How to Give Recognition of Achievement

Impactful Ways to Recognize Employees - How to Recognize Employees

There is a major misconception that employees consider monetary compensation most impactful. Therefore, most organizations consider recognition and awarding programs as expensive. 

However, as per the Gallup workplace survey, monetary recognition is not even in the top three recognition categories.

Public acknowledgment, recognition from superiors, obtaining recognition from evaluations are the top three preferable methods of employee recognition. 

Publicly celebrating the achievement of employees gives them a well-earned boost to their capability. Moreover, other employees can be inspired by the recognized employees and ask for their help when needed.

At the same time, some employees can feel uncomfortable in public celebrations. The management should consider their issues and recognize them more privately. 

When the employees are recognized by the higher-ups, they will feel more visible. Also, often the upper management may not be completely aware of an employee’s potential and hard work. In such cases, peer-to-peer recognition can come in handy. 

Some organizations may also prefer private recognition. It allows the manager to focus on the individual and be more elaborate. As a result, it may inspire the employees to be more engaged and positive about their workplace.

Attaching some perks with the recognition can take it up a notch. It can either be monetary or non-monetary. Some examples of simple but effective perks are:

• An additional vacation day
• Taking the employee to lunch
• A coupon for dine-in or have a message with loved ones
• A gift card to buy something nice
• Adjustable work hours
• Certificate of achievement

How to Provide Recognition for Achievements?

As you now know ways to reward your employees, now you require them to deliver it. As a matter of fact, delivering recognition is harder than drafting the recognition program. If not done well, it can backfire and create chaos in the workplace.

There are four steps you need to address before delivering recognition for achievements. These steps are referred to as the COIN conversation model. Here COIN stands for Context, Observation, Impact, and Next steps, respectively. Let’s discuss them briefly:

Context

First of all, the management is required to identify the achievement, goal, behavior they want to recognize. Give the employees concrete reference points to determine the behavior considerable for recognition. 

Give the employees proper examples of the desired behavior. Any vague reverence can interfere with the proper recognition and create confusion among employees. You can provide multiple examples regarding the context of your recognition program.

Observation

Rather than stating “thank you” and “good job,” give the detailed behavioral skill that made you recognize the employee. This way, the employee gets the idea of what he’s doing right and what would require more work. 

Impact

Discuss the impact of the behavior or recognize team achievement. It will help others to replicate the results. Also, the recognized employees can get a sense of accomplishment and feel more involved with the organization when they know the impact of their work.

Next Steps

After completing the three previous steps, you may need to go through some additional steps. These steps may be necessary to execute the recognition meaningfully. Any steps after impact are included in this stage.

Here the employer provides employees insight and encourages them to keep doing the good work. Also, the employer can tell employees how they can enhance their capabilities and achieve greater goals.

So, here is the COIN conversion model to recognize employees effectively. When you follow this model, you initiate a transparency practice.

When to Provide Recognition?

Recognizing employee contributions in proper time is quite crucial. It is important to celebrate both small and large accomplishments. However, if not celebrated in proper time, the achievement may lose its significance. After a successful achievement or completion of a project, recognition can be provided to the employees. Also, recognition should be a regular practice and announced at the moment. In many companies, there are traditional bells and whistles to announce the accomplishments right after the achievement.

Many companies can hold the recognition for various reasons. However, the sooner it is shared, the more effective it gets. 

Crafting the recognition may take up some time. However, the management can announce and congratulate the employees right the moment they achieve a new milestone. The official recognition can be provided later with a huge ceremony and feedback. However, company-wide clapping, ringing a bell, or a high-five in the corridor right after the accomplishment will mean more to the employees.

Advantages of Timely Recognition

Employees are the most valuable assets of a company. When the company is keen to acknowledge the achievements and commitments of the employees, it motivates them to perform better. By recognizing achievements in the workplace of the employees’ success, the organization keeps them aligned with the company culture and values. It also ensures fewer employee turnovers.

When a company can keep the employees satisfied, they will stay with the company for the long run. Therefore, the company can achieve higher benefits from the employees. Also, they can reduce the cost of hiring new employees and use the asset in other improvements. 

Therefore, a company should adopt employee recognition programs and deliver them accordingly.

Bottom Line

For the prosperity of a company, the employees need to be motivated and carry out the company’s best interests. Similarly, it’s the job of the company to bring out the full potential of the employees and apprise them of the work they are doing. Employee recognition is the way to keep the employees happy and inspire them to give their best.

However, without addressing the proper procedure, the whole effort can go in vain. Therefore, the management should be aware of the proper procedure of the recognizing system and act accordingly.