You’ve heard about employee recognition programs and you’ve read all the statistics about how useful they are to business development. You already know that an employee recognition program can help you manage staff turnover and improve employee relationships and that they enhance your company culture. Yet, you are holding back from implementing a program in your own office.
So, what’s stopping you?
It won’t do us any good.
You’re wondering how a program your employees are forced to use could improve morale. You’re worried that it will actually deter employees rather than boost engagement rates. Worry no more!
A poll conducted by Socialcast resulted in 69% of employees saying they would work harder if their efforts were better appreciated. Your employees want to be recognized. Even further, they want your honest feedback. The purpose of feedback is to reinforce what you’d like to see the employee do more of; the purpose of employee recognition is the same. In fact, employee recognition is one of the most powerful forms of feedback that you can provide. Prioritize employee appreciation and you can ensure a positive, productive, innovative organizational climate. People who feel appreciated are more positive about themselves and their ability to contribute. People with positive self-esteem are potentially your best employees. Having a recognition program can help you spread these feelings company wide.
It takes too much time.
The initial decisions about how a business will approach recognition and the methods it will use can of course take time, especially if there is not an existing program in place. However, once a plan has been outlined and implemented, very little time and effort are required to use the system. Levy Recognition believes recognition shouldn’t be another task at the bottom of your company’s “to-do” list, it should be part of your company culture. We tailor our programs to fit your needs, so they’re easy to incorporate into your everyday business.
Often times, recognition programs fail when there is no follow through from management. Your employees bust their tails for you day in and day out. Thanks to the lack of encouragement, engagement rates drop and employees aren’t as motivated. It’s important that managers and supervisors take the time to make recognition an important part of each day.
It’s too expensive.
One misconception you may have about employee appreciation programs is that it will cost your business a lot of money. But that’s simply not true; although recognition programs require a financial investment, programs involving incentives can be budgeted and tracked to reduce cost. There are employee appreciation programs that offer different types of rewards and awards that are less expensive than most business owners may think. (Curious about the differences between the two? Check out this post for more!)
It’s not fair.
Recognition isn’t just for high-performing employees; it’s for everyone. In fact, most employees want some recognition for their efforts, and they want to feel appreciated on a regular basis. Fairness, clarity, and consistency are important in staff recognition. People need to see that each person who makes the same or a similar contribution has an equal likelihood of receiving recognition for their efforts.
The Recognition Specialists at Levy Recognition can help you set up recognition guidelines so leaders acknowledge equivalent and similar contributions. You shouldn’t limit who does and doesn’t receive recognition. In fact, the best plan is to make it an option for everyone to recognize each other, a feature which should be included in any employee appreciation program you implement. By weaving peer-to-peer recognition into the everyday lives of your employees, you create a culture of appreciation, collaboration and shared values.
Levy Recognition specializes in developing customizable employee recognition programs with simple administration and an exceptional participant experience that is guaranteed to surpass the expectations of you and your employees. Not only are our programs easy to use, they are also proven to help build stronger, happier workplaces.
Don’t let a few misconceptions about recognition stop you from implementing a recognition plan that will boost employee engagement, improve employee retention and have a positive effect on your company’s bottom line. Contact us about getting started today!