How to Make Employee Award Ideas Work

A healthy workplace culture is entirely dependent on the fair and motivating treatment of employees. A happy, motivated workforce will work hard to help your business achieve its goals and create a happy environment. A downtrodden, foot-dragging workforce will be quite the opposite. Because of this, it is essential that businesses find ways to motivate their employees through acknowledgement that includes company appreciation gifts and other forms of recognition.

Though there are many organizations who recognize their employees informally, without following any sort of process, there are other companies who have sought to make this practice more formal and defined by creating an employee recognition program. This type of program often involves a transparent metric that defines when and how employees should be positively acknowledged. It also often includes possible company appreciation gifts that can be handed out.

<a data-snax-placeholder="Source" class="snax-figure-source" href="https://www.octanner.com/uk/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.octanner.com/uk/</a>

Creating an impactful recognition program depends, in-part, on which types of gifts or awards are handed out. To ensure that your employee award ideas are meaningful to your team, please read on.

• Determine the most effective mode of recognition: Employee appreciation can be divided into two major overarching categories—peer-to-peer recognition and top-down recognition. Through peer-to-peer recognition, any team member, regardless of level or seniority, can recognize their colleague’s efforts and present them with some form of award or gesture. Top-down recognition is a more traditional form of recognition that comes from management. This type of acknowledgement is typically more formal.
• Create specific criteria for employee awards: Without defining which actions are deserving of a gift or reward from the get-go, companies run the risk of being accused of favoritism by staff who don’t feel they are being adequately rewarded. When you are developing your recognition program, create a solid criteria which defines when and why rewards will be handed out. Ensure that all team members understand this criteria and apply it consistently.
• Go for creative award ideas: Company appreciation gifts, and employee award ideas are more meaningful when they are calibrated toward employees’ personalities and show a creativity and thoughtfulness. When deciding which award ideas you’ll incorporate into your recognition program, try to aim for these objectives. Traditional corporate gifts are nice gestures, but may not be the most appreciated kinds of rewards. Think about the wants and needs that your employees have.

Employee appreciation awards are the memento of your employees’ efforts for your company. Therefore, it is crucial to make your recognition program and employee award ideas work. It is not mandatory to have formalized recognition process or fancy gifts. Simple and thoughtful mementos are effective as well.