The Power of Positive Feedback to Show Employee Appreciation

Posted November 16, 2019

When it becomes a feature component of a company culture, employee appreciation can be an ace in the hole that drives businesses past their competition. When it's missing, it can hurt quality, efficiency and profits.

Too frequently, employee contributions are taken for granted, with workers given little feedback and rarely recognized for great work; only chided when they make mistakes. This approach can take a toll on even the most enthusiastic and upbeat staff members.

Employees who feel appreciated tend to have more self-worth and greater capacity to contribute to the business. They also tend to be happier, more productive and more innovative. Although these benefits are widely known by companies, employee recognition programs are misguided in many organizations.

Worker recognition is subpar in many companies due to many factors. Management may not understand how to provide worker recognition effectively. Management may also take a one-size-fits-all approach to recognizing staff members.

Furthermore, an employer may think too narrowly about what to acknowledge and how to provide recognition. Below are a few guidelines on how to offer effective worker recognition and steer clear of prospective issues related to acknowledging staff members.

Establish Goals of an Employee Recognition Program

Determine what you want to accomplish with your worker recognition program.

Instead of using a scatter-shot approach, develop goals for the program, such as maintaining a high level of productivity, offering great customer service, developing new revenue streams or coming up with innovations. Identify which actions, behaviors and achievements should be rewarded because they support these goals.

Establish Metrics

Equity, clarity, and uniformity are crucial in worker recognition programs. People have to understand which contributions earn recognition and see that recognition is given, regardless of status or reputations.

Make certain your organization establishes standards for what makes someone qualified for official employee recognition and rewards, leaving room for everybody who meets established standards to be recognized. Only acknowledging singular top performers can have the unintended effect of demoralizing other major contributors. Ensure the criteria for worker recognition is clearly outlined and understood by everybody.

Importantly, recognition criteria should be attainable, but not too easy to meet. You want to ensure your worker recognition attempts do not turn into expectations or entitlements.

Reward Specific Actions

When handing out rewards or recognition, reinforce why the individual is being acknowledged. The objective of positive feedback is to reward actions you would like to see more of, with official recognition being one of the most effective forms of feedback you can give to an employee.

Be sure to provide recognition as close to the action or achievement as you can. Because the worker is probably already feeling happy about their performance, timely recognition will strengthen these positive feelings. This, in turn, positively impacts the worker's confidence in their capacity to do their job.

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At Ambassador, we fully support the employee engagement and retention efforts of our clients. If your company is currently looking for a supportive talent partner, please contact our full-service staffing firm today.