You don't need to be an HR expert to know that praise at work feels good. Plus, recognition can solve specific workplace challenges that impact your bottom line.
But what kinds of employee recognition ideas create those positive feelings?
Studies show that companies that praise workers often do better and have more engaged staff.
A Josh Bershin study found that companies with praise programs keep 31% more of their workers. Also, Gallup data showed that when recognition is impactful, employees are five times as likely to be connected to organizational culture. What’s more, they’re four times as likely to be engaged.
This is game-changing when it comes to business outcomes. When employees feel valued, they are more engaged – and the more they pour into their work.
Gallup research revealed that highly engaged teams drive 18% more productivity and 23% more profitability. Yet, many businesses struggle to implement employee recognition initiatives that drive real results.
Here, you'll find common workplace problems and how smart recognition can fix them. That way, you can make the most of your recognition efforts!
Want to reduce turnover? Maybe you struggle to keep hybrid workers engaged. Or perhaps you don’t know how to make the most of your limited HR budget. Well, we’re here to help!
Without further adieu, here are 22 employee recognition ideas.
Challenge #1: High Employee Turnover
Indeed, employee turnover is costly. According to Gallup, replacing workers costs big money. You'll pay half to twice their yearly salary to find someone new. Why? Every part of the employee journey takes resources, like hiring and training. Plus, there are costs to lost productivity.
Think about this: if you have 100 people making $50,000 each, you might spend between $660,000 and $2.6 million yearly just on hiring new staff. Plus, when people leave, it hurts team spirit and how well people work together.
Recognition is a crucial tool for avoiding these outcomes. That’s because, in short, people are less likely to leave when they feel appreciated.
Employee recognition ideas to prevent turnover:
Service awards
Start by recognizing tenure through celebrations like service awards, which reinforce loyalty.
The key is offering rewards and personalized thanks. For instance, you can offer an experience instead of a generic gift. Similarly, you could make a company-wide shout-out to highlight an employee’s contributions.
Stay interviews
Why wait for exit interviews when you can prevent your best people from leaving? Conduct “stay interviews” where employees can give feedback on their experience. This is a great time to show thanks for their hard work.
This shows workers you hear them and value them. Meanwhile, you also nip preventable turnover in the bud.
Career growth recognition
Recognition shouldn’t just be limited to work outcomes. Acknowledging team members for their growth encourages people to think long-term. This could include celebrating promotions or noticing and appreciating skill development.
This helps them see that their job can grow into a real career.
Alumni network
There’s value in maintaining positive relationships with previous employees. This is commonly done with an initiative like an alumni network.
This network can encourage alumni to come back, which is possibly the best outcome. This is especially effective if you highlight and celebrate their return.
How Applauz helps prevent employee turnover: Automated milestone tracking! Modernize and manage your service award program with meaningful rewards.
Challenge #2: Disengaged Remote/Hybrid Teams
Out of sight, out of mind is unfortunately true when it comes to remote and hybrid employees. Remote workers are 35% more likely to be laid off, 31% less likely to be promoted and 32% more likely to quit, according to Live Data Technologies.
In short, remote and hybrid team members are at a higher risk of disengagement. This means lost productivity, too. Hence, leveraging recognition can keep them engaged.
Employee recognition ideas for remote/hybrid teams
Virtual recognition events
Hosting virtual recognition ceremonies doesn’t have to be cheesy. In fact, it allows remote workers to feel like they’re seen and valued.
Online events help remote staff feel like part of the team, which keeps them engaged.
Digital appreciation walls
Spread gratitude through a dedicated online space where team members can give each other shout-outs publicly. After all, the peer-recognition approach provides ongoing motivation and camaraderie, even from afar.
Remote team celebration kits
Send personalized celebration kits for birthdays, work anniversaries or to mark a team achievement! This is a fun way to help remote and hybrid employees feel appreciated and included beyond virtual interactions.
