25 Employee Recognition Ideas to Boost Morale
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Employee recognition is about helping employees feel like part of the group and management showing it appreciates their daily work. Many creative employee recognition ideas exist, some of which may be more appropriate for specific workplaces. Creating an effective employee recognition program is key to boosting morale and engagement.
Companies might see employee recognition as a fun way to appreciate their employees, but employee recognition goes deeper than this. Creative employee recognition ideas focus on helping employees feel like they belong to the group, which is essential to boosting morale in the workplace.
Any company that wants happier employees should focus on their employees feeling connected to their team and the organization. Recent studies show that relationships are one of the most critical factors that predict job satisfaction.
Linking employee recognition ideas with a focus on relationships is key to ensuring employees feel recognized (and appreciated) by their employers and peers.
What Is Employee Recognition?
Employee recognition is publicly acknowledging hard work and successes. This will encourage:
The best way to ensure companies have gratitude as a component of company culture is to increase employee recognition. Companies know that fulfilled employees perform better, which leads to a more successful business.
People want a shared purpose that connects them with others in the workplace to know that what they do matters. Knowing that their colleagues appreciate their hard work will drive that connection and create a more supportive work culture.
However, figuring out how to recognize employees and their efforts is not always easy.
Benefits of a Successful Employee Recognition Program
Recognizing employees’ abilities and successes increases their feelings of inclusivity. A lot of this comes down to human psychology.
Humans are innately social, which is why employee recognition is effective in a working environment. People want to know that their work has meaning and benefits the team, especially since humans spend so much of their lives at their workplaces.
Recognizing achievements or efforts is a great way to offset imposter syndrome in your employees. Nii Ato Bentsi-Enchill, the founder of Avenir Careers, says that not internalizing success and discounting praise are two common signs of imposter syndrome. This makes workers like him feel “shy, embarrassed, or even uncomfortable to have someone compliment me as a result of my actions.” Regular praise and recognition helps employees feel like they know what they are doing and will encourage them to keep trying their best.
Promoting employee recognition ideas will:
Nurtures Excellence
Any company that wants to foster a culture focused on excellence and empowerment should have an employee recognition program.
People will have stronger relationships with their peers and understand their purpose within an organization. This increases morale and boosts goal-oriented behaviors that improve work performance.
Boosts Engagement
Employees who feel engaged in their work and organization have an easier time staying focused and maintaining high-performance levels.
Employee recognition is a great way to showcase the talent within a company that is going above and beyond, making others feel more motivated to do the same.
Fosters Trust
Employees that trust their colleagues and the companies they work for will feel a stronger sense of belonging. They will want to stay at that organization longer and make sure they do their best work to help the entire team thrive.
This boosts the desire to take responsibility for their work and complete their tasks on time. It also creates an environment where employees support each other to reach a collective goal.
25 Creative Ways to Recognize Employees
Here are several employee recognition examples to consider:
1. Celebrating Milestones
Whenever an employee has a work anniversary or other major milestone within a company, take the time to publicly acknowledge their service to the organization and touch on any major projects.
It could also help to offer gift cards or tangible gifts that make the occasion even more memorable.
2. Extra Time Off
Offer some time off in a video sent to team members after finishing up a time-intensive project to show your employees that you value their time and hard work. This is also a great opportunity to thank everyone for their work and dedication.
3. Peer-to-Peer Recognition
Create a program that incentivizes employees to recognize other employees’ efforts with rewards or recognition.
This could consist of short video clips featuring employees mentioning other employees by name in an email sent to the team. It could also consist of a quick shout-out in a team email.
4. Incentive System
An incentive system may work in various ways depending on your company, but the key component is offering incentives that motivate employees.
In some systems, employees may select an incentive at tiered levels depending on how many points they have (or save those points for a bigger incentive later). Other systems may rely more on progressively impressive employee incentives as they meet different milestones.
This will encourage employees to work hard, show other employees the possibilities available to them and provide great experiences or gifts to employees who put in the extra effort.
5. Traveling Trophy
Invest in a fun trophy that employees pass along to each other as they see colleagues doing great things.
This is a great way to promote peer-to-peer recognition and ensure that the team knows who received the trophy last.
6. Break Room Enhancements
A break room should be the main space where employees relax and recharge in a physical office.
It should be clean and comfortable, but creating a room with upgraded furniture or appliances may help employees feel like the company cares. With a larger budget, you could add a snack station, coffee bar or even entertainment activities.
7. LinkedIn Recommendations
Recognizing employees in public on a platform like LinkedIn shows that you appreciate their work, enjoy working with them and care about their professional development. This is a great way to emphasize that your company culture is all about gratitude and supporting each other.
