What is Employee Recognition?
Employee recognition is acknowledging and expressing appreciation for an individual or team’s behaviour, effort, contributions or accomplishments that support the funeral home’s goals and values. It is giving thanks and credit where credit is due and making employees feel valued and appreciated for a job well done.
Why is it Important?
Everyone likes to have achievements and efforts recognized. Even though personal satisfaction is usually generated from within ourselves, it is always more meaningful if someone else notices and shares the success. And there is substantial research to confirm that recognition has a significant effect on employees and in turn organizational results.
- A recent survey by the Auditor General of BC on Building a Strong Work Environment in British Columbia’s Public Service: A Key to Delivering Quality Service stated that: “Recognition has been shown to motivate staff, increase morale, productivity, and employee retention, and decrease stress and absenteeism.” This report concluded that “individual recognition” was one of the top three factors for improving the levels of employee satisfaction and employee engagement.
- When surveyed, responses from employees consistently indicate that praise and attention from their managers makes them feel as if the company cares about them and their well-being. As you might also expect, money, benefits, and events such as company lunches ranked high, too. But recognition from their manager ranks above all other choices.
How do we Recognize our Employees?
Recognition typically falls into two categories:
- Informal Recognition: Encouraging, motivating and showing appreciation for an employee or team for “doing something right”. This can often be done with little or no cost and minimal advanced planning.
- Formal Recognition: As the name implies, a formal recognition program involves establishing criteria and structure around how, when and why individuals or employee teams will be recognized. These programs can take many forms and require advance planning, communication and typically a designated budget for rewards.
The following information focuses on informal recognition which is likely suitable for the size of most funeral homes in B.C. A link to information on how to develop a formal recognition program is provided under Tools and Resources at the end of this section.
Regardless of the type of plan, recognition is most effective when:
- It is offered with sincerity and thoughtfulness
- It is immediate so that there is a clear link between what the employee did and what they are being recognized for
- It is appropriate and takes into consideration the personality, likes and dislikes of the employee
Informal Recognition – Thank You Note
A simple thank you note or letter that recognizes specific employee contributions, goes a long way in helping employees feel recognized and rewarded. An employee recognition note does not need to be elaborate but it is most effective when it:
- Specifically describes the behaviour you’d like to encourage
- Says thank you and shows appreciation for the employee contribution
- Is written and given close in timing to the event you are praising
- Is handwritten, or even an email
- Is personalized and avoids sounding like a form letter
Information Recognition – Ideas
Sincere thanks never grow old. And there is no limit to the ways to thank and recognize employees. The following list is provided to illustrate the many creative ways to recognize employees and co-workers. Not all the suggestions will be suitable for your workplace but hopefully a few will fit with your budget and culture and help you show genuine appreciation for those you work with.
Keep in mind that while managers create the environment for recognition to be effective, it is most powerful when all employees participate by recognizing and appreciating each other.
Employee Recognition Ideas (no cost)
- Post a thank you note on an employee’s door
- Give special assignments to people who show initiative
- Encourage and recognize staff who pursue continuing education
- Give employees an extra long lunch break
- Swap a task with an employee for a day – his/her choice
- Establish a “Behind the Scenes” award specifically for those whose actions are not usually in the limelight
- Give a shiny new penny for a thought that has been shared
- Attach a thank you note to the employee’s pay cheque or pay stub
- Recognize employees who actively serve the community
- Name a continuing recognition award after an outstanding employee
- Create an Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD) Award
- Create a recognition bulletin board and encourage everyone to post “thanks”
- Ask your “boss” to attend a meeting with your employees during which you thank individuals and groups for their specific contributions
- Plan a surprise achievement celebration for an employee or group of employees
- When you hear a positive remark about someone, repeat it to that person as soon as possible
- Call an employee to your office to thank them and don’t discuss any other issue
- Post a large “celebration calendar” in your work area. Tack on notes of recognition to specific dates
- Encourage employees to identify specific areas of interest in job-related skills. Then arrange for them to spend a day with an in-house “expert” to learn more about the topic
- Keep a supply of note cards that can be given on the spot. Keep the supply visible – in a basket or box in your office and encourage co-workers to use them
- Widely publicize suggestions used and their positive impact
- When someone has spent long hours at work, send a letter of thanks to his/her home
Employee Recognition Ideas (minor to moderate cost)
- Plan a surprise picnic
- Find out the person’s hobby and buy an appropriate gift
- Inscribe a favourite book as a gift
- Give the person a membership or subscription to a journal that relates to their work
- Design a “Stress Support Kit” that included aspirin, a comedy cassette, wind up toys and a stress ball – or design your own
- Serve ice cream sundaes to all of your employees to say thanks or recognize a milestone
- Have a “Staff Appreciation Day” where the managers supply, cook and serve food
- Give flowers to an employee at their home or office as a thank you
- Give out hour-off certificates for exceptional achievements and contributions. Let employees accumulate them for up to one day off
- Purchase a unique pin to serve as a memento for a task well done
- Hold informal retreats to foster communication and set goals
- Give a personalized coffee cup
- Design and give magnets with appropriate messages
- Give a deserving employee a mug filled with treats
- Give a framed poem (poster or card) as a thank you
- Give a puzzle as an award to a problem solver
- Have weekly breakfasts with groups of employees
- Treat an employee to lunch
- Bake/bring a gift (cookies, bread, etc.) for an outstanding employee or team
- Ask co-workers to write something they admire about an employee. Present to the employee in a keepsake box, with a card or framed
Recognition is all about coming up with ideas that work for your environment and your employees. It can be an opportunity to have some fun, ask staff for their ideas and then, as a manager, look for opportunities to celebrate and recognize achievements.
Tools and Resources
Tips for effective employee recognition
The Power of Positive Employee Recognition and Top 10 Ideas About What Employees Want From Work are just some of the article relating to employee recognition and motivation available under the Human Resources tab on www.About.Com.
How to develop a formal recognition program
The Corporate Executive Board: Creating an Effective Reward and Recognition Program – PDF (753.21 KB)
