While keeping customers and clients happy has been the focus of businesses for years, lately, a new idea has been introduced to the workforce: What about our employees?
Research has proven that happy employees enhance work efficiency and create positive work cultures, which, in turn, create happier customers.
But, how do you keep your employees happy?
There are many ways to keep your team engaged and it all comes down to understanding what motivates them. Some people are motivated by money or benefits. Others are motivated by promotions or training. With this said, one of the most important ways you can motivate your team is through recognition.
Cicero 2015 Research: Employee performance: What causes great work?
Employee recognition for their contributions is the strongest driver of engagement according to, the Aon 2018 Trends in Global Employee Engagement survey. The world’s best organizations record an average of 70% engaged employees, all of which have robust employee recognition programs. Studies have shown that when your team is engaged, they have a greater employee satisfaction and enjoyment of work. When your team is happy, there is a vast increase in individual productivity in their work. You will see an increase in retention of quality employees, which will result in lower employee turnover.
There are many easy ways to recognize your team members. Here are a couple of ideas you can use!
- Give a public shoutouts at a company event (huddle, all hands, quarterly outing, etc.)
- A handwritten thank you note
- Buying someone’s cup of coffee, lunch or breakfast one day
- Recognize a team member on the company LinkedIn or social media
- Implement a peer to peer recognition tool
- Quarterly core value awards (giving employees awards as it pertains to how they exemplify each company core value)
When providing employee recognition, keep the following in mind:
- Recognize frequently
- Be specific in what you are recognizing someone for
- Be sure to reference your core values in the recognition you are providing
Looking for more specific ways to recognize your team members? Feel free to reach out to us! We have tons of creative ideas that can be specifically tailored to your company culture.