Asynchronous video recognition messages
Did you know that one of the most impactful forms of recognition comes from senior leadership? For example, short but heartfelt video messages from leaders can have a big impact on the morale of remote and hybrid workers. Plus, they can be shared across time zones.
How Applauz helps keep remote and hybrid teams engaged: Applauz allows for the recognition of all employees and encourages peer-to-peer recognition. Check out our digital recognition tools for distributed teams!
Challenge #3: Silos/Poor Cross-Department Collaboration
Inefficiencies. Poor communication. A lack of innovation. These are a few of the downsides of silos in the workplace.
When teams don't work together, business suffers. This happens when they work independently without sharing info, resources or knowledge with each other.
Planview found that teams waste 20 hours every month when they don't work well together. That's six weeks of work each year!
Praising teamwork breaks down walls and fires up your staff. This is because you can recognize group achievements, in turn encouraging cross-department teamwork.
Employee recognition ideas for better collaboration
Cross-functional appreciation programs
Don’t limit employee thanks to your own team. Set up ways for staff to praise people in other teams, not just their own. As you turn this into a system, you’ll notice stronger relationships and better communication.
Team achievement celebrations
If you want to encourage collaboration, you have to reward it as well!
When you cheer for team wins in public, it makes a big impact. For one, it sends the message that collaboration across departments matters. Further, it causes the team to reflect on the value of working together and sharing expertise.
How Applauz helps break down silos: Applauz offers a 360-degree approach that allows everyone to participate in recognition efforts and see what departments across the company are celebrating.
Challenge #4: Recognition Program Fatigue
Yes, people can get tired of the same old praise. When praise feels like just going through the motions, it stops working.
“Employees perceive recognition to be authentic when it feels meaningful, heartfelt, and honest.”. Secondly, recognition is seen as genuine when tied to rewards and business goals. Lastly, it's important for your team to know it is earned, targeted, or selective, according to Gallup.
On the other hand, recognition that feels stale and inauthentic can backfire and lead to disengagement. Ultimately, You need to keep your praise program fresh and changing.
Employee recognition ideas to refresh appreciation efforts
Recognition program refreshes and themes
Update your praise program often with new themes and awards to keep it fun.
To begin with, consider rotating forms of recognition or gamifying the process. Different team members feel appreciated in different ways, so variety can help keep engagement high.
Employee-led recognition committees
Want a great praise program? Just ask your team what they'd like.
Sure, you could just run an employee survey, but there’s a better way. In addition, take things a step further by forming an employee-led recognition committee. This way, you keep things fresh and give workers a say in how praise works.
Recognition innovation challenges
Encourage employees to come forward with new ideas for your recognition program. Think, shark tank but for creative recognition solutions. In addition, you’ll also send the message that employees are a key priority.
Surprise and spontaneous thank-you events
Have you ever smiled after receiving an unexpected kind gesture or compliment? Surprise rewards and events to inject excitement into recognition efforts.
How Applauz helps keep your recognition program engaging: The platform is highly customizable and keeps your employee recognition program flexible. For example, you can use branded badges that tie recognition to company values to a rewards marketplace!
Challenge #5: A Limited Budget for Recognition
A small budget doesn't mean you can't give real, helpful praise. Real, personal thanks matters much more than costly employee gifts!
In fact, nearly 55% of employee engagement is fuelled by non-financial recognition, according to McKinsey.
Employee recognition ideas on a budget
Non-monetary recognition, high emotional impact
A handwritten thank-you note or a personal video message from the CEO. A peer shoutout in the team group chat. These simple gestures can be incredibly meaningful when they pinpoint specific strengths and contributions.
Leverage existing meetings and touchpoints
Your weekly sprint or all-hands provides valuable opportunities to acknowledge employees. And your company newsletter? Use it to highlight employees. Adding recognition into regular meetings and communication efforts is impactful yet cost-free!
Peer-led initiatives
Research conducted by Gartner revealed that peer feedback can boost work by as much as 14%.
What does this tell us? Encouraging team members to appreciate each other is powerful. Yet, notably, it doesn’t require a big budget despite it being extremely effective.
