Recognise the Best Event Professionals on a Team

As research shows, that new employee you invest so much hope in will most likely quit in 1,5 years if he lacks recognition and proper autonomy. To turn long-term cooperation into the fundamental credo of your organisation, you must work on recognition programs, and this is not about Friday beer. Effective recognition is about providing comprehensive feedback for the employees’ achievements and explaining their value to a business.

Benefits of recognising the best employees

The most obvious advantage of staff recognition relates to the retention of talent that drives the success of an organisation. Apart from this, businesses that take awarding seriously can reap the following benefits:

• Encouraging “extra effort”: Employees who feel appreciated for what they do won’t mind working an extra hour if it’s vital to your business.
• Communicating your mission: According to research, 61% of employees don’t know the mission statement of the organisation they work for. Obviously, if you fail to acquaint staff with your fundamental business goals, the staff will fail to meet these goals. Aligning awards programs with company values and your mission can help you raise awareness.
• Making people happy: 75% of employees whose efforts are recognised on a monthly basis say they are satisfied with their current work.
• Shaping your reputation: People who work for your organisation are those who can spread the word about it. To get positive feedback, ensure that people understand their value to the organisation.

Award titles for employees

Not only do awards events add value to the work of your employees but they are also great occasions for having fun. Play with your creativity, and don’t stop at the boring “Best Team Member Award”. Here are the top 10 ideas for awards recognition categories:

• Top performer recognition: Based on the number of milestones that a person manages to hit over a specific period of time, recognise the top performers in a team.
• Customer service awards: Reward a person who demonstrates the best expertise in their communication with clients. To add some fun, you can think of some creative titles like “People person”, “Our guy”, etc.
• Above and beyond recognition: It cannot go unnoticed if a person goes the extra mile and voluntarily completes more tasks than he or she is required to do. “Above and beyond” awards are widely known not only in the business sector but also in public organisations, state-supported campaigns, and more.
• Peer-to-peer recognition: Motivate your staff to dive deep into the work of their colleagues and provide honest feedback on how others perform. This is a real win-win for managers as peer-to-peer recognition has a 35.7% better impact on financial results than manager-only recognition and also promotes a better understanding of the company mission.
• Perfect attendance program: We know what you’re thinking: “Who said that excellent attendance means good performance?” However, think in terms of industries like healthcare or fire-fighting. For people who are in these professions, attendance is crucial.

• Welcome onboard recognition: The first day in a new workplace can definitely be very stressful. Use recognition programs to give new hires a warm welcome. As an option, you can organise a funny quest that an employee must pass to become a part of the team.
• Sales incentive: This is a must-have activity for companies where people handle complex B2B sales cycles. Create a contest that motivates sales professionals to make better use of their knowledge through collaboration and teamwork. From a sales poker to creative pitching contests, there are many sales incentives you can utilise within your strategy.
• Safety awards: A company’s commitment to safety deserves special recognition. Among NSC Workplace Awards, you can find a huge selection of safety-driven award ideas:
• Retirement awards: Pay respect to those who retire by organising an in-house celebration and asking the team to prepare some small handmade presents or to give a speech at the event. At the end of the celebration, you can award a retiring employee with a creative, memorable prize:
• Volunteer awards. Especially if the existence of your organization fully depends on the continued support of volunteers, you should think about efficient appreciation ideas. The good idea is to set aside a column on your website or blog where you would write about volunteer nominations and showcase key contributions.

Organising employee recognition program

To build a strong employee recognition awards program, you have to be a good friend with your staff, understanding their pains, interests, and needs. Here are three steps to launching a good employee recognition incentive:

Creating the program

– Pick the right tool. The process of designing an awards event depends on the tools you use. Whether you run an online contest or an in-house awards event, choose a reliable awards management software. Basically, it should help you do the following:

• Collect contest submissions on one centralised platform
• Assign judges
• Customise judging criteria
• Score entries
• Analyse scores and choose winners

– Define the contest goals. It’s important to have two-layered goals that relate to both managers and employees. You can survey your staff before setting objectives to understand what you should focus on.

– Set the criteria. Help judges make the right choice by providing them with specific evaluation criteria. It’s important to ensure that the criteria are set by managers who work with nominated employees.

– Budget your contest and plan activities accordingly.

Rolling out the program

Once you’re all set, build a branded website or a dedicated landing page where you can collect nominations and provide contest updates. If you’re planning to run a contest on a monthly or annual basis, you can create a logo and title for your corporate awards campaign. Next, break the news about the upcoming contest, and start online promotion if you want to increase the buzz on social media.

Giving recognition

Start building excitement for contest results a few days before the announcement of the winner. Once the big day comes, create a juicy post for social media, and gather the whole team in one place to break the news and present an award.

Conclusion

Those who set the right goals, attend training sessions or work well in a team deserve recognition as well, not only the people who perform well. Learn how to organise corporate recognition awards, which enable you to provide the most comprehensive feedback regarding your employees’ work.