8. Late Start (or Early Finish)
Employees who are ahead of schedule or have exceeded deadlines may appreciate a little time back. Let these employees know they can leave a little early on a Friday or come in late on a Monday to show the rest of the team that they have been putting in an excellent effort.
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9. Care Packages
Offer a care package or gift basket to employees that work remotely to show your appreciation for their hard work.
The gift can include company swag, fun office supplies or the employee’s favorite snacks. Encourage employees to record a short video as they open the package that you can share with the team to reiterate their accomplishments.
10. Meeting Shout-Outs
If your department or sector within the organization has regular meetings, take a moment during that time to allow others to recognize their peers. You can have a signup sheet before the meeting for people to share their names and who they want to shout out, or it can be an in-the-moment invitation.
11. Employee Appreciation Day
You may want to recognize your entire team at once every year. Setting up a whole day for this purpose is a great way to identify your team’s cohesive success. During this day, have fun activities, awards ceremonies, games, or anything else your employees may enjoy.
Even if you have a remote team, taking a day to appreciate everyone (in addition to other individual recognitions) can make the team feel inclusive.
12. Peer Voting
Set up a voting system where people periodically vote for the team member they feel best exhibits the company culture and values.
Encourage all employees to vote for someone and explain why they feel that person deserves the award. Announce the winner at a department or company-wide meeting to ensure they receive the recognition they deserve.
13. Share Customer Feedback
When an employee receives praise from a customer, share it with the team. You can do this on a case-by-case basis, or you can consider setting up a digital or physical “wall of fame” that features employee successes.
14. Senior Management Support
If you have a larger company, your staff may not always have direct communication with upper management. Consider having senior management members create a video referencing huge projects or milestones met throughout the year. This should include specific mentions of team members that made it possible.
15. Surprise Lunch or Snack
Providing a meal to employees during the workday shows employers think of them and want to show their appreciation.
This is an excellent opportunity to give recognized employees their favorite foods or snacks. If you’re unsure what food to buy, another option is to provide gift cards to meal delivery services so that employees may choose their lunch (even if they work remotely.)
16. Call Out Birthdays
This is an employee recognition example that applies to all employees. It is a great way to support a team member as a gesture of kindness. In-person workplaces might have a small office party, or virtual workplaces may send a gift to employees and share the news with the rest of the department.
Many employees are likely to be open to the idea of public gestures on their birthdays. However, you may ask employees before sharing anything with the rest of the team.
17. Variations From Everyday Routines
In a business with the same daily routine, employees may start to become bored or burned out. Consider offering your team members ways to break their typical routines now and again. This could include a group service or volunteer day, brainstorming sessions or other opportunities to enhance team camaraderie.
18. Private Lunch
Some employees don’t like public acknowledgment, so offering public employee recognition may have the opposite effect. Managers must determine how to recognize employees who prefer to stay out of the spotlight.
A private lunch between the employee and another person in the organization, such as their manager, a senior member or even the CEO, could be a great way to grow connections and show gratitude.
19. Long Breaks
Employees that work hard deserve to take some time to recuperate, so offer longer breaks to employees that have been putting in the extra effort.
This may vary based on your department or company structure. Extending a lunch break or offering an additional break during the day is a simple way to show an employee you appreciate them.
20. Make Good Deeds Public
Employees going the “extra mile” for a customer or doing amazing things for the company can receive features on the company website. This shows other employees the great work they do and serves as an advertisement for the type of person your company hires.
21. Hire Food Trucks
If your campus allows it, hire food trucks to come to your headquarters and serve employees for lunch. Doing this more than once may allow vendors to offer a discount, and employees will love the opportunity to switch up their lunch plans.
22. Family Event
Create a company-wide family event where employees may invite their family members and participate in planned activities. There are many locations to host an event like this, such as a local park or the company headquarters.
23. Social Media Shout-Outs
Consider recognizing valuable employees on social media, such as LinkedIn or Twitter, to showcase to a broader audience how valuable your team members are.
Your company may rely on customers knowing how effective your employees are to attract business. In that case, this is a great way to encourage your team members and gain new customers.
24. Kudos Channel
Create a channel on your instant messaging app where colleagues can publicly give kudos to other workers for offering support or going “above and beyond” on a project.
25. Wellness Day
Employee health is important, and many workplaces want to focus on ensuring their employees practice good habits and care for their well-being. Having a day in the office dedicated to health is a way to help employees bond and relax.
Consider hiring outside consultants to come into the workplace to teach, offer services and more.
Top Takeaways
25 employee recognition ideas to boost morale
(Reporting by NPD)