Give Recognition to Hold on to Your Employees

The Mood Tracker Survey from Globoforce (hat tip) shows that a majority of employees would switch their job for a firm that recognizes them for their good work and contributions. The numbers indicate that a majority of employees do not feel they are recognized enough for their work contributions.

Does that mean, as an employer, you have to implement a stuffy “employee of the month” program? That probably isn’t very effective any more, but there are more natural ways to accomplish the same.

At CATS, we don’t have a formal program, but we make opportunities to recognize good work in spontaneous and fun ways. These aren’t revolutionary, and we’re a small team so what we do may not work for you, but these can be a starting point to provide your company with some ideas on improving recognition.

  • Our CEO regularly reads emails that are sent to and from our employees and occasionally will send an email to all employees commending a particular employee for a job well done. This lets the employee know they did a nice job and shows the rest of our employees what our CEO is looking for in our work.
  • About once a month we’ll do some sort of company outing. These typically take place outside of work hours and might include going to a Twins game, playing bocce ball, or seeing a movie, etc. Obviously these events can vary depending on your team and location. These events are good for building a community among coworkers plus, when there is a community present in the workplace, employees are more likely to stick around.
  • If you spend some time in our office you’ll likely see that we’re not afraid to point out when something isn’t up to snuff, but that means hearing comments from employees to other employees on a job well done are even more meaningful. Getting these notes of recognition from coworkers demonstrates that they are paying attention, are invested in the product being created, and are happy with the results someone achieved.
  • The last event that we do helps welcome a new employee to the team. Whenever a new employee starts at our company, we get a group lunch. We’ll decide as a group where to walk to from our office and the company buys the meal. This leads to good conversation, meeting the new employee, and welcoming them to the team.

Does your company recognize its employees for a job well done? What kind of methods do you use? Please share them in the comment section below.