"Shout out to Sergio for persevering with the Features Page design. This is tough work, and especially with so many of us involved giving you our opinions and ideas, you've managed to pull it all together into something that feels very exciting and ScreenCloud. Well done 👏"

That was a real compliment posted on Slack for our designer, Sergio. It's also an example of positive feedback—one of the easiest ways to show appreciation to your employees and colleagues. Imagine how dejected Sergio would be if, after an intense period of powering through the project and drinking five cups of coffee a day (ok, I might have made this up), his work was ignored and taken for granted.  

Recognizing employees' contributions to the workplace is increasingly being seen as an important factor in productivity and employee retention. 

In fact, studies show that when employees feel appreciated they are more productive and that job satisfaction is higher when they feel recognized by managers and peers for their input.

Feeling undervalued is the second biggest factor impeding employee engagement and the third most important reason to stay or leave a company. 

Building a company culture of recognition for modern employees, whether they're sitting 2 meters away from you or two oceans apart, is easier than ever with digital communications.

So let's dig into the world of employee recognition and look at how to build a positive company culture whether you're dealing with a small business, remote employees, multiple locations or global corporation.

At it's core, employee recognition simply refers to the process of showing workers within a business that their hard work is noticed and appreciated. This can refer to either a casual pat on the back or congratulations for a job well done; through to a structured program designed to cultivate engagement and performance through broader recognition, feedback or rewards.

The theory being that when it's clear that the job is important and bosses see their efforts, employees take ownership of their work, and become happier in the workplace.

Within the workplace, the world of employee recognition and retention has become a growth industry in itself, with an explosion in things such as rewards software and corporate recognition programs.

And before you write off these employee recognition programs as just another passing fad, let's look at some stats and studies around recognizing employees for their contributions.

Studies and evidence about the need to motivate employees

According to Daniel H. Pink's book DriveDrive, much of what we know about motivation is wrong. Pink establishes the idea of Motivation 2.0 that centers around three essential elements:

Autonomy - the desire to direct our own lives

Mastery - the urge to get better at something that matters

Purpose - that desire to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

This reflects a change that’s happening inside work culture. It’s a shift away from slogging at a desk for 12 hours a day towards meaningful, deeply impactful work that we integrate into our whole lives. If your company wants to attract millennials, Gen-Z and future generations, then this is crucial information. 

We can no longer apply industrial revolution ideas to the modern workforce, especially in the wake of the post-COVID job market and the demands and expectations of younger generations.

Back in 1943, Abraham Maslow introduced his famous theory of the hierarchy of needs, which organizes human needs into five categories.

At the fourth level of this hierarchy is the need for respect and recognition. We all want to feel valued and to know that our efforts are appreciated by others. Receiving recognition at work helps fulfill this universal need. 

People are demotivated, disengaged, and less productive when they feel invisible or undervalued. A survey by OGO found that 40% of employed Americans would put more energy into their work if they were recognized more often. When it comes to retention, 63% of those who are always or usually recognized at work consider themselves very unlikely to job hunt in the next 3–6 months. Moreover, companies that are practicing the most sophisticated employee recognition programs are 12 times more likely to obtain powerful business results. 

In short, celebrating an employee's accomplishment, be it a big win or small deal, is one of the most inexpensive, high-impact things leaders can do to improve engagement and fuel productivity at work.

Best practice for recognizing employees at work

While there is no one-size-fits-all process for keeping your team members motivated, there are some general approaches that work.

B: Great job putting together the Studio guides! I've been using the Users & Team guide myself to work out the best way to set up ScreenCloud TV, and it's so thorough and well thought out. It's easy to take stuff like this for granted, but the commitment to support documentation really does mark us out from our competitors. Amazing work!

Both are positive feedback, but B is obviously more thoughtful and effective than A. 

If you're praising people just to check off a task on your to-do list, you won't get very far. The most meaningful and memorable compliments are authentic, personal, and specific. What makes a particular accomplishment special? Highlight precisely what impresses you about someone's work and skill set, and connect that with what you consider is important to them.

