Employees are the foundation of any business. Taking the time to recognize their contributions and accomplishments can make all the difference in your workplace. Employee recognition awards can help strengthen morale, inspire better performances and let your employees know how much you value them.

In this article, we’ll discuss the types, examples and benefits of employee recognition awards, and the various ways you can reward employees for their work.

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This This Article Covers

• What Are Employee Recognition Awards?
• How Do They Affect Your Company?
• Harnessing Technology for Employee Recognition
• Benefits
• Types of Employee Recognition
• Attributes
• When Should You Give Awards?
• Examples
• Budgeting
• Next Steps

What Are Employee Recognition Awards?

Employee recognition awards are mainly accolades, prizes and acknowledgments given to employees who have met a goal, executed a task well or demonstrated worthy behavior. An essential part of effective workforce planning, they facilitate a regular assessment of employees’ efficiency, both collectively and individually.

Recognition awards are a convenient system for companies to recognize employees for their hard work and promote work-life balance. Awards are prevalent in a workplace where employees’ endeavors are appropriately acknowledged and appreciated relatively and efficiently.

Employee recognition awards primarily include:

• Integrated and systematic monetary compensation
• Team celebrations
• Gift coupons and vouchers
• Freebies (i.e. small gifts, such as apparel, accessories and mugs. You can even add your company logo!)
• Personalized items
• Trophies and cups acknowledging years of service
• Medals highlighting the achievement of milestones

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How Do They Affect Your Company?

Giving awards to employees is a significant step in making them feel valued and cherished. In an Achievers Workforce Institute industry report, a majority of employees said feeling recognized would help outweigh heavy workloads, layoffs and inadequate compensation. Here’s how the findings break down:

• 73% said it would inspire them to be more productive in their role
• 67% said it would help balance a heavy workload
• 63% agreed it would help maintain morale during layoffs
• 58% said it would help mitigate the impact of an understaffed team
• 54% agreed it would reduce the negative impact of a salary below their expectations

With employee well-being on the forefront of the L&D priorities, making your staff members feel seen and valued is a critical step towards achieving business success. Competitive pay, perks and benefits are important, but how you treat employees can make or break how well you retain the right people.

Harnessing Technology for Employee Recognition

You can easily create and manage your company’s awards program using employee recognition software like Bonusley and Nectar, or integrate them with your existing HR and workforce management systems. Such tools provide features to implement all rewards and incentives-related workflows on a user-friendly and remotely accessible platform — a major benefit if you’re managing a dispersed workforce.

Some solutions, like ADP Workforce Now and Sage HR, also offer built-in features or modules for employee recognition alongside compensation and benefits management. They typically include performance tracking, peer-to-peer recognition, customization, compliance and reporting capabilities.

You can use these solutions to determine your evaluation criteria, automate nomination and selection processes, track and analyze performance data, and more. A user-friendly interface allows employees and managers to access and interact with the recognition program easily. Some systems can be customized to reflect your organization’s branding and design preferences too.

Primary Benefits

According to an InComm survey, recognizing employees for their hard work is among the most effective ways to create a positive company culture. To that end, recognition awards offer several shared benefits for companies across different industries and help improve the overall employee experience.

Here are a few of the advantages:

Drive Excellence

Employee recognition awards reduce workplace stress and provide significant positive motivation. They are the foundation for developing an exceptional tradition that nurtures employee acknowledgment and empowerment. They solidify employees’ relationships with their employers by making them feel acknowledged, valued and cherished. They also give employees a clear purpose aligned with attainable goals (i.e., tangible awards).

A value system of excellence enables business executives to keep driving toward crucial objectives such as improving employee retention, setting norms and increasing satisfaction by integrating employees into a common purpose.

Enhance Recruitment

When employees encounter a positive workplace environment, they innately want to speak about it and bring in new talent.

Improve Employee Satisfaction and Engagement

Employee recognition awards lead to increased employee satisfaction, which can lead to improved customer service. More motivated employees take positive action and engage in your organization’s growth.

Reinforce Company Values

Employee recognition awards use the power of appreciation to align your employees and culture around a common goal, strengthening company values. Through award incentives, you can begin to incorporate those ideals into your staff’s everyday actions and behaviors.

Gain Vital Employee Data

Collecting crowdsourced employee data could be a byproduct of incorporating employee incentive programs. Such employee data gives valuable insights into workplace culture and allows you to quickly identify corporate energizers and best performers. Your company’s authentic, unbiased performance metrics can often come from an employee recognition awards scheme.

Support Employee Retention

Meaningful employee recognition awards choices delight employees and create lasting memories that aid in improved employee retention.

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Types

Structured and unstructured employee recognition are two ways to acknowledge and appreciate employees’ participation in the workplace.

