Employee Recognition and Appreciation Tips That Actually Work
If you’re trying to design, shift, or scale your company culture, recognition and appreciation must be a part of your strategy. Like most new things, this can begin with one step, one conversation at a time.
Research from Gallup tells us that only about a third of employees strongly agree the recognition they receive is authentic, indicating a considerable opportunity for employers to make recognition more meaningful.
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Authentic communication in the way of recognition and appreciation is a huge part of what we focus on during our Leadology giving feedback sessions, as it builds muscle around awareness of others on your team. Here are some other essential elements to giving more authentic feedback:
Avoid “all the jargon" when possible.
Using flowery language may feel as though you are BSing the recipient, so make an effort to go beyond company values and pillars and offer more concrete and specific recognition.
Notice when they’ve utilized their strengths.
When you’re able to understand your employees' unique talents and speak to them, you’ll be able to help them feel seen and deeply appreciated for their unique contributions.
Offer recognition on a regular basis beyond performance review cycles.
This frequency ensures that recognition is an integral part of how your team communicates and reflects on its work. Think– are there ways you can surprise your team with recognition? Better yet, ask your team members how they prefer to receive recognition and follow through with offering it consistently.
How to increase your employee recognition and appreciation skills
All in all, authentic recognition all comes back to speaking to individuals’ strengths with regularity. Finding new ways to imbue this recognition with meaning can ultimately shape the course of your team and company culture. Leadology programs like Activate not only empower workplace leaders to connect with their team using tried-and-true communication skills, but they also help to hone emotional intelligence skills that are essential to recognizing individuals’ unique strengths and impact.
Eager to help your team feel more seen than ever? Schedule a call with us to learn more about the impact of authentic recognition with Activate.
