4 Ways to Foster a Culture of Recognition in the Workplace
Theresa Harkins, vice president of client success at Inspirus, explores how employee preferences and values can help foster a sound and sustainable culture of recognition in the workplace.
Effective recognition aligns your employees’ values with your organization’s values. When it doesn’t, there’s a missed opportunity for recognition to resonate with your employees. Especially now, it is more important to enable recognition – when people are battling all kinds of challenges while working to the best of their efficiency.
Making Recognition a Permanent Aspect of Workplace Culture
This article offers four ways to provide effective recognition by aligning it to a larger purpose.
Understand where your employees’ values and your organization’s values meet
Today’s workforce actively seeks out organizations whose mission and values line up with their values. For example, research finds that 71% of employees want to work at an organization that supports charitable giving and volunteering. Shared values can give employees a sense of purpose at work and help them feel that they belong to your organization, which ultimately bolsters engagement.
Learn more about which company values resonate with your employees by asking them during one-on-one conversations. You may find that some employees are driven by the organization’s commitment to giving back to the community, while others may be motivated by the teamwork they see among their colleagues. Once you’ve determined which organizational values inspire your employees, the next step is to encourage recognition among them.
Foster peer-to-peer recognition
Set a standard in which you’re not only providing recognition to your employees but that encourages them to provide recognition to others as well. Peer-to-peer recognition can be a gratifying experience for employees throughout your organization. It can boost employee retention, motivation, and productivity. Recognition from colleagues can also make individuals on your team feel a sense of belonging that builds inclusive values within your organization.
Encourage employees to develop SMART goals towards recognizing their co-workers. For some employees, a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely, could involve planning to recognize at least three co-workers per week over the next 90 days. For others, it could include setting time aside each Friday to log into your organization’s engagement platform to schedule coworkers’ birthday and service anniversary messages ahead of time.
Learn More: What Is Employee Appreciation? Definition, Strategies, Ideas, And Technology Platforms
Tailor recognition to your employees’ preferences
It’s not only important to understand what your employees value but also how they want to be recognized. Some employees love a simple handwritten thank you note, others enjoy a shout out during a team meeting. As you get to know your employees, their work style preferences, and how they interact with their co-workers, it also takes time to learn about how they prefer to be recognized.
An employee’s recognition preferences can be influenced by their values. For example, an employee who values collective effort and collaboration may not be comfortable being singled out for recognition. Instead, this individual may prefer to be recognized along with others who contributed to an accomplishment.
Also, take into account whether your employee is more introverted or extroverted. Keep in mind that an employee’s personality trait doesn’t necessarily reveal this. It’s more about how an individual processes information and “recharges” their energy. Introverts do this through time spent alone or with close friends/family and extroverts tend to do this when surrounded by more people or doing stimulating activities.
It’s best to ask your employee about their preferences. You may find out that an employee with a more “bubbly” personality may not necessarily be comfortable being recognized in front of a large crowd or the whole company during a townhall-style meeting. Also, a more reserved employee, may very comfortable being recognized in front of a large group of coworkers.
In addition to facilitating one-on-one conversations with your employees, team-building activities can also be an effective way to learn about their recognition preferences. Consider organizing a roundtable discussion in which everyone answers questions like, “What are three ways you like to be recognized?” or “What’s your most memorable recognition moment?” Activities like this can be a great way to build rapport and foster meaningful peer recognition going forward.
As you learn more about how your employees prefer to be recognized, note the details of personal preferences and personal values to provide the most meaningful recognition on a personal level.
Learn More: Thanks, Gift Cards, or Cash Bonuses: Which Rewards Motivate Employees?
Recognize the everyday actions
Recognition doesn’t only have to acknowledge and celebrate the big achievements and milestones in an employees’ life, the everyday moments matter too. If your organization prioritizes creating a great customer experience and an employee takes time from their lunch hour to walk a customer through a tutorial of a new software feature, let your employee know that their efforts matter. Sending an e-card, leaving a message on your organization’s engagement platform , or simply saying “Great job” can reinforce their intrinsic motivations, values, and sense of belonging within your organization.
When recognizing your employees for positive actions that you would like to reinforce, include specific, quantifiable examples of why they are being recognized. For example, if someone’s dedication and teamwork resulted in closing a deal with a new client, share details about the business ROI of their actions.
It can also be fun and uplifting to provide your team with spontaneous recognition like picking up bagels and coffee on a Friday. A surprise pick-me-up like this can let your team know that you value them not only for the work they do but for what they contribute to your team as individuals.
Recognition that aligns employees’ values with your organization’s values is a surefire way to ensure that your efforts resonate with your workforce and connect them to your organization in a meaningful way.
How do you use recognition and appreciation to bolster employee engagement? Tell us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
