more informal fashion.
What would work for any team for example: leave space at the end of your emails to give praise to your staff for their inventive and original ideas or even taking a minute during a team meeting to not only thank employees but to encourage members to share their thanks for other colleagues.
6. Time Off
A great way to reward and recognise your employees is to give them some time off. With working lives busier than ever, time off from work has become valuable to employees. People want less time in the office and more time with family and friends.
In the current climate, many organisations are having to restructure and downsize, which normally means more work to do, not less. So whether you award a few hours or a day off, your employees will be happy to get away from the office and will return refreshed, more engaged and appreciative of the recognition you have given them for their hard work.
7. Set up an Employee of the Month campaign
This is also a great time to start up an Employee of the Month campaign.
If you are a large organisation, it might be a good idea for each department to run their own Employee of the Month program. However, for smaller businesses you could set a reminder requesting all your managers to submit their employee nominations so that they can be recognised company-wide.
To be sure that certain departments are not unduly represented in these types of campaigns, ensure that employees are selected from various areas of your organisation as much as possible.
8. Think about formal gratitude programs
It’s never too late to start a formal gratitude program, especially if you have nothing like it in place already. Employees who feel recognised and appreciated in the workplace will be more engaged and perform better in their work.
We hope these 8 ideas to engage your employees through recognition and thanks will help your organisations New Year go off with a thunderous cheer for appreciation!
Research from our surveys show that, whilst there is range of different forms of recognition people value, a simple ‘thank you’ that is genuine and meaningful really does make a difference. If you would like to know more about the benefits of employee engagement, why not make contact or call us on 01255 850051.