Does your company specialize in experiences, strategic workplace recognition, and appreciation? Mine too. As the head of employee experience, I’ve been tasked with making sure our company culture matches our company mission.
A few years ago at RedBalloon, I created a framework to tell the story of what makes our employee experience unique, and one of the pillars of that framework is “appreciate.”
For me, the first step to showing appreciation to employees is understanding that everyone is unique, and each gesture of appreciation should reflect that. The second step to showing appreciation is doing so in a variety of ways—from the big and public, to the small and private, and everything in between.
When designing an employee recognition program, it’s critical to know who your employees are and what makes them tick. There are a variety of tools out there for helping organizations manage this in a way that best suits the individual needs and goals of each company’s recognition program.
At RedBalloon, we use BambooHR’s automated platform for our HR needs because you can customize it to fit your particular situation and goals. So I used the platform to build an employee “Favorites” tab, where every RedBallooner can document their favorite hobbies, interests, books, movies, food, or even pet peeves.
Thanks to the tab, I now know our public relations manager loves coffee frappés and lime milkshakes, one of our Software Engineer’s favorite books is Harry Potter, and our senior designer loves to bake. Now, I have a better idea of how I can show them appreciation in a way that will really resonate.
Once you get to know your employees, design an appreciation program that is both personal and effective. Consider incorporating these four ways into demonstrating your gratitude:
- Points system. A points and reward system is something that is commonly deployed at companies of all sizes because it can be very effective. This is simply an opportunity for both managers and peers alike to award points to coworkers, allowing points to be traded in for gift cards or other cool prizes. The beauty about this system is that employees get to choose their own rewards, so everyone ends up feeling happy and victorious.
- Birthday celebrations. Nothing is more personal than a birthday. Whether it’s decorating their desk, ordering their favorite lunch, or giving them a day off, birthdays are a great time to show employees how much they are valued. And encouraging all employees to get in on the fun is a thoughtful way to strengthen bonds between coworkers.
- Year-round festivities. These morale boosters could include everything from breakfasts, to lunches, to drinks, to holiday parties. Knowing what kind of festivities and events are important to your employees will help shape what you celebrate.
- Making dreams come true. When you’d like to make a dramatic statement with your appreciation, a bigger gesture is in order. This is another time where you really need to know your employees in order for this to work. Do you have an employee who has always wanted to take a helicopter flight? Ensure that the company makes this happen. Or make arrangements for an employee who has dreamed of being an actress to appear as an extra on set for a day. This is obviously not something that should be employed on a daily basis, but sometimes bigger is better.
Corporate success is linked to employee satisfaction. When we don’t feel appreciated at work, we rarely operate at our best. What gets recognized gets repeated, so work hard to reinforce positive behavior. Notice how hard your employees, in turn, start working for you.