What do we mean by appreciation ideas for staff?
We all want to be recognised for a great job we have done by a client or customer by getting them to write a testimonial.
This is the same for your staff, it is good to recognise when they do a good job for you as let’s face it and I have been involved a lot of time with this, when they keep doing a bad job we automatically start a formal process of capability or disciplinary.
You maybe thinking at this point that this is all well and good but I employ them to do the job so they should get on with.
I agree as a business owner it can be frustrating when a member of staff is not doing what you ask of them or they are dictating to you.
Without you there would be no business, right?
However, if you want to build a strong culture, promote your values, business, attract the right people into the right roles, by praising staff each time a good job is done, supports what I have just said and helps towards the:
Wellbeing
intrinsic motivation
Employee engagement and productivity a staff member will have for your business and want to go the extra mile for you.
Especially if you have staff that are remote working.
Research indicates that 1 in 3 employees feels less connected to company culture and coworkers because of the increasing prevalence of remote work. Whether remote or on-site, all employees desire connection and appreciation.
My favourite saying is a happy workforce is a productive workforce.
How to get started with Employee Appreciation
You probably say “thank you” when a job is completed on time or staff do a good job which is great as that goes a long way.
To get the staff working for you the way you want them to using the principles of RISE will get you started with no extra cost.
Regular recognition produces a strong employee engagement. Businesses that recognise employees frequently are 41 percent more likely to see increased retention and 34 percent more likely to see increased engagement.
Immediate gratitude and providing feedback there and then will make staff feel valuable and want to do a great job the next time round.
Specific feedback that is personalised to that member of staff and the actions they took to doing the great job will make them repeat the same actions or potentially doing a better job the next time round.
Encouraging, saying what a great job that staff member has done in front of other staff members will enhance those other team members to do their jobs right. Also, will encourage team members to praise each other which will enhance your team working and collaborating together and builds the sense of belonging. Therefore, should decrease that amount of conflict and grievances in teams. Which will save you time and money.
Here are some examples of how you can show appreciation to other team members?
- Thank you, Mike. I learned so much working with you last week on the end of quarter numbers I hope we get a chance to work together soon.
- Sarah’s new templates for presentations are gorgeous. You make everything I do look good.
- John, you’re a fantastic teacher. I know I’m not the only one who wants to work on projects you’re assigned to.
It’s not all about the team members
It’s an opportunity for staff members to show appreciation to you or their managers. When you give appreciation it should be reciprocated back to you as you are setting the tone you want the culture of the business to be.
As said saying thank you does go a long way. What if we went further and thought of strategic appreciation initiatives to boost employee morale and make your business the business of choice to work for?
A HR system I provided to my clients has a kudos section where you can openly thank another team member for the great job they do. The more kudos’s an employee receives within a month could transfer into a reward. Which doesn’t have to be expensive, it could be a cup of coffee or my favourite a cake of choosing or lunch bought for them. This will give staff that friendly competition of wanting to do things right and you will get the best out of them for doing so.
On the first Friday of each March there is an Employee Appreciation Day, so you could give the staff member with the most kudos or who has gone the extra mile throughout the year an extra day off.
Something I used to do when I worked in house HR, was giving back to the community. What do I mean by this, helping out at a homeless shelter or asking your local charity what help they need for the day. When I did this I felt like I was getting out of the office or work for a day, and it goes a long way with your CSR and spreads the word about your business of being empathic and caring. Which will attract people to come to work for you and save money recruiting.
Having Employee engagement survey’s each year will allow your employees to provide feedback on a frequent basis on how they see the business and give their ideas. Be sure to use all that feedback to make changes to show your employees you care about their ideas!
Another idea and this will get the team working together is team building days. I did one once where we went chocolate making. Everyone likes chocolate! We were shown how to create some delectable chocolate delights by the ‘Master Chocolatier’ before having a go at making our very own artisan delicacies and some fun buildings. There’s endless of team building ideas you can do to get everyone working together.
I know we are all busy running the business and a lot of the time working in the business as you can’t get staff you trust or they don’t stay long. You spend endless amounts of money recruiting, onboarding.
Overall, by implementing what I have said will mean you have less headaches in the recruiting. Attracting and retention is high as the staff are working with you which means you save money and will be able to concentrate on working on the business and getting more work in or expanding.
If you need any support with any other HR issues please contact me on:
Telephone: 07855 374 511
Email: info@bphrconsultacny.co.uk