Want to find a way to recognize your employees and encourage engagement?
In this blog post, I will compare recognition and reward, let you know the benefits of recognition, and give you successful ways to recognize your employees. These points are based on those outlined in the book Employee Driven Quality.
Recognition vs. Rewards
You may be asking yourself, “What’s the difference between Recognition and Rewards?”
Well, a reward is “a tangible, material or financial compensation for an achievement”. On the other hand, recognition is “acknowledging contributions and accomplishments letting contributors know that what they have done is important and has made a difference.”
Now that we know what they are, which one is going to benefit your ESP? Assuming your employees are receiving fair pay and are in an environment that motivates them, recognition in a timely and sincere fashion will bring greater and continuous success for your ESP.
Who to Recognize & How to Recognize Your Employees
Everyone should reap the benefits of your recognition. Recognize everyone that helps out in implementing an idea, not just the idea initiator. Recognize successful innovation teams both in individually and as a group.
You can recognize your employees in the following ways:
- Face to Face recognition
- Thank you notes
- Gold Stars – bring your employees back to elementary school (in a good way)! 🙂
- Food – who wouldn’t want a snack
- ESP Recognition center – use a bulletin board to post group recognition
Encourage peer recognition and collaboration in your organization. Remember, people will respond to different types of recognition in different ways. When you find a way that works for someone keep it in mind, but don’t assume it will be best for the next employee.
Although monetary rewards can bring fast results, the influx of ideas will quickly halt. In order to create lasting employee engagement, recognize the achievements of your employees. I listed some examples above, but how do you recognize the achievements of employees in your organization?
Suggested Next Steps:
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- Companies of all sizes (from Fortune-500s to growing startups) use IdeaGlow software to build their own employee suggestion programs. IdeaGlow is affordably priced & relatively easy to implement. If you’re interested, you can apply for a FREE 30-day trial of IdeaGlow software.