Just as you don't expect everyone on your team to like coffee with extra milk or gluten-free avocado ice cream, there's no one-size-fits-all approach to recognizing teammates. 

Some people enjoy being in the limelight and feel it's important everyone in the company is aware of their achievements. Others prefer to keep things more private or in a more modest setting. Some like to celebrate small wins while others prefer to skip those and savor major milestones instead. Some love receiving gift cards as rewards, while others are more thrilled to receive online classes. Use 1:1 meetings to deep dive into the best way to celebrate an employee's great work and from whom they like to receive kudos the most. 

In terms of rewards, Blueboard offers a vast array of experience employees can choose from, including beer brewing, improv comedy, surfing lessons, and building a DIY backyard greenhouse. Experiential incentives like these are meaningful and personal. They're a powerful tool to engage your employees, especially while working from home.

No matter how busy and demanding your schedule is, as a leader, it's worth going the extra mile to recognize your team members. Receiving praise from people high up in the company can be very powerful. It makes employees feel visible and appreciated, and it motivates them to continue the good work. 

Here are some ways company leaders can express their gratitude:   

We all know company-wide meetings like All Hands is a great place for spreading the visibility of an individual's hard work and accomplishments. But why not take a step further and give your employees kudos on social media? Imagine how fantastic they would feel if their well-deserved achievements are visible to customers and partners (and the rest of the world!).

Giving a monthly award to individuals who embody your company's values is not only an effective form of recognition, but it also creates a healthy team dynamic. It's a hard culture to beat if everyone is aligned with the company's guiding principles and mission and driven to live up to them.

This idea is perhaps too premature and optimistic as large group gatherings are currently prohibited in many places. However, you can apply this idea to smaller teams (<10 people) within your company. For instance, if team Marketing has had a stellar month, offer them a generous meal as a token of gratitude. 

If everyone is working remotely, have lunch delivered to their home and get people on a Zoom call to dine together.

The old name on the whiteboard has been a classic way to motivate employees since forever. And while it can be nice to see our name at the top of the employee of the week leaderboard, a modern touch is to create a made for purpose employee recognition board.

To create an employee appreciation board, you can use either the classic whiteboard or notice board, or opt for a more modern digital display.

Your employee recognition board can include any details from their name and department, to the stats or what they have achieved and need recognition for.

With a digital signage or even virtual employee recognition board, you can incorporate their headshot and add additional messages to support your recognition efforts.

ScreenCloud offers several leaderboard and employee recognition apps such as Team News. These can help you easily recognize employees and create a simple yet formal employee recognition program.

A study by SHRM found that peer-to-peer recognition is 35.7% more likely to have a positive impact on financial results than manager-only recognition. It also makes 90% of employees more satisfied with their work. Last but not least, encouraging employees to send each other kudos helps create a positive working environment, foster a sense of belonging and trust among colleagues, and promote collaboration. 

Check out a few ideas to help you get your peer-to-peer initiative rolling. 

Create a dedicated space for team praise 

We have a Slack channel called #team-praise at ScreenCloud to make it easy for everyone to shower their colleagues with kudos, virtual drinks, and standing ovations. We share those compliments every Friday, not only on Slack but also on our office screens and via Embedded Channels using our Slack app so that everyone gets access to the information no matter where they work.  

In the digital age, a handwritten thank-you note can be a novelty, a pleasant surprise. It shows that you care and is a lot more personal. A thoughtful note expressing your gratitude and admiration for your coworker can instantly put a smile on their face and boost their morale.

You've probably heard of the saying the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Let us rephrase it as the way to anyone's heart is through their stomach. 

And while everyone loves food, not everyone wants donuts or cookies as their reward - especially in our health obsessed age. The occasional cupcake treat can be a great way to say thanks. But if you're looking for a healthier way to congratulate employees for a job well done, you can also try buying them lunch, putting on pizza days or giving them vouchers to redeem at your local stores.

