Employee achievement or recognition is about reinforcement of employee actions, efforts, behaviour or performance that support organisational strategy. Celebrating employee achievement gives special attention to employee actions, efforts, behaviour or performance and supports business strategy by reinforcing certain behaviours that contribute to organisational success.
Organisations have different needs, some need to increase retention in a specific business unit or type of job while others need to support innovative thinking. One organisation may find that recognition will help it to address a very specific individual performance issue while another may determine that an overall culture of celebrating achievements will contribute to organisational success.
Employee needs in order to attract, motivate and retain a talented productive workforce, which is likely to be a key to business success.
12 Reasons to Celebrate Employee Achievement
1.Statistics
Celebrating employee achievements can be the key to motivating employees and driving organisational results. According to a new survey, trends in employee recognition by World At Work-
- Employee recognition programs remain an important component in the total rewards toolkit with 89% of organisations having programs in place.
- 67% of organisations offer between three and six different programs with 4.6 as the average number.
- The average number of programs appears to be trending upward to the 2011 level after dipping to 3.9 in 2013.
- According to the 2015 report the top 5 recognition programs have remained the same since 2013 including:
-Length of service at 87%
-Above and Beyond performance at 76%
-Programs to motivate specific behaviours at 51%
-Peer to Peer recognition at 48%
-Retirement at 34%
2.Engagement
A Gallup poll taken in 2017 reported a ‘not so positive’ outlook on employee engagement and stated that as many as 51% of the employee workforce is not actively engaged.
Employees who receive strong recognition and their achievements are being celebrated, found to improve their work relativity and quality by 80%. Recognition programs effectively engage employees at a 31% lower voluntary turnover.
One of the ways in which recognition of your employees’ effort or hardware can benefit is by encouraging or inspiring further and boosting overall performance.
3.Better Result
The simple gesture of praising or rewarding your employees at work can have a direct impact on your bottom-line and can lead to better overall results that are a consequence of better individual performance.
Employees who work at companies that have a strong program and engaging environment to the business making an effort to acknowledge employees empowers them and can help create a positive company culture, increase your revenue and more.
4.Retain the Best Talent
When one is recognised for his/her work, he/she tends to be more loyal towards you and the work he/she is doing. This is something that can help to retain important and skilled employees in the long run.
The most important thing to keep in mind for retaining top talent is to remember to treat them as individuals who bring value and insight to your business. They will understand that they are not easily replaceable employees. A supportive work environment helps reduce turnover and increase employee satisfaction too.
5.Supportive Work Environment
The more your employees feel encouraged and valued, the more they will be supportive to your cause. Hence, building a supportive and active work environment.
For me, creating a positive workplace where employees look forward to coming into work everyday is a goal that every company should be working towards. Making your staff feel welcome and appreciated goes a long way.
6.Encourage Sense Of Ownership
When an employee hears a word of recognition or receives an award for his/her services, he/she begins to feel a sense of belongingness and ownership for the workplace. This further improves performance and infuses a sense of positivity in the environment.
Being an employee in a supportive teamwork environment can perform their jobs better and more confidently. At the end, they become more engaged with the work as well. Being appreciated for a job well done is a simple way to make an employee feel more invested in your company.
7.Employee Achievement Related to Happiness
There was data collected from 4445 employees through happiness recognition surveys and it shows that employers who provide more recognition and celebrated employee achievement have significantly happier employees.
When people are happy that means they are more productive and they are willing to share more information and feedback. This is because they feel that their opinions matter. They promote collaboration and enhance loyalty. When employees are happy, they will stick around and it will help your company with retention as well.
A survey done by OGORATE 1 discovered that 40% of employed Americans would put more energy into their work if they were recognised more often.
8.Productivity and Culture
Celebrating employee achievement is crucial to your organisation’s productivity and culture. When employees feel valued they are more likely to enjoy their work acknowledging achievements and praising effort is a key driver of employee engagement.
Celebrate success and share stories that reflect your company’s core values. Use tools that help employees recognize hard work and accomplishments in real time. This helps build a culture of personal satisfaction and empowerment with recognition.
9.Impacts Business
Effective and timely recognition is one of the top drivers of engagement in the workplace. Investing in a good employee rewards program can help the organisation get 12 times higher business outcomes. Organisations with a recognition program experience a reduction of around 29% in employee disengagement levels.
A good recognition policy can cause the individual productivity of employees to rise by as much as 78%. Celebrating employee achievement causes higher business growth and productivity. It also enhances innovation and process improvement with positive company culture and collaboration.
