Why Recognition and Awards?

Recognition boosts people’s esteem and performance. This is a concept that is as old as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which essentially shows that beyond meeting basic safety and belonging needs, all people have self-esteem and self-actualization needs — and need to feel important, satisfied, and inspired to perform to their fullest potential.

Recognition signifies that someone notices and someone cares. It satisfies a person’s essential needs and leads to new motivation, improved performance, and higher self-esteem.

Recognition is increasingly important in today’s business environment and competition for the best workers is intense.  At the same time, the importance of human resources is paramount — a company needs to obtain extraordinary results from ordinary people. Yet another factor is the attitude among today’s employees, many of whom who value job satisfaction over most other criteria.

Bottom line; an organisation that wants to be competitive absolutely needs to make employees feel valued so they perform their best work on a daily basis and stick around to make a continuous contribution.

Recognition isn’t just for the person who performed well. It’s also a message to other employees about the type of performance that gets noticed in an organisation.

Employee awards reflect the image of an organisation in ways that retail merchandise cannot

  • They can display meaningful and inspirational symbols to the people involved in a particular programme.
  • They are immediately identifiable by peers, thus reinforcing their value as builders of self-esteem and motivation.
  • They cannot be purchased outside the organisation, therefore, they must be earned.
  • They are designed to be highly personalized not only with the recipient’s name, but the name of the programme and details of the accomplishment.

Using Recognition Programmes

10 Steps To A Successful Recognition Programme

1 – Programme Objective

The programme should be consistent with the company’s values, principles, and objectives for improving productivity and performance.

2 – Programme Theme

Recognition is fun. Theme ideas are endless!

3 – Award Period

Whatever your time period, keep the programme visible with regular updates and benchmarks,even mid-period awards

4 – Recognition Categories

Clear and definitive boundaries must be set, with criteria above and beyond what is normally expected from employees.

5 – Eligible Participants

All employees related to that department, goal, etc., must be eligible.

6 – Programme Qualifications

A recognition programme must provide equal treatment for equal accomplishments.

7 – Presentation

Recognition and rewards must be timely to the achievement. Acknowledge actions as soon as possible. Generally, public commendation is better than private.

8 – Budget

When performance goals are met, the increased sales, profit, or cost savings to the company will far exceed the cost of a recognition programme.

9 – Awards

Recognition is not compensation! Studies repeatedly show that employees rank recognition for accomplishments higher than money.

10 – Cost Analysis

A well-structured recognition programme virtually pays for itself due to increased profits, cost savings, and employee morale that results from meeting programme goals.