Employee recognition is an integral part of company team building. It acts as an incentive, thereby facilitating both individual and group success. Employee recognition also underscores the intimate connection between these levels of success. In short, employee recognition acts as a mediator between the various parts of your company team building efforts. By understanding these connections, you can use recognition programs to improve teamwork, morale, and employee engagement.
Putting People First
It’s a business axiom that your company will only go as far as your people take it. Even if you offer the most appealing product or service in your particular niche, the results will be hindered if you don’t have well-trained and enthusiastic people.
Valuable employees need more than a decent salary and a competitive benefits package. They also need to feel respected, appreciated, and included. Today’s employee wants to be a part of something bigger than their individual selves and find purpose in their daily work. Being recognized for their work is a big part of this. People can’t feel respected or valued without explicit recognition of their efforts.
But what exactly is employee recognition and how does it increase employee engagement and overall productivity? Additionally, what can your company do to communicate a teamwork message and create an environment that’s conducive to your success? Let’s have a look at how to answer these important questions.
What is Employee Recognition
You can think of employee recognition as the practice of techniques that draw attention to your staff’s dedication and accomplishments. In a sense, understanding employee recognition is basic psychology. Even if they say otherwise, no one wants to work in anonymity or feel like an unknown cog in their company’s machine. By taking certain steps, you can help your people feel included and maximize their productivity.
Employee recognition can come in a variety of ways and still be effective. It includes everything from simply saying thank you to awarding extra vacation time for special achievements. The essence of employee recognition is explicitly acknowledging someone’s work, but there are many ways to go about doing this.
The best methods depend on your employees’ individual personalities and the dynamic that exists between them. You can practice employee recognition on an everyday basis, or as part of a larger program. But whatever approach you use, it’s imperative that employee recognition become a distinct part of your overall workplace culture. Employee recognition can only increase engagement and productivity once it’s woven into your company’s fabric.
Employee Recognition and Company Team Building
Employee recognition might seem like something given to an individual, but this needn’t always be the case. While it’s important to acknowledge the achievements of individual team members, you should encourage group accomplishments as well. In fact, employee recognition works bests when it strikes a balance between the individual and the group.
The ways in which this balance leads to optimal levels of engagement and productivity are fairly straightforward. People will come to work to gain a salary, but staying engaged is something else entirely. If your employees feel valued, included, and appreciated, their work becomes a meaningful part of their lives. Consistent recognition helps confer value and meaning upon your staff’s hard work.
This recognition also increases individual and team morale. Improved morale inevitably leads to increased levels of engagement. And it goes without saying that true engagement is one of the most important contributing factors to overall productivity. When your individual staff members are more attentive to the ways their work affects those around them, they’ll immediately start to become a team.