Here’s a breakdown of each approach:

Structured

Structured recognition programs help systematically track employees’ progress, behaviors and achievements. They typically have pre-determined criteria and guidelines which decide whether an employee deserves the award(s). Some examples include:

• Sales incentive programs to reward teams or individuals for meeting or exceeding sales targets.
• Employee of the month//year to recognize outstanding employees based on specific performance metrics or criteria.
• Points-based recognition where employees can accumulate points for various achievements and redeem them for rewards or gifts.
• Longevity awards to recognize employees for long years of service with the organization, typically at milestone intervals.
• Monetary bonuses for achieving predetermined goals and consistent performance.

Unstructured

This approach involves more informal methods of acknowledging employees’ contributions that aren’t based on a predefined program or process. It often takes a more personal approach towards providing recognition. Here are a few ways you can implement it:

• Verbal appreciation, like offering a note of acknowledgment or praise in person or through informal channels like text messaging.
• Informal team celebrations like team lunches, gaming sessions or outings to celebrate milestones, personal achievements and project successes.
• Small tokens of appreciation in the form of gift cards, company merchandise or personalized items.
• Written notes or emails that include personalized messages expressing gratitude and recognizing individual achievements or efforts.
• Public acknowledgment by recognizing employees during team meetings, company-wide announcements, or social media platforms.

Attributes

Now that you know what an employee recognition award is, why it’s meaningful and how it works, you’re probably wondering what the basic attributes of fruitful employee recognition award programs are! We’ll reveal it to you.

Before incorporating any employee recognition award program, everyone engaged must understand the following characteristics of successful recognition award programs:

Timely

You must recognize and reward employees promptly, since delays might make praise less effective. Unfortunately, the link between contribution and acknowledgment deteriorates over time. Strive to provide recognition awards as early as possible to establish a clear correlation between desirable outcomes and recognition.

Frequent

Employee recognition awards, if given regularly, lead to more motivated staff, better business outcomes and reduced turnover. Employees make significant contributions daily, and neglecting to provide regular awards for their contributions increases the probability that individuals will feel underappreciated in their roles.

Specific

Employees benefit from specific recognition awards because they clarify which of their acts played a role in the team’s success. Being specific entails recognizing the details and background of a task or activity. When recognition or awards aren’t precise, they can come across as unprofessional or ambiguous.

Visible

Although private employee recognition awards can be beneficial, public recognition has several pluses. You can recognize employees and their success stories through company-wide communications, newsletters, social media channels or during team meetings.

For one thing, being publicly recognized amplifies its implication. Sharing praise and adulations with a larger audience helps everybody learn about the efforts made throughout the organization, fostering collaboration and showcasing solutions that would otherwise go unrecognized. It also encourages other coworkers to participate in the acknowledgment programs, enhancing positive behavior.

Inclusive

Incorporating cultural and diversity-related awards promotes inclusion and creates a sense of belonging for individuals from different backgrounds. They foster fairness, belonging and a sense of meaning.

Leaders should prioritize showing staff that they belong, and acknowledging the actions and individuals you value involves recognizing what you truly treasure in your company culture. Who gets the most attention, and for what?

Diversifying the individuals responsible for awarding people ensures that more people are recognized correctly. Providing employee recognition awards for workers at all levels and positions increases the chances for bulk workforce contributions to your company’s progress.

Transparent

A well-thought and fair evaluation process for awards builds trust and maintains credibility. You can consult managers, employees and other key stakeholders to build an all-inclusive selection criteria.

Value-Based

Value-based employee recognition awards motivate teams to function toward a common goal. When providing positive feedback, consider how participation aligns with your value systems. If your organizational culture genuinely encompasses a standard set of values, praising and rewarding employees on those values will be a deeply ingrained habit.

Personalized

You can tailor the awards to align with individual preferences. Address recipients by name, highlight specific accomplishments and explain why their contributions are valued. Personalization shows genuine appreciation and reinforces the significance of their achievements.

Fun

Don’t limit yourself to boring, one-line award titles. Make them interesting and fun for employees with catchy names like Mover of Mountains, The MVP and Queen Bee!

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When Should You Give Awards?

So you know the benefits and common attributes associated with employee recognition awards, but what about when you should give them out? A company can recognize its employees at crucial moments, such as at the time of employees’ accomplishments, their work anniversaries or their birthdays.

We have highlighted a few of these award-giving occasions below.

Events

Employee’s First Day

Should you award new employees before they begin working? We believe so. Furthermore, we believe that the stressful procedure of interviewing, negotiating and getting through the first few days deserves an award!

The advantages are twofold: new hires feel instantaneously welcomed, and existing staff can break the ice.

Birthdays

For the overwhelming majority of people, a birthday is a special occasion. While everybody has different priorities for how much attention they want, it’s never a bad thing to show them on their birthday that your company values them.

Employee Appreciation Day

Bob Nelson, a top executive of Recognition Professional International, established Employee Appreciation Day as a semi-formal holiday. Many firms have adopted the unofficial holiday over the last 20 years, paying tribute to their staff members on the first Friday of March.