Community and skill-sharing recognition
Skill-sharing is an underrated form of employee recognition, especially with a multi-generational workforce.
A Udemy survey showed that 94% of Gen Zers spend at least an hour a week developing their skills. Have team members take turns sharing their unique knowledge and strengths. Just make sure to shout them out for it!
How Applauz helps keep recognition cost-effective: Applauz offers an affordable way to celebrate employees. How? With features like point incentives that gamify peer recognition.
Challenge #6: Measuring Recognition Effectiveness
Many leaders struggle to measure the impact of their recognition strategies. This is problematic for two reasons. Firstly, it’s harder to get buy-in and justify investing in employee recognition. Secondly, it also makes recognition less effective without data to make informed decisions.
Consequently, tracking your efforts is key to making recognition work!
Ideas to track and measure employee recognition efforts
Create recognition feedback loops
Try things, get feedback, tweak, repeat. Indeed, creating recognition feedback loops keeps your employee recognition program relevant and effective.
You may find out, for example, that an approach you weren’t sure about is actually a hit with employees. As a result, you can double down on it and expand your impact.
Develop recognition metrics and KPIs
Tracking important metrics like engagement rate and employee turnover helps show the value of recognition and lets you know if you’re on the right track with your efforts.
Recognition program dashboards
Get actionable insights that inform ongoing improvements using dashboards! This feature allows you to create custom real-time reports and visualize trends. Ultimately, your praise system needs to use data, change when needed, and adjust to get the best results.
Connect recognition to business results
Once you have data, connecting employee recognition to business outcomes becomes easier. For example, you might find that recognition leads to improvements in metrics such as customer satisfaction or revenue growth.
As a result of your data, your boss will be keen on investing in employees with those facts in mind.
How Applauz helps measure recognition impact: Applauz's advanced analytics and reporting capabilities allow you to quantify the impact of employee recognition on the business.
Getting Started with Effective Employee Recognition
Ready to start recognizing employees? Let’s start with a few tips.
Assess recognition needs
Before you start a praise program, find out what's working and what's missing.
Pulse surveys can give you a quick idea of how employees feel about current recognition efforts, while employee engagement surveys can provide a deeper glimpse into what they’d like to see.
Build your recognition program strategy
Once insights are gathered, you can start working on your strategy.
Consider factors like how often you thank employees, as well as how you deliver the message. For example, will you give praise publicly or privately? Also, be sure to note any key milestones to celebrate.
Plan ahead. Make sure that employee recognition is aligned with company goals and values. Ultimately, structure is your friend!
Plan your launch and communications
For your praise plan to work, your team must know how to join in. How you communicate within the team can make or break your launch. Because of this, be sure to put some thought into it!
To begin with, your plan should include emails, team meetings, and endorsements from senior leadership. Further, you should explain your goals and provide openness about recognition criteria.
Train managers and employees
For praise to work, it must be part of your daily work life.
Train your leaders to give real praise often and mean it. However, so is educating employees. Recognition shouldn’t just be a top-down initiative. Encourage your team to embrace specificity and sincerity when giving shout-outs to peers.
Track and continuously improve
Ongoing tweaks are the secret to greater impact.
Start with regularly conducting employee surveys. Then, set up and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and make adjustments accordingly. Finally, be sure to regularly adapt your recognition efforts. As a result, you can prevent fatigue and foster ongoing success.
Employee Recognition is a Strategic Tool
Appreciating employees shouldn’t be an abstract, feel-good concept. Notably, employee recognition is a tool for overcoming workplace challenges. High turnover? Poor talks between teams? You can fix both by rewarding teamwork.
In conclusion, start by identifying the problems you’re dealing with and collaborating with other stakeholders. This will help you to refine recognition-driven solutions to solve your challenges.
Need a helping hand? Applauz can help you tailor your approach in a budget-friendly way. With the right tools, you'll build a work setting where people thrive and love to stay.
