Have you met any person who says appreciation does not matter? We all like it when we are recognized for our presence, efforts, and results. Appreciation plays a catalyst role in shaping our lives and career. All of us need appreciation in our daily lives in some or another way. The beauty to design an appreciation program is around it is that each one of us has our “unique ways” to feel “appreciated”, which makes it an interesting and complex concept to practice.
Do companies use any appreciation programs?
Companies refer to appreciation programs as “Employee Referral Programs”. The fundamental philosophy is that every individual is different hence the “one size fits all ” approach may not be a good idea. I have noticed that it is widely discussed in management forums but rarely put into action. The reasons for hardly using it could be numerous viz. want to have an appreciation program but don’t know how to do it, mindset reservation that if we appreciate our employees their expectations will rise, inadequate resources to run the program, do not know how to do it, etc.
Whatever may be the reason for inaction, we have a choice to run corporate appreciation programs differently! And with that in mind, understand that appreciation works as a seed for great work.
Here are 10 ways to show appreciation at your workplace:
- Thank you! – Thank you is a wonderful 2 magic words. The genuine and spontaneous practice of thanking each other helps to develop trust and bonds at all levels. Thank employees to show them that they are taking accountability and doing their job in the best way possible!
- Spot Appreciations – Timely appreciations can move mountains! Express appreciation before it is forgotten and lost. Spot appreciations help in building a culture of instant goodwill towards a good job done! Spot appreciations could be with simple things like a pizza or an ice cream treat or 2 hours early off, a movie ticket, lunch vouchers etc.
Beyond the employees – There are quite a few occasions when we want to celebrate our achievements with our family, friends, or community workers. Let the employee choose who they wish to celebrate their achievement with. To express your appreciation, you could pay for a one-day family day or a paid family event.
4. Appreciation Bank – In this theme, we are referring to the concept of accumulation of appreciations. Employees can opt to accumulate their rewards in their “Appreciation Bank” and use them within a decided time frame i.e. 1 year. In the work context, there are times when we feel that we want to carry forward our good work and use them at a relevant time. The flexibility of the Appreciation Bank could offer great help to youngsters, single parents, employees staying away from family, and so on.
5. Team celebrations – In a corporate environment, team spirit is essential. The success of the teams or groups of teams is mandatory for the survival and growth of the company. Hence team appreciations are a must. When recognizing the team, please include the silent and support employees i.e. Office support staff, drivers, courier staff, cleaning staff, etc.
Find unique ways to appreciate them:
6. Surprise employees! – We all love surprises! It is so pleasant to receive an appreciation from an unexpected employee or at an unexpected time. Appreciations through this theme result in creating lifetime moments and work a long way in keeping the employee engaged!
7. Fun time! – Recreation time is so important to reenergize and focus. I have observed that in a workplace, like-minded people form friend groups among each other e.g. because of professional skills or common origin/country/interests/hobbies etc. Appreciations that promote fun times at the workplace go a long way to boost employee engagement. e.g. Sponsor fitness challenge event, marathon, laughter clubs, or another sporting / entertainment event.
8. Peer club – Peers linked appreciations help companies to build sharing and caring work environment. Employees participate to celebrate the achievements of thir co-workers and as a result strengthen their bond.
9. Join the customers and suppliers – Companies may refer to third-party appreciation themes if they have adequate information on Customer engagement scores and supplier feedback on service and products.
10. Corporate social media platforms – In the current digital and remote way of working, appreciations posted on corporate social media platforms are emerging as strong and impactful ways to motivate and engage employees. Interestingly social media is spreading the word of “Good Job Done”, to millions of people, and thus, it has the potential to deliver amazing results.
To conclude our discussion, appreciation has unlimited power. Please attempt to design an Appreciation/Recognition program because that would help your company move mountains!
Happy Reading!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Appreciation can be shown in many ways. You can say thank you, hold surprise events for the employees to enjoy their success, and reward them when they do something appreciation-worthy.
Appreciation is important in the workplace because it gives the employees a feeling of self-worth. Employees enjoy working in a place where they are appreciated and valued. They are also a lot more productive in a positive environment, and thus, it consequently benefits the company.
It is always said that actions speak louder than words. It is better to show appreciation rather than just say it. Surprise your employees if they have done something good, reward them, or let them have a day off. You can also say thank you by simply saying thank you, even that can make someone’s day.
