The Small Business Times

5 Ways to Show Employee Recognition

In the background, employees work tirelessly, so they should know how much their efforts are valued. For many businesses, figuring out how to express gratitude is difficult. 

But recognizing employees may be easier than you might imagine. Giving them a gift card or other gesture of gratitude is one approach. And there are many more ways to show employee recognition, regardless of whether you have an in-house or remote team. If you want to find out what they are, take a look below.

Send Gifts

Is there a better way to show gratitude than to send out gifts to your best employees? However, you have to be careful when choosing your gift.

Great corporate presents should include not only your intentions but also the needs and desires of the recipient. Even if you don’t have a specific budget in mind, you should have a reasonable sense of how much each employee or client will cost.

Moreover, outside of the workplace, gift-giving is all about making the recipient happy. The same is true about business gifts.

Even if you have another objective in mind, such as acquiring or retaining a customer, it’s always prudent to consider the recipient’s preferences when choosing corporate presents.

If you’d like to see a few corporate gift ideas, definitely check out Hoppier’s gift ideas that fit all budgets and personal preferences.

Give Feedback Carefully

Employees want to know what they’re doing well as well as what they can do better. Receiving praise from the boss is valuable, but do know that employees often question the validity of the positive feedback in case they never receive improvement-oriented comments.

Meanwhile, some employees who only receive negative feedback may give up, believing they could never accomplish anything properly.

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The key is to avoid providing both positive and negative feedback at the same time. Employees become perplexed when managers adopt the standard sandwich strategy of putting bad input between two layers of positive feedback.

People who require developmental input tend to only hear the nice things their manager said, whereas those who performed well remembered more of the negative comments. So, make sure to distinguish between positive and developmental feedback.

Provide Flexibility

Whether managers offer employees the choice to work remotely or just advise that they come in late after working additional hours, employees will certainly interpret it as a sign of trust and respect.

That’s why you need to consider offering your employees a greater degree of flexibility. This is a clear sign that you believe in them and that you can count on them not to fail or underdeliver. On top of that, offering flexibility also shows that you recognize their efforts and capabilities since you’re willing to allow them more freedom.

Remember, not every employee likes the traditional 9-to-5 routine. There are more and more workers that appreciate the hybrid system or even a 100% remote working concept. And you can hire them only if you are ready to allow them the necessary flexibility.

Show Them That You Really Care

The satisfaction of employees should be a priority. Purpose-driven businesses go above and beyond the standard benefits packages and ping-pong tables by implementing programs that demonstrate their concern for their employees’ complete lives.

It’s not just the proper thing to do, but it’s also excellent for businesses to let employees know you care about who they are as people. Employees are driven to be the best they can be when they are internally motivated. Higher levels of engagement, job satisfaction, and self-worth are all positive outcomes of this approach.

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Mentorship is another excellent approach to demonstrate your concern. Pairing new workers with more experienced staff provides support from the start and shows that you value what they bring to the table.

Be More Creative With Employee Benefits

Raises, incentives, and employee health care are all good, but employees say they also appreciate non-traditional benefits like building morale through team-building activities.

Companies are employing benefits like once-a-month long weekends, a surprise day off, mystery getaways, and training and development summits to show their staff they’re valued.

Although the methods for making employees feel valued differ from one organization to the next, most successful businesses use gamification. This might be effective if you’re seeking innovative ways to show employee appreciation.

Gamification is a fun way to boost employee engagement. It helps employees achieve goals while also providing them with recognition as they improve their talents and achieve more.

You’re in for a surprise if you imagine people mindlessly interacting with an app when you hear the phrase “gamification.” Sure, gamification may contain the word “game” and be entertaining, but it is also business and goal-oriented.

Final Thoughts

The best part about showing gratitude is that it is frequently free and takes little time. Anyone, at any level, may express gratitude.

It can be aimed at a coworker, a boss, or an employee. When leaders join in the effort, though, a culture of gratitude spreads more swiftly. Showing recognition brings many benefits, so why not start it today?