Improve your employee
recognition program.
Some things to consider if you are looking at how to improve employee recognition within your organisation.
While all companies take a slightly different approach to recognising employees, when you consider how to improve employee recognition for your organisation, there are some consistent elements that contribute to an impactful and engaging program.
If you are considering how to improve employee recognition within your organisation, you need to address the fundamentals of accessibility, understanding, reach and frequency, leadership involvement, transparency and administration.
Accessibility is an easy one if you are thinking about how to improve employee recognition. If your people can’t access your recognition program easily, they won’t use it. If they are out on the road, mobile optimisation will be important. If they are in the office, a single sign on will help improve accessibility. Whatever it is, the question of how to improve employee recognition starts with looking at how employees access the program.
Employee understanding is vital when it comes to making improvements. If you have access to dashboards, and a transparent program that gives all user their own personalised recognition dashboard, you can use this to show employees how to improve employee recognition between each other. A recognition program is not just about company-led recognition, it is a tool for employees to build the culture from the ground up. Log in with your employees, show them their dashboard and talk about how to improve employee recognition across their team.
Employees understanding how to improve employee recognition will improve reach and frequency of your program. The more they understand the program, the more likely they are to use it. The more employees use the program, the more people will be recognised more often.
The second audience who impact reach and frequency are managers. When you consider how to improve employee recognition, they are the key to positive change. Managers lead by example and their involvement in the program sets the benchmark for their team. Managers have line of sight to the everyday and extraordinary achievements so their understanding of how to use recognition to celebrate these moments, and how to improve employee recognition if there are any challenges, is vital.
Leadership involvement is usually less frequent, due to the lower numbers of leaders in any organisation compared to employees, but their reach and impact is just as important. If you are facing challenges with your program, talk to your leaders about their commitment to recognition and how to improve employee recognition through increased leadership involvement. While leaders are often stretched as it is, allocating small pockets of time each week to be involved will have a significant impact.
Another thing to consider when you are looking at how to improve employee recognition, is transparency. If you have a program where recognition is hidden, or there is some mystery around how and why employees can be recognised, employees will not buy it. Recognition needs to be authentic and transparent, both in how it is given and in how it is communicated to the business.
Administration is the other key area to address when you look at how to improve employee recognition. If your program is hard to manage, or takes up valuable time, chances are you just won’t do it. Look at how to integrate data and automate processes to make your program easier and more efficient to manage.
Finally, if you are looking at how to improve employee recognition, it is important to look at these fundamentals regularly to make sure you are maximising your investment and deliver great recognition results. While your program should be simple to manage and easy to use, a set and forget mentality will not necessarily deliver a successful program.