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Five Ways to WOW! Employees on a Budget
February 18, 2009
By Mike Byam
The economic downturn has trickled down onto managers worldwide, who are now expected to do more with less—less people, less ability to increase remaining employee compensation, and of course, less high-end job perks that may have been valuable to employees in the past.
How does a manager take this troubling scenario and lead his team to a better place?
The answer to that question can be found in the power of effective employee recognition. It is expressing genuine appreciation and giving recognition for work done well. It is giving fellow employees an effective platform for acknowledging their peers' achievements. It is maximizing the value of the written and spoken word in every employee interaction.
Effective employee recognition has become an oasis in the desert for leaders who feel as if their hands are tied. Leaders who have been impacted by the economy must find ways to engage, motivate and retain their best people through difficult times. Well-designed recognition programs are a high-impact way to accomplish this in a cost-effective way. As a result, many businesses are increasing their focus on recognition strategies by augmenting existing programs and adding additional initiatives to recognize extra effort.
Maximize Your Recognition Dollars
1. Evaluate Award Presentations. Does the presentation event need to be a high-end dinner banquet with drinks and formal dining, or would a less formal lunch or coffee suffice? While the savings can be significant, it also sends a message to employees that we want to continue to celebrate your achievement but we need to be prudent.
Consider the words that are said and who they are coming from with every award presentation. Ensure in advance that the award presenter has invested the time necessary to convey the right message to the award recipient as well as everyone else in attendance. An excellent presentation leaves people walking on air for weeks, while a poor one can take the wind out of everyone's sails.
2. Use Cost-Effective Awards. Studies indicate that steering towards non-cash awards is a cost-effective move. Non-cash awards produce better results, often with less of an investment. Want to increase the impact of an award but not the cost? Personalize it. Use awards that incorporate special symbolism to the recipient, like the logo of their project or the date of the achievement.
3. Communicate Success. Recent marketing data indicates that it requires an average of 11.3 media impressions before a message really sinks in with the target audience. If you are trying to foster employee engagement, positive communication strokes need to happen with real frequency. Use any means necessary to celebrate and publicize employee achievement—company newsletters, quarterly all-hands meetings, company intranet, internal e-mail blasts, hand-written notes, bulletin boards and posters. Use any means at your disposal to communicate to your employees. Different messages resonate with different people so make sure you are using a variety of avenues to communicate the message of recognition.
4. Encourage Peer Recognition. Peer-to-peer platforms that encourage employees to recognize one another's achievements are on the rise. These programs engage the workforce on two important levels by providing the ability give and to receive recognition.
Peer-to-peer programs provide big impact with a minimal investment. There are many low-cost (or no cost) options for fostering positive, peer-based employee interaction. Peer-based recognition can include anything from verbal, written or electronic praise, to award certificates, to small rewards.
5. Create an Organizational Traveling Trophy. Businesses can improve their culture and cultivate teamwork using this inexpensive morale booster. Find an item that reflects the personality of your workplace. Maybe it's a football, or an oversized coffee mug (at one Midwestern business, it's a rubber chicken). This item becomes the symbol of achievement among your team.
When an employee contributes at a high level, she is presented with the traveling trophy and earns the right to display it in her workspace temporarily. She then passes the trophy on to a co-worker who has also demonstrated above-and-beyond performance. As the sequence repeats, employees are continually reminded in a light-hearted way that their contributions are noticed and appreciated.
Recognition Challenge
Ultimately, now is the time to further embrace employee recognition. The demands we managers place on our people will never be greater. When we celebrate employee contributions now, we remind everyone that collectively we are up to the challenges we face and prepared to take our businesses where they need to be. Our best people will step up to the plate and deliver in ways that will not fail to amaze us.
Editor's Note: Read all of the strategies and best practices from Incentive's Survival Guide at www.incentivemag.com/survivalguide. New articles daily!
Mike Byam, Terryberry's managing partner and author of The WOW! Workplace, is one of the industry's foremost experts in the field of employee recognition and motivation. The Terryberry Company is a leading provider of effective employee recognition and incentive programs for organizations worldwide. For more information contact the Terryberry Company at 800-253-0882 or info@terryberry.com.
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