4 Pieces of the Employee Recognition Puzzle: 4- On the Spot Recognition

The final piece of the employee recognition puzzle is On the Spot Recognition.

On the Spot Recognition is important, especially in the time of instant gratification and short attention spans we live in. When an employee completes an important task or additional task than usual to their workload, it is important to recognize them, and timely. If too much time passes the reward will have less of an effect. For those small occurrences that you want to encourage, an on the spot reward is a perfect way to have the task's value resonate with your employee.

Recognizing on the spot generally means recognizing someone at their desk, which often times will be in front of their peers. Being recognized in front of peers can mean more to the employee who achieved the reward, and can also be used as a motivational factor for those peers around them to try to achieve that recognition as well.

Tangible rewards are the best rewards. Giving someone a mug, card, or sticky note with words of encouragement or "thanks" will not only be positive because of immediate gratification but also because it will serve as a reminder of your appreciation and also the task or operation the employee performed to earn that reward. 

Koodos on the Spot Reward Kits by Bukoo Gifts

When you are able to hit your employees (not literally!) from all angles in recognition, you are more likely to have an effect on more people. A good mix of on-going (incentive programs), occasional loyalty (service awards), peer recognition, and on the spot recognition will ensure that you are affecting those people who regard their work as most important, those who value loyalty, and those who value respect of their peers. Regardless of the various personalities your workplace may have, they will all feel your spirit of Employee Engagement when you put together a program recognizing employees in all of these ways.

4 Pieces of the Employee Recognition Puzzle: 3- Peer to Peer Recognition

Receiving praise and adequate recognition from managers, supervisors, and directors is important, as we have discussed in the first two puzzle pieces here and here. The third element can be just as influential on the success and retention of employees in your company: Peer to Peer Recognition.

Peer Recognition is important because it's human nature to want to feel accepted. Acceptance and support from peers is vital. When a person feels support from their colleagues and recognizes that not only will their work affect others close to them on the same level, but they will be appreciated for that work, it is an additional motivation.

Give your employees the opportunity to call-out their fellow colleagues for doing something good, for accomplishments and achievements. Encourage simple gestures, because those can go a long way. To more formally implement a peer to peer recognition, hold nominations for employee of the month/quarter/year to give the staff an opportunity to recognize who they believe stands out and who makes their jobs easier or better.

When there is a good atmosphere and camaraderie amongst peers, that element of teamwork will only push the company's goals further. To encourage and appreciate when a member of the team steps up to help others, it makes the business more successful and more productive. Encourage this practice in your company and you will see results. More people getting more done= more success for your business.

A great solution is to provide simple tools for words of encouragement or small items for peers to give to each other to show their appreciation. Check out our Koodos kits and consider using these as an opportunity for employees to be able to give these to each other. Maybe have the kits on hand and encourage employees to come to managers to nominate their peer for a Koodos gift. There could be a gesture made of this employee giving their colleague a "Koodos" mug in front of the office, or in private. Either way, the gesture will build a stronger team and company loyalty.

4 Pieces of the Employee Recognition Puzzle: 2- Reward and Motivate with Incentives

Rewarding your top performers has never been more important. The economy has been through its ups and downs over the past few years, and the value put on high performance cannot be overstated. Being able to do more with less is the progress successful businesses have made. Doing more with less money, and doing more with less manpower also, of course.

Don't be shocked if your top performers are being lured away as the economy turns around. The best way to avert the crisis of losing them is to make sure they are properly compensated, rewarded, and recognized for their accomplishments and contributions to the company.

While trying to do more with less, you also want to maximize the contribution from ALL of your employees. Some might be disillusioned with their positions, but not feel safe enough to try to move to another company. This is almost the worst case for your company. It hurts to have people who only do enough to get by. As a company, you might feel stuck with this person, or not even know how bad it is because you are trying to avoid the high cost of turnover in one or multiple positions, or even avert a lull in productivity it would take to train a new hire. This is where incentives can be huge.

Incentives can motivate your lower performing employees to higher production levels than they would normally try to achieve, and properly compensate the highest performing members of your team. The more they perform, the more they receive in rewards. It is in the employees' control how much in rewards they receive.

To maximize the potential of incentives for your employees, the incentives need to be 1) Desirable and 2) Attainable. As in any setting for motivation, the end goal and reward must be worth the effort. Gift desirable rewards, and the motivation will be instilled. Setting goals for incentives that have never been close to being reached is not only discouraging employees to not participate, but it can actually have even more of a negative effect than not having incentives at all.

In an incentive program, it is important to make the goals attainable and quantifiable. A "good" action cannot be a qualification for an incentive reward. Make the rewards specific, and put higher value on the actions that more directly affect the bottom line of the company.  Be careful not to neglect elements like administrative tasks, or other actions that benefit the bottom line more indirectly. To be a successful company, all parts must work together and have emphasis. Incentives are a great way to "grease the squeaky wheel", if you will and get moving in the right direction.

To view examples of reasons to reward view our company blog on Incentives.

To learn more about a customized Incentive Points Program full of desirable rewards, check out BukooGifts.com.