How to create an employee recognition program that truly makes an impact

An employee recognition program is one of the easiest ways to show appreciation for your team and build a sense of connection between your employees and their work. In this blog we’ll explain exactly what an employee recognition program is, why having one is so important, and how to launch a program that makes a real and tangible difference for your organization.

What is an employee recognition program?

An employee recognition program is a system which allows people in your organization to recognize each other for their work. This could be for a massive achievement like winning a new client, a length-of-service recognition such as a 10- or 20-year milestone, a sign of appreciation for some particularly strong work or something else entirely.

Whatever your team wants to congratulate each other for, workforce recognition programs make it possible.

Types of employee recognition programs

There are two main types of employee recognition that your employee recognition program can deliver:

What are the benefits of workplace recognition programs?

Increased employee morale and motivation

It’s no secret that being recognized for your work is a huge morale booster. While salaried employees are expected to perform every day, a small act of recognition for a job well done, a target hit or a milestone achieved will do a lot to make them feel truly valued.

It works in reverse as well. Your team will appreciate having a way to give kudos to their peers in a more formal way than shouting “well done!” across their bank of desks. A workplace recognition program provides this outlet, letting people feel good that they’ve recognized their colleague’s efforts.

As we’ll explain later in this blog, workplace recognition programs can also be connected to reward incentives, which will go even further in improving morale.

In our recent report, An EVP that Drives Engagement: The power of benefits, recognition and appreciation, 57% of employees across all industries in the U.S. prefer to receive recognition via monetary rewards like spot bonuses or gift cards.

Improved employee retention rates

Humans aren’t machines, and often it takes more than just pay raises to keep people happy in their current roles. People crave recognition for their work and effort, which is why a workplace recognition program can have such a huge impact on employee satisfaction.

82% of U.S.-based employees report feeling more connected to their workplace when they receive customized recognition at work (An EVP that Drives Engagement).

Employees who are satisfied that they’re being noticed and appreciated – whether by managers or peers – are more likely to stay in their current company.

Improved culture

Your workforce should think of themselves as a team. Of course there can be a bit of friendly rivalry, but everyone should be supporting each other and celebrating their colleagues’ achievements.

The easiest way to make this possible is by bringing in a workforce recognition program. Allowing your team to recognize and congratulate each other for their achievements will quickly improve your workplace culture, fostering an environment of internal celebration and gratitude. This will naturally be followed with…

Improved team cohesion and collaboration

Feedback is one of the most important aspects of a strong working team. As we’ve mentioned, positive feedback improves morale in the workplace, but it’s also crucial for building a cohesive team. With regular recognition through an employee recognition program, your employees will quickly learn what sort of work benefits their teams and the wider organization. 

The program will also naturally lead to better collaboration in your workforce. Not only will employees have improved visibility into what their colleagues in other departments are doing, they can see what sort of results are appreciated by both their peers and managers, and collectively aim to deliver this kind of work moving forward. And nobody has to wait for an annual award ceremony, hoping they remember long enough – recognition can be doled out in real time!

8 steps to create a successful employee recognition program

1. Define the program’s goals

Before you bring in your employee recognition program, you need to be clear on what exactly your goals behind it are. Are you hoping to improve office morale by promoting workplace recognition? Help with employee retention? Or are you trying to develop your company culture into one that notices and celebrates achievements?

These are things you need to consider as it will help determine how you promote your employee recognition program.

2. Understand what motivates your employees

As is the case with any new internal system you use, you want to make sure your entire workforce uses it and sees the value in it. So make sure you understand what motivates your employees. For example, if your team responds well to detailed feedback, then make sure the program allows for long, detail-oriented comments about the work being recognized.

Some organizations find success in using their employee recognition program as part of a larger recognition strategy. If your employees respond well to the pageantry of an awards ceremony, at the end of every month you could hold an informal company-wide event where the employee with the most recognition gets a small prize.

3. Choose methods for recognition

One of the best aspects about workforce recognition programs is that you can tailor them to your exact needs. If you’re looking for a quick and easy interface, your program’s functionality could be as simple as letting employees give each other a ‘like’ or ‘kudos’ when they want to show appreciation for one another. This method works particularly well, as it mirrors social media, making it fast, fun and familiar for your team to use.

Alternatively, your program could require that recognition is given in the form of comments, allowing people to write a short paragraph on exactly what they appreciate about their teammate’s actions or behaviors.

This is also the time to think about how the employee receiving the recognition is notified. Some employee recognition platforms use features such eCards, adding an extra element of color and fun to the process. eCards can also be themed to your organization’s brand, mission and values, placing emphasis on the behaviors and actions you want to see from your people.

4. Set up a platform to manage recognition

This may be the most important step in the process. You need to carefully select the right platform for your employee recognition program that has the features you want, while also being engaging and easy to use for your employees.

Reward Gateway | Edenred provide an employee reward and recognition platform that offers an incredible one-stop avenue for recognizing and appreciating your employees’ performances. Whether it’s through on-the-spot manager rewards or nearly-endless redemption options, our platform helps celebrate daily success while boosting connections and visibility.

Book a demo of the platform today and see how easy it is to elevate the employee reward and recognition process in your organization!

5. Communicate with managers and employees

Now that you’ve figured out your employee recognition programme’s goals and picked the perfect platform, it’s time to tell your team about it!

This program has the possibility to completely change your company culture and the way your team interacts with each other, so be sure to shout about it – loudly.

Don’t just rely on a company-wide email and a post on your intranet, put a meeting in everyone’s diaries and turn it into an announcement. Explain that this is a chance for your workforce to truly recognize the people and achievements that might have been overlooked in the past. And of course, don’t forget to mention any sort of rewards attached to recognition – the incentive will go a long way to getting people to use the platform.

6. Collect feedback on the program

Like every workplace initiative you introduce, it’s important to see how your team is responding to your workforce recognition program. Be sure to collect feedback on your platform to see how it’s being received and what difference it’s making to your employees and company culture.

This can be done informally by speaking to people at their desks about their experience with the platform, or you might want to make things a bit more official and send out a survey asking staff for their feedback on the program so far.

This step is vital, particularly after the initial launch, as it will allow you to identify and fix any issues that might affect the take-up by your team.

7. Measure impact and effectiveness

With a Reward Gateway | Edenred platform, you can view the impact of recognition within your organization. Analytics tools allow you to see how many eCards are sent, how many rewards have been given and how acts of recognition have flowed between your teams. 

It’s important to pay attention to this data, as it will allow you to measure the effectiveness of your employee recognition program. Keep an eye out for changes in the data, such as a drop off in usage a few weeks after the launch – this might indicate that the platform set-up isn’t meeting your employees’ needs, so needs to be re-worked.

8. Revisit regularly

An employee recognition program should be a central part of your employee engagement strategy, and therefore should regularly be analyzed and re-evaluated to make sure it’s making a positive impact on your workforce.

There might be small tweaks you can make to improve the platform’s take-up within your workforce, such as making the interface easier to use, or suggesting people download the app version of the platform (if there is one). 

Or maybe you’ve carried out a survey and noticed that people have requested more of a ‘reward’ feature to the recognition? You could solve this by bringing in a rule that says people who gain a certain amount of recognition each month receive a voucher for their favorite shop.

To keep your employees engaged and make sure your recognition program is working for them you need to be maintaining it just as you would with any external-facing campaign or strategy.