Employee recognition programs don’t often get the love they deserve. Lack of administrative resources, outdated technology, leadership support, you name it. HR teams are balancing a lot, so it's no surprise that employee recognition often gets put on the back burner.
But wins like stronger employee retention, better performance and high employee engagement speak for themselves, especially when only a third of U.S. workers feel they receive adequate recognition.
With an employee recognition program—and a strategy and tools that fit your workforce—employee recognition becomes engrained and part of your connected culture.
How to launch or update an employee recognition program
Short on resources like time, technology, or employee and leadership buy-in, your employee recognition program needs to work for your team. Understanding employees’ needs and goals upfront will help you build a successful road map.
1. Gain leadership alignment
Reassure leaders of the business case for employee recognition (like team member performance and loyalty). Employees are more engaged when their senior leaders and managers lead by example.
- Share important ROIs with your executive team. For example, disengaged employees result in lost productivity and cost companies about $27,000 per person in the U.S, according to Gallup.
- Empower managers with the right tools. How should managers offer recognitions? What messaging should they include in their recognitions?
2. Establish performance goals
Understand your leadership's goals. Then sit down with your team to create your road map. It should include key milestones and objectives to guide your recognition program.
Certain key performance indicators (KPIs) are standard, like number of recognitions and participation levels. Consider polling employees before you launch or update your program. This gives you a baseline on employee sentiment and helps you make adjustments that resonate. If it’s not built for them, it won’t serve them.
To build strong company culture, recognition needs to be authentic, timely and frequent, and your goals should reflect that.
3. Launch (or relaunch) your employee recognition program
Create a communication strategy anytime your programs evolve. Communicating enhanced features proves value to employees. It also rebuilds anticipation.
Go beyond email. A mix of digital and physical elements will reach your employees no matter where they work. For in-office employees, consider an attention-grabbing desk drop. For deskless or remote teams, send a package to their homes, such as a postcard or small branded item. You can also have your CEO or managers share a fun video.
- Time the rollout with planned events. Think quarterly town hall or annual company meeting. This builds awareness and excitement. You can also launch during holidays like Employee Appreciation Day (in March) or National Gratitude Month (in November).
- Educate on recognition best practices. While sending a recognition feels good, it’s likely not natural to everyone. Highlight examples, like tying recognition to core values. Even give talking points that managers can share with their teams.
- Earn participation with a recognition challenge. Challenge your managers to issue a recognition on launch week. Add incentives or prizes for those first peer-to-peer recognitions or company core values. You can also share real examples at your next meeting. We often recommend one recognition per week for six weeks.
Related: Learn more about our turnkey employee engagement platform
How to sustain engagement for your recognition program
Newness aways creates strong excitement and engagement. You might have received great feedback and see employees giving and receiving recognitions at first. But fast forward a few months and you may find employees feel too busy to send consistent recognitions.
1. Keep recognition top of mind
Your road map should include check-ins and opportunities to nurture your program. Incorporate ways to communicate and incorporate recognition throughout an employee's journey.
- Use key dates to re-engage employee recognition. Encourage recognition around holidays like Thanksgiving or Customer Service Week (first week of October). Create communication to build up excitement.
- Celebrate employee milestones. Highlight birthdays, work anniversaries, onboarding firsts, or completing learning and development training.
- Introduce a new recognition challenge. Theme these challenges around your core values or busy seasons to keep morale up. Send out reminders and even tips to keep it top of mind!
Related: Engage employees throughout their employee journey
2. Keep recognitions meaningful
Public acknowledgment, private praise, positive evaluations, promotions and monetary rewards are all forms of recognition. But my favorite form of recognition feels personal. I think personalized recognition resonates more with the receiver. Science backs me up on this: Employees who receive fulfilling, individualized and authentic recognition at work are five times more likely to feel connected to their work culture, according to Gallup.
A more tailored recognition reflects our shared connection and feels more genuine. It’s why I take the time to write a recognition tailored to the person. I’ll include inside jokes or comments that only they would understand. Our recognitions are public, so we can all join in on the shoutout, but that personalized touch builds our connection as team members.
- To create a company culture of appreciation, recognition and feedback should be frequent, timely and aligned to company values.
- Incorporate recognitions in meetings or performance reviews. Keep recognitions part of the conversation. Leadership can highlight recognitions as great examples of core values or signs of growth during big meetings. Managers can point to specific recognitions for one-on-ones.
3. Measure progress and optimize
Tracking benchmarks helps you evolve your recognition program. Capture feedback with recurring check-ins or employee surveys. This will help you measure success and give employees a voice.
- Create actionable insights after six months. This re-engages leadership for support and shares how their teams are performing. You can also share where or who they may need to nudge into action.
- Optimize employee feedback. Are there certain core values more used than others? Is one department adopting recognition more than another? This will inform your next steps to grow your program.
Recognition isn't just about a job well done. It's about creating a thriving culture where leadership and employees feel empowered and appreciated. An impactful recognition program helps organizations increase employee engagement, building happier, more confident teams.
Discover new strategies in our ebook to build your recognition program and boost employee engagement.