Employee Appreciation Day is an excellent opportunity to highlight employee efforts without the stress of annual or quarterly evaluations. It can be celebrated with modest, company-funded occasions and awards.

Work Anniversary

Work anniversaries are one of the most widespread, common milestones to offer employee recognition. They are a landmark occasion for employees, and companies should regard them.

Achieving a work anniversary can be a significant turning point when staff often reflect on their old days, plan for their future and evaluate their job satisfaction. As a result, getting a small gift, card or plaque on a work anniversary can make employees feel valued for their contributions to your company.

Project Completion

It’s always a relief when a task is executed, launched or submitted, so this is also an excellent time to acknowledge all the hard effort of your employee(s). Award team members as soon as possible; acknowledgment in the form of awards can have much more influence than verbal acknowledgment.

Year End

A yearly performance incentive is a financial benefit offered to workers in addition to their regular salary. They are based primarily on targets, either the company’s or the individual’s achievement, or even both. Companies often award them as part of a staff’s pay package depending on the organization or industry.

Quarterly Review

Quarterly rewards are comparable to annual bonuses but are often distributed on a smaller scale. You can distribute quarterly dividends as part of a highly performance-based incentive scheme. Sales organizations or teams generally use the quarterly bonus strategy.

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Employee Recognition Awards Examples

1. Performance: This includes awards for efficient and consistent performance at the workplace. It can be awarded to top-performing employees with the best overall scores, or those who’ve shown remarkable improvement in their performance.

Some examples include:

• Most Recognized Employee award for individuals who have given the best performance among all team members in their respective departments.
• Customer Service award for receiving high ratings from customers, generating new leads and being dedicated to improving the customer experience.

2. Behavior: While there are several soft skills employees should generally have, rewarding them for putting those into action can be a great source of motivation. For example, you can award employees for maintaining consistent attendance or covering for someone who’s out of office.

Some examples include:

• Team Player award for employees who exhibit a remarkable level of cooperation and synergy with colleagues.
• Leadership award for taking up responsibilities, managing the team effectively and leading the way for colleagues through example-setting.

3. Service: Awards in this category are given to hardworking, longstanding employees who’ve shown remarkable dedication and commitment towards the company. This includes awards for completing three-year work anniversaries, training new hires, mentoring colleagues and more.

Some examples include:

• Incomparable Service award for completing a significant tenure at the company.
• Rising Star award for new hires who have performed exceptionally well in the first few months of their employment.

4. Peer-to-peer recognition: This refers to a system where employees can acknowledge and appreciate each other’s efforts. They can express their gratitude to team members for helping them at the workplace through different channels, like a shout-out on an online platform or physical recognition like cards or badges.

Some examples include:

• You’re a Gem award for staying by someone’s side during times of crisis.
• Favorite Coworker award for expressing appreciation towards an individual.

In addition to this list, other common awards for employee recognition include:

• Innovation award
• Years of Service award
• Best Attendance award
• Work Anniversary award
• Sales Achievement award
• Best Listener award
• Employee Choice award
• New Hire award
• Engagement Driver award

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Budgeting

In a RewardGateway report, 60% of employees said they expect their employer to increase investments in employee reward and recognition. By taking a thoughtful and strategic approach, you can create a budget that effectively acknowledges and appreciates your employees’ contributions without breaking the bank.

Here are some things to keep in mind while budgeting for your employee recognition program:

• Identify the most impactful recognition initiatives that align with your organization’s goals and values. Focus on initiatives that have a high return on investment in terms of employee morale, engagement and retention.
• Explore cost-effective ways to recognize employees that can still be meaningful and appreciated. Examples include verbal recognition, thank-you notes, certificates, public acknowledgments or a wall of fame to showcase employee achievements.
• Explore partnerships with local businesses or vendors who may provide discounted or sponsored rewards or incentives.
• Instead of offering expensive rewards or incentives, allow employees to choose rewards that suit their personal preferences. This can include options like gift cards, additional training and development opportunities and time off for reaching team goals.
• Recognize employees through non-monetary rewards. For example, you can assign employees challenging projects or offer public recognition during team meetings or company-wide events.
• Collect feedback from employees to understand what initiatives are most valued and where adjustments can be made to optimize your budget allocation. You can regularly review and refine your budget based on the outcomes and feedback received.

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Next Steps

Employee recognition awards are a powerful tool for any organization’s success. Specifically designed employee recognition award programs can be an excellent way for companies to make their workforce feel appreciated, engaged and involved.

If you’re planning to implement an employee recognition awards program, the right workforce management software can help you monitor employee productivity and track achievements. Kickstart your search with our free software comparison report to evaluate leading solutions and how they support your business needs.

What kind of employee recognition program do you use? How has it impacted employee engagement at your organization? Let us know in the comments below!