Many successful initiatives to reward employees begin with gamification. Just like in a video game, employees can unlock prizes and badges as they progress to new levels.

A friendly competition between colleagues and the reward that comes with it can boost workplace engagement, foster collaboration and productivity. Plus, it's fun!

While gamification is one of the best employee recognition program ideas (and most fun), it's obviously a broad subject with a lot to factor in. So, we'll dig a bit deeper into how to actually create an employee recognition program and expand on some of the ways to reward employees.

How to create an employee recognition program

While a well structured rewards program can greatly improve the employee experience - not every part of your business is the same. So the first step is to identify the motivators for certain types of employee and how you will identify the results.

For example, with a business sales team it's easy to identify the results as there are tangible figures that can be viewed by anyone.

However, for a busy retail store or in a hospitality setting, identifying what qualifies as success can be trickier. Sometimes the reward is simply making it through a busy period, dealing with a workload within a set time scale or adopting changes with few setbacks.

So as we look into our employee recognition program ideas, consider the fact that you don't always need to hit figures to reward employees.

With that in mind, let's look at the process behind structuring your employee appreciation program.

This ensures your employee recognition program is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s easy to get people hyped up for a week or two, but for this to be effective long-term, you need a program that will last.

Think about your different signifiers and how you can build in both short-term checkpoints and long-term levels.

For example, release badges when an employee has gone through training, when they have been with the company a specific amount of time, etc.

This also levels the playing field to give aspects that many employees can achieve, rather than just the best salesperson always winning.

When it comes to gaming, if you don’t understand the rules, you can’t effectively play. This is where openly sharing the scoring framework (with everyone) and transparency really comes in.

It's not a game without a clear outline of winning criteria, and this can lead to situations where those who appear to have won will only be seen as the favorites.

Having a level playing field helps everyone involved understand what you're trying to drive in the business, and how they can best engage with those goals.

While gamifying your employee recognition is a great way to increase engagement, you don't always need to offer a tangible reward for the program to succeed. In many cases, simply being top of the leaderboard can be rewarding in itself.

It's true: employees feel valued when simply being recognized for their hard work.

However you might want to offer some kind of carrot and stick, whether this is an actual trophy, extra days off or vouchers for a store; through to an office party for a job well done, or even an office outing.

Don't reward only those who close million-dollar deals. At some level, all participants should be awarded. It's a huge win if the majority of your employees are fully engaged in your program.

By only highlighting top performers, you'll inadvertently discourage people from participating.  

Foster collaboration by rewarding teams with a group reward, such as lunch on the company or an away day. These are also a great way to cement a positive company culture and even improve peer recognition between staff members.

Highlight results with accessible displays

How you reveal and report stats on your recognition effort is as important as all of the design you put into the program itself. Emailing around a results spreadsheet or sending private congrats messages can be useful, but isn't the best way to build a buzz and celebrate those wins.

The best way to engage and motivate employees is to regularly announce winners, publicly and within a predictable time table. This is where digital signage leaderboards come in.

Some of the apps you could use to create a visual leaderboard:

Countdown Timer - the easiest way to countdown to the end of your sales quarter or program and let everyone know just how much time they have left.

Google Slides - a familiar tool that gives you the freedom to build any leaderboard of your own. It also integrates nicely with Google Sheets for live leaderboards, which update on your screen when more points are awarded.

Geckoboard - allows you to use a pre-designed template to create a leaderboard and focus on the aspects that matter to your team and organization.

Showing gratitude and appreciation to employees, especially in the time of coronavirus, is a crucial endeavor, not a trivial task you can conveniently shove to the bottom of your to-do list. Make an effort and leverage the resources you have to ensure that everyone feels visible, inclusive, and connected. 

How to motivate your staff and promote a culture of employee recognition.

The Business Owners' Guide to Employee Recognition

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The Business Owners' Guide to Employee Recognition

The Business Owners' Guide to Employee Recognition

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