Studies have told us for years that recognizing employee accomplishments and performance is a key component of creating a culture of engagement in the workplace. An employee who knows that their organization sees and appreciates what they do creates a more loyal, efficient, and motivated employee.
This only makes sense-- the research bearing out what great leaders and managers are already doing intuitively. However, recognizing the validity of the studies is only the first step towards benefiting from them, and good intentions simply aren’t enough on their own. In order to actually implement an effective relationship of appreciation and recognition leading to engagement, an organization’s leaders must have a vision, communicate it effectively, get the whole team on board, and set a clear, practical plan in motion.
Vision: Absolutely key to any program of employee recognition is a clear sense of what traits, characteristics, and behaviors the organization values and wishes to promote and encourage. This vision ought to include a range of goals covering personal integrity, peer-2-peer behaviors, and job performance areas; as well as smaller details specific to an organization's particular field.
Having a specific focus on how you’ll incorporate employee recognition within your companies vision will be paramount to success. All of this supported by a mission statement, core values chart, or similar documents that clearly state these expectations are vital as well.
If you haven’t reviewed your company’s vision/mission statements for a connection to your employees, now is the perfect time to do so. Take the time this year to be sure that your statements still reflect the direction of your organization and the recognition needs of your people.
Communication: Of course, having a vision without communicating it is pretty much useless, and communicating without inspiring is only slightly better. Put some passion into your commitment to the core values. Make sure that your mission statement is reviewed regularly.
Give every employee a handout containing a core values breakdown. Put your values on posters around the office or your work locations. Make sure expectations are clearly and frequently discussed, and are specific enough for everyone to easily recognize in those around them. Your people need to know how they contribute to the growth agenda and how it will impact them & their families.
Recognition is non-negotiable but without a clearly developed and implemented vision that supports your people, the path forward will be rocky. It takes time and intentionality to turn a vision into an organizational culture that supports not only the people, but the business success. Take the time.
Delegation: Every good leader knows that the work can’t be done by one person alone. It takes the whole organization working together-- top to bottom-- to create a truly effective employee recognition program. One highly trending recognition topic and initiative today is Peer-2-Peer recognition.
Managers need to encourage and empower--and incentivize-- peer-2-peer recognition as a vital part of the whole. The goal is to establish a habitual atmosphere of encouragement, congratulations, and support. The energy that this kind of atmosphere creates in a work-space can lift the entire organization to peak performance and efficiency.
Planning: They say that failing to plan is planning to fail, and that certainly applies in this case. Of course the most important thing is to map out a clear path to success. Without a clear plan in place to identify and acknowledge key points of employee performance, effective and timely recognition simply won’t happen.
With this in mind, we’ve developed People Are Everything, an employee recognition and development platform for the modern workforce. It’s easy to use and one of a kind. Click here for a complimentary demo, or to speak with a representative.
The task of implementing this program of vision, communication, delegation and planning leading to "all-in" engagement may seem huge at the onset, but over time, with consistent effort and persistence, the results will prove well worth the investment. C.A. Short Company has a wealth of knowledge, practical advice and award winning tools to offer any organization working to invest in their employees. Call or email to talk to a representative and find out how we can partner together!