If your organization has an employee recognition program, you’re in good company – three out of four companies have some kind of recognition program. The problem is that most of these companies are pursuing recognition strategies that don’t work. Too many recognition efforts fail to tap into the focus that employees put on their jobs. Instead these programs typically reward people for tenure, for arbitrary achievements (employee of the month), or are limited to particular groups like sales.
Recognize Employees for Progress Toward Business Goals
To make sure your recognition efforts pay off, be sure that you acknowledge employees for the progress they make toward business goals. Internal communications consultant Jeremy Henderson encourages business leaders to align their recognition efforts with specific business goals.
Two other things that can help your recognition efforts succeed:
- Make sure recognition is fair – while it may be that your top sales people are driving the bottom line, don’t leave out support staff who are also doing their part to ensure success.
- Tap employees to recognize their peers – leader directed recognition programs sometimes smack of politics and favoritism, and rarely recognize the "foot soldiers" on the front line of business.
Building a Culture of Achievement
The great thing about tying recognition directly to business goals is that it sends the signal that everyone’s contribution is important. More to the point, it lets employees know that you value their efforts at moving the ball forward.
By empowering employees to recognize their peers you begin to change the cultural fabric of the organization. The responsibility for the success (or failure) of the business becomes more evenly distributed and employees start to see their daily efforts as more than simply cranking widgets and taking home a paycheck. They know that they are a part of something that’s actually working.
