Any business owner knows that the happier and more satisfied your people are, the more successful your business becomes. Creating a healthy workspace is a sure bet to keep things moving in the right direction. But how do you do that?
Trying to solve problems within any business can be overwhelming. You may feel as though you’re doing everything right, but it somehow doesn’t seem to translate to your employees. Maybe you can find several issues with your business but don’t know where to start.
A negative work environment doesn’t have to be a headache to fix—one of the easiest and most effective ways to turn things around is by making your employees feel recognized for their hard work. If you want to increase employee retention, keep your people motivated, and foster team spirit, implementing an employee recognition program can do wonders to improve your business.
Read Weekdone’s blog post about how to measure employee engagement with pulse surveys.
1. Make Everyone Happier
A happy employee is a productive employee. When your people dread going into the office, or can’t wait to leave at the end of the day, their work simply won’t match up to people who like what they’re doing.
Most people can relate to the feeling of slogging through the day. Did those days feel productive? Did you put all your energy and attention into your work? Helping your workers overcome these feelings will undoubtedly help your business.
Employee recognition is a wonderful way to keep everyone happy. When people know that they’re heading into a community that recognizes and rewards them, those feelings of dread and boredom melt away.
2. Keep Employees Around
Employee retention can be a big problem. It’s expensive to hire and train new members of your team, and it can take a while for new people to mesh with their coworkers. With three million Americans leaving their jobs every month, keeping your employees around is a key issue and an infallible way to save time and money.
You want your employees to like what they’re doing and feel like they’re doing it well. They’ll have less reason to find work somewhere else if they like where they are. Employee recognition keeps your people loyal to you and your business, so you don’t have to be endlessly looking for new hires.
There are several ways to make your employees feel appreciated, including small gestures, incentive programs, and cash bonuses. Every time you recognize your employees, you give them more reason to stick around.
3. Encourage Self-Improvement
If your employees never receive positive feedback, how will they know if they’re succeeding? How will they know that their work means something to you? It’s much easier to slip into complacency if you feel like no one really cares what you do.
When people feel like their work is valued, why wouldn’t they want to do better? Recognizing your employees demonstrates your attentiveness and appreciation, and proves that good work doesn’t go unnoticed.
If employees solely hear from their superiors when they mess up, their goal might just be to avoid a reprimand. Sure, you don’t want your employees to make mistakes, but rewarding small wins can shift their goals in the workplace from surviving to thriving.
4. Build Team Spirit
Doling out recognition rather than reserving it for your top workers will help your employees develop an abundance mindset. This can replace attitudes of jealousy and close-mindedness with energy and creativity.
When compliments and rewards are few and far between, the workplace vibe can turn competitive and hostile. However, when employees know that recognition will come their way, they may be more likely to be happy for their coworkers when they receive recognition. This can pave the way towards a team mentality.
The importance of this mindset is only made clearer in situations where people have to collaborate with each other. If they’re just trying to earn some hard-won praise, they’re motivated to succeed as individuals. With increased recognition, their goals can change into working hard to reach a team goal.
Additionally, recognizing a group of employees rather than an individual can have the same effect. Springing for lunch or giving out merch like company stickers and mugs reinforce a team-based culture.
You can even encourage team members to give props to each other, giving them even more reason to do well. When people know they can get appreciation from all sides, they have all the more reason to take their work above and beyond.
5. Make It Personal
It’s easy to feel like just another cog in a machine if all you’re doing is churning out work. A monotonous workplace squashes creativity and innovative spirit. Employee recognition helps you take a people-centered approach to the workplace.
With ideas as simple as giving out high-fives or bringing in a box of donuts, employee recognition techniques can humanize your team’s work experience. A more personal atmosphere is a great way to change a 9-5 mindset for the better.
Feeling valued as an individual can also motivate people to stand out. The more your employees feel like their higher-ups see them as individuals, the more likely they are to bring in new ideas and break the mold of the day-to-day grind.
A Surefire Success
With dozens of easy ways to recognize your employees, it may be hard to believe that such small changes can radically transform the culture of your workplace. However, making people feel appreciated can dramatically improve your business.
It’s impossible to ignore the benefits of employee recognition. With these strategies, you can easily increase efficiency and support innovative ideas. If they know they are valued, people will work harder and smarter.
When an employee can come to expect regular positive feedback, they will only improve their performance. Creating an environment of recognition lets your employees know that you value them as both workers and individuals.
From working harder to working up the nerve to propose new ideas, employee recognition is a tried and true way to help your business succeed.
Written by: Gabe Nelson @blog.bonus.ly
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