What’s the most critical element of a successful business? It’s not the product: it’s the people. Employee morale is essential for any thriving business regardless of industry or focus.

That’s why managers of all stripes need to know how to recognize and appreciate their employees. Of course, employee recognition programs are the best ways to give team members appreciation without straining your resources or having a separate party every day of the week.

Employee recognition programs go beyond essential benefits — they offer significant advantages your business can’t afford to ignore. Let’s take a closer look:

What Are Employee Recognition Programs?

Employee recognition programs are employer-hosted programs highlighting one or more employees for their stellar work, commitment to service, or constant attendance. They’re opportunities for employers to show employees that they care about their sacrifices and hard work beyond paying them a competitive salary.

Employee recognition programs can take different forms. For example, an employee of the month program or competition can be one of the most popular employee appreciation programs implemented by workplaces around the country.

These programs highlight one employee monthly for exceptional service or achievements, often including a perk for each month's winner, like a digital eGift card.

Your employee recognition programs can be as inclusive as you like and include any form of activity or reward. The sky's the limit!

For maximum impact, a successful employee recognition program shouldn’t only feature incentives for top talent. Company-wide gifts like improvements to the work environment can encourage great work as well. A culture of recognition reduces employee turnover and keeps top performers at your company in perpetuity.

Depending on your needs, leveraging employee recognition software (which allows you to automate some things) could help you master an effective employee recognition program. These software recognition tools can also help you keep track of non-monetary metrics, like satisfaction, workers' complaints, and employee achievements.

The Benefits of Employee Recognition Programs

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Employee recognition programs offer benefits to both workplaces and individual workers.

Higher Employee Engagement and Employee Satisfaction

For starters, employee recognition programs usually lead to much higher employee engagement in greater employee satisfaction.

Employee engagement measures employee productivity or constant interaction with their workplace. The more engaged your employees are, the more often they will give 100% for the current project or deadline. That’s only ever a good thing for your business!

On a similar note, employee satisfaction is also crucial. Satisfied employees are likelier to stick around during tough times, whether for your business or the entire economy, and are less likely to jump ship for a competing organization.

The more satisfied your employees are, the more they will recommend your brand to other high-performing employees. That’ll help you draw new talent to your organization overall. Bottom line: by recognizing your employees regularly, your current employees will do better jobs and be happier at your company in the long term.

Boosts to Company Culture

Similarly, employee recognition programs usually boost company culture. Your company culture affects how happy people are working at your brand and how happy people are working in the office with their coworkers.

A healthier company culture usually means better work results, better productivity, and better workplace reviews for employees who decide to quit for one reason or another.

This is much more important than you may initially think. Now more than ever, job seekers are ranking company culture as one of their top priorities when looking for a new role. They don’t want to work at a dull, hostile, or unsupportive place. They want to feel supported in their professional ambitions.

A strong workplace culture will help you provide that to the best candidates in your industry. Include shout-outs or birthday celebrations that foster peer-to-peer recognition, too. Don’t forget about holiday gifts (which everyone can enjoy) or good work nods (which might not be as equitable across the board).

Greater Employee Retention

Modern workers are more than willing to leave their current posts for a competing brand if the pay is better or if there are better perks. Most of all, modern employees are unwilling to stay at an organization if they don’t feel appreciated.

Implementing employee recognition programs can help you keep the talent your HR department painstakingly acquired. This is good for your productivity and your bottom line — after all, each time you lose an employee, you have to spend time and funds replacing that employee and training the new hire back up to their predecessor’s skill level.

Researchers estimate that the cost of voluntary turnover costs US businesses one trillion dollars every year. Replacing one worker who earns minimum wage costs about $3,500 to $10,000. HR leaders report voluntary turnover becomes cyclical, especially in small businesses or lean teams. In these cases, one person leaving results in pressure and extra work, encouraging other employees to leave as well.

Reward Employees Who Go Above and Beyond

Employee recognition programs further allow you to reward rockstar employees who go above and beyond. That way, they’ll be motivated to continue performing admirably, providing benefits to your organization and the people they work with daily.

Demonstrate Company Values

In a broad sense, employee recognition programs allow you to demonstrate your company’s values. In other words, you “walk the walk” rather than just “talk the talk.”

Many brands talk about how they value their employees and individual achievement, but they don't do anything to prove it. Employee recognition programs can prove that you care about your employees in tangible, meaningful ways.

Employee Recognition Ideas

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There are lots of forms of recognition you can provide to your employees. Your human resources, people and happiness or HR leaders should develop fun, engaging employee recognition programs to drive workplace motivation and excitement.

Not sure where to start? Here are some examples of employee recognition ideas you can implement starting today:

Start an Employee of the Month Program

This is a great way to highlight one or more employees for stellar service on a regular basis, such as reaching a very high sales target or completing a challenging project on time.

Give Out eGift Cards

Handing out gift cards from time to time, either as rewards for winning employee of the month programs or "just because."

Prezzee’s eGift cards are convenient, customizable, and perfect for showing employees you care, along with providing them with a nice little bonus when needed. For instance, your employees might appreciate extra gift cards around the holidays, that they can use to purchase presents for loved ones or to treat themselves.

Take the Entire Office to Lunch or Dinner

Set up a work-hours lunch, particularly after a profitable quarter. These after-hours socialization opportunities let your employees meet each other outside of work and make friendships. Additionally, it can bring your entire office together and drive better teamwork when the going gets tough.

• Take your workers to team-building activities like escape rooms or trivia nights. Team-building activities help your employees form functional teams in the workplace and give everyone a chance to unwind and relax in a supportive, social atmosphere.
• Host anniversary celebrations or recognition ceremonies for long-time employees, like workers who reach 10, 15, and 20-year milestones. That way, everyone gets celebrated eventually, not just those with the tools and opportunities to achieve big things.
• Recognize onboarding: In business, we all know first impressions matter. Welcome new hires to the team in style with gear for their new job, like headphones, company-branded swag, or an eGift card to decorate their home office.
• Share public praise: Acknowledge high-performing or rockstar workers with a shout-out on social media — be it the company Slack, Instagram, or LinkedIn page.

Public recognition for hard work encourages top performers to maintain their excellence and for newer team members to aim for the stars.

Wrapping Up

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In the end, employee recognition programs show your workers that you believe in them, appreciate their work, and recognize their daily sacrifices.

No matter what type of recognition — from positive feedback to rewards programs — implementing public or private recognition of employees’ work goes a long way to maximizing employee loyalty and productivity across the board

Keep the praise party going with eGift cards from Prezzee. At Prezzee, we offer gift cards for over 370 popular retail brands, plus the option to customize or personalize each card for each recipient. There’s no better way to make your employees feel like you care, so check out our eGift cards today and sign up for a free account today!

Sources:

What Is Employee Engagement | Forbes

What is Employee Retention? Everything You Need to Know | Tech Target

Is Your Industry Delivering on Employee Recognition? | Gallup

Fewer Than 1 of 4 Workers' Recognition Needs Fulfilled: Weekly Stat | CFO

Getting Ghosted? Create a Memorable Candidate Experience | Gallup

Measuring the Real Cost of Employee Turnover | Midlands Technical College