Many employers have just spent the past couple of months conducting year-end reviews with their employees. In many cases, employees were notably happier and more productive after being rewarded for their success and accomplishments throughout the year. It is likely that the year-end review was only one of a handful of times your employees received praise and recognition for their accomplishments throughout the year. A simple way to boost employee morale and improve your workforce’s productivity is to occasionally recognize and celebrate employee success. Unfortunately, somehow it is forgotten to take the time to celebrate success. Or perhaps, employers actively choose not to acknowledge an employee’s accomplishment because it seems unnecessary, the success just isn’t big enough, or it just seems silly. However, as we enter 2020 employers should pledge to take the time to celebrate employee success in the workplace.
Celebrating employee success in the workplace does not require employers to provide extravagant gifts or large bonuses. There are simple ways that require only a minimal amount of effort to let employees know they are a doing a good job. Below we have put together easy methods employers can implement to celebrate employee success (and they only require a miniscule amount of time).
Use your company communication platform to provide public recognition. Public recognition is a great way to celebrate an employee’s achievement that has very little to do with money. Not only will public recognition bring the most visibility and extend praise to the employee or team, but it can serve as an educational moment to inform others company-wide on the value of the work. Simply giving a shout-out to an employee over your company-wide communication channel or email system is an easy way to share wins and recognize employees’ achievements with the entire company.
Integrate shout-outs as a part of your regular team meetings. Start team meetings off with shout-outs to recognize outstanding team members and invite the whole team to participate. This allows managers and employees to demonstrate gratitude and appreciation for an employee’s accomplishments and can engage, motivate and reinforce positive behaviors and outcomes among other members of the team. It also increases employee morale within the workplace and starts the meeting off on a positive note.
Provide recognition often, even for small tasks. While it’s important to celebrate the big wins, in many cases the biggest projects are comprised of smaller victories that are equally valuable and impactful to share. Recognizing employee accomplishments over the course of a big project will only increase employee’s motivation to reach the end goal. This can be accomplished by simply writing a handwritten thank you note.
Celebrate group successes. Although a manager or the senior sales associate was the one to give the presentation and land a big client, it is likely that the successful outcome was the result of a group effort. Many times it is only the person who gave the presentation who gets the credit for landing the client. This is demoralizing and results in poor employee morale. Take the time to give credit where credit is due when the success was achieved by a team.
Host a celebration. For bigger successes, throwing a party is often an appropriate way to celebrate. The party doesn’t have to include live entertainment or an open bar, but a catered celebratory lunch is a good way to let your employees know you appreciate their hard work and you are happy to reward them for it.
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