As a company, you’ve probably spent a lot of time pondering the customer experience. Customers are valuable to companies because that’s how you grow your revenue. Take a step back for a second. Who serves your customers? Employees. When our employees feel supported, it spills into our customers. Today we will talk about leveraging the power of employee recognition so you can improve the employee experience.
What Is Employee Experience?
According to Gallup, employee experience is: “the journey an employee takes with your organization.” In an ideal world, our employees should work their way through our organization, taking on various roles in their department (or jumping into new departments.) We should be creating an experience that delights our employees and makes them feel like we have their back.
How To Use Employee Recognition To Improve Employee Experience
Employee recognition is a powerful tool for companies that we don’t use enough. Everyone has a preferred language of appreciation at work. If we can tap into that, we can create an experience that bolsters our company and makes us a great place to work.
1. Recognition Makes Employees Feel Seen
As companies expand, it can be hard to feel seen. Recognition has the power to make someone feel appreciated and stop employees from falling through the cracks.
At any company, there are highly engaged employees, employees who fall in the middle, and actively disengaged employees. The people at the top get a ton of recognition, we spend a lot of time disciplining the bottom, and the middle gets a lack of attention.
Anyone can perform well if only they are reached out to. Recognition helps you do that.
2. Employee Recognition Rewards Positive Workplace Behavior
If we want our employees to continue behaving a certain way, we need to reward positive behavior with recognition. You don’t need to do anything large. Even an email or a verbal thank you will do the trick.
3. Consistent Recognition Motivates Employees Who Are On The Fence
Everyone loves a bit of healthy competition. If you regularly recognize your team, those who aren’t getting as much recognition will start to try and get your attention. As you begin to reward those on the fence at your company, they will come out of their shell because they know their work will be recognized.
Make sure that you aren’t making recognition too challenging to earn. Praise should be given away more frequently than you think. If you only celebrate the employee of the month or the staff member of the week, your employees might begin to get frustrated.
4. Recognition Improves Employee Morale
Low morale can hurt work. Morale issues can significantly impact the employee experience. Who wants to come to a job that makes them feel bad? Recognizing your employees and taking the time to acknowledge their positive traits publicly helps your team thrive.
5. Employee Recognition Lets You Focus On Your Values
We don’t spend enough time considering our company values. We know it’s important to have values, but how do you showcase their importance every day? One way to do that is by attaching employee recognition to company values. After all, you want your employees to exemplify your brand and what you stand for.
Conclusion: Your Employees Deserve Recognition
Here’s the bottom line: your employees deserve recognition. If you want to improve employee experience, you can take one easy step to recognize your team’s fantastic talent. You should start every shift at work by asking: “How can I show my employees that I care today?”