The Power of Employee Appreciation
What Great Companies are doing to Recognize Employees
Employees are the most important asset to any organization. Showing employees the appropriate recognition and appreciation is essential for retaining the talent and intellectual capital that each person brings to the business. Leaders who fail to appreciate employees risk losing these individuals to other organizations who recognize the value that people bring.
Every employee appreciates a fair compensation, but what they also want is challenging and rewarding work. Employees want to know they are contributing to the success of an organization. When employees feel acknowledged and feel their work is recognized, an individual’s satisfaction with their work will increase. The happier employees are, the more productive they will be.
Employers will truly benefit by recognizing employees and making each person feel valued and appreciated. Employers can easily put in place ways to recognize employees with rewards and recognition programs or even less formal methods for appreciation. Employee appreciation letters, certificates, personal notes of thanks and small appreciation gifts are all easy and effective ways to show thanks.
What Some Companies Are Doing to Show Employee Appreciation
If employers are looking for some innovative ways to recognize their employees, take a look at what other great companies are doing. These companies are making strides towards creating a great place to work for their employees.
- A technology firm in Reston, VA, rewards employees with company branded poker chips. Different colors represent different values. Employees can reward these “tokens” to other employees for anything deemed notable. Employees can collect the tokens and turn them in for prizes. What is truly notable is that employees have kept the tokens in favor of collecting them over turning them in for prizes. Employees have developed a sense of pride with their growing token collections.
- According to the article “Meet the New Boss” published in Fortune Small Business (June 2009), a software company in Birmingham, AL, has a work/play lounge which has a television and game system. Another company in Burlington, VT, according to the same article, offers a sabbatical program and covers 100% of employees’ health insurance premiums.
- A large technology solutions provider headquartered in Virginia, offers employees teleworking opportunities and employs registered nurses full time to provide employees allergy shots, health insurance assistance and other health related advice and services.
- A nationwide nonprofit organization has a rewards and recognition program in place in which employees are awarded points that can be redeemed at an online website. Prizes online are valued up to $200 and points are awarded for outstanding contributions to their departments or the organization.
Employee Appreciation Makes a Big Difference
When employees feel appreciated, they are likely to be more productive and have a stronger sense of loyalty. When employees are rewarded, they will likely repeat the behavior that lead to the reward. Companies have nothing to lose and so much to gain by making the effort to show employees appreciation and recognize their hard work and efforts. Great companies recognize that their employees are their most important asset and continuously find innovative ways to recognize them appropriately.
The Power of Employee Appreciation
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