10.Improved Leadership & Opportunities
Strong leaders that act as engaged mentors not only create a heightened sense of camaraderie but relationships between employees and leaders are improved especially when employees are recognized for their ongoing efforts.
Providing employees with opportunities to grow and develop both personally and professionally is important. Celebrating employee achievements such as receiving a Master’s degree or completing a comprehensive certification program is a great motivator.
11.Success & Purpose
Employees want to feel as though they are part of a winning team and that their efforts for doing meaningful work are recognised. When the company gets Awards or special mentions be sure to bring that to your teams.
Give employees a reason for their presence and their contributions within the organisation for them to feel connected. Many studies show that when people feel the purpose or reason for being or doing, they are more likely to be productive and happy.
12.Wellbeing
Organisations often focus solely on the physical aspects of workplace culture. However, to create well-rounded employees, employers must also focus on the well being that involves employees’ emotions and social environments.
Recognition is a tool not often seen as a key factor in workplace culture but to effectively make an impact on the organisation and for the customers. It should never be underestimated.
How To Build A Successful Recognition Program?
- Start by building a business case for your recognition program by tying it to your business objectives.
- Crunch some numbers and think about the costs of a recognition program as well as the savings. Such as time saved, increased productivity and especially reduced turnover.
- Build a team of champions because this isn’t the time to go alone. Look for fellow team leaders to help conceptualize, promote, communicate, implement and participate in your organisation’s new recognition program.
- Aim to get buy-in from key stakeholders and help them feel a sense of ownership.
- Before jumping into an employee recognition program you will want to review the characteristics of effective recognition in order to set your team up for success.
- Recognition is most effective when it exhibits the following characteristics:
-Timely
-Frequent
-Specific
-Visible
-Inclusive
-Value Based
Recognition Program Best Practices
Once your team is sold on recognition, you will want to tailor your program to your organisation by following best practices.
- Start by defining what success looks like at your organisation, What types of behaviours will be rewarded? How should desired behaviours be rewarded? How often should recognition occur? Who should recognition come from?
- Traditionally recognition has been given top down by managers to their direct reports. However 360 degree recognition coming from all levels is the most effective.
- Peer recognition is 36% more likely to have a positive impact on financial results than manager only recognition.
- Use a multi-faceted rewards and recognition program. Your recognition program should meet your team in the tools where they already work.
- Help them understand why they are being recognised and encourage them to replicate the behaviours that led to the recognition.
- By linking your recognition program with rewards you will avoid drop-off an engagement that might occur otherwise and you will positively reinforce your organisation’s core values at the same time.
- Be sure to communicate information about your recognition program frequently to your employees. Announce it at all-hands meetings, set up pre-lunch and post-lunch training.
- Don’t just set it and forget it because even excellent recognition programs should evolve over time to stay effective. Solicit feedback to understand the types of rewards they prefer.
Important Facts About Celebrating Employee Achievement and Recognition
- 80% of Gen Y employees say they prefer on-the-spot recognition over formal reviews.
- 88% of employees that receive strong performance recognition are proactively innovating.
- Employee recognition programs positively affect retention according to 68% of HR Professionals.
- According to HR Professional, employee recognition positively affects:
Strongly Agree Agree
-Employee Experience 31% 58%
-Employee Engagement 30% 54%
-Employee Happiness 26% 56%
-Employee Relationships 29% 58%
- 54% of employees prefer verbal ‘Thank you’ for their day-to-day accomplishments.
- 47% of employees prefer a growth opportunity for a significant accomplishment.
- 74% of employees say it is important to receive rewards from their employer.
- 78% of US workers say that being appreciated motivates them at their job.
- 15% increase in staff satisfaction with their day-to-day recognition by their immediate supervisors.
- Peer-to-peer recognition makes 90% of workers more satisfied with their work.
- 15% increase in staff satisfaction with their day-to-day recognition by their immediate supervisors.
- 32% of workers left their jobs because they were unsatisfied with the recognition for their contributions.
- Employee recognition 52% of employees want more recognition.
Tips For Employee Recognition
- Get creative and think out of the box when it comes to ways that you can show your employees that you appreciate the work that they do.
- Send them something in the mail or maybe a personalised gift.
- You can also host some event for your employee where they can all gather together and you can recognize and appreciate all of them in one moment.
- Make it personalized because everyone has a different style of recognition that they tend to like. Some people like to be recognised publicly while others like a personalised email that highlights and thank them for their hard work.
- Find out what your employees like and tailor it to them.
- Employee recognition and achievement is the part where we get to celebrate the great work that our team is doing.so make sure that you are having fun.
