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Recognition Award Ideas
Employees thrive on recognition. When companies show their employees appreciation for exceptional work, employee satisfaction and retention increase. If an employee does decide to leave, they will likely do so with positive feelings about the company they worked for.
An employee retention strategy is important for attracting and keeping top talent. While a certain level of attrition is expected, recognizing employee performance will bode well for companies. There's a reason Fortune publishes lists like "100 Best Companies to Work For."
One of the best ways to show employee recognition is through corporate awards. Employee recognition awards are tangible and signify something more substantial than a simple "thanks." They're also given in front of people as a part of an awards ceremony in most cases, making recognizing employees public.
Over the years though, many employee recognition awards have become predictable and boring. Just offering a simple customer service award or team player award might not inspire greatness from your teams. They lose their effect when presented as simply one of the checkboxes companies have to check off. So don't fall into that trap with your company awards program.
While you can and should offer teamwork awards, the award title can vary. For example, instead of calling it a teamwork award, recognize superior performance with a Key Contributor award title.
Here are some other employee award title ideas you can choose from:
- "We Can't Believe You Made Those Sales" award
- Tip of Our Hat
- Stellar Success
- Associate Appreciation
- Sidekick Salute
- "Beacon of Joy" award
- "Ideas On Point" award
- The "Extra Mile" award
- Galactic Gratitude
- "Wow" award
- High Flyer
- Exceeding Expectations
- Ace of Initiative
- Top Gun Sales Team
Now that you've seen a few employee award titles, consider showcasing the outstanding performance of your top performers by creating an excellence hall that other employees can strive for.
Got some high performers retiring? Create a Legacy Heroes section to give special recognition to future leaders in your organization. Now that's better than a simple "employee of the month" award photo.
How to Do Recognition Awards The Right Way?
An Ace Employee Deserves More Than a Gold Star
While a gold star might've been good enough in grade school, employee recognition awards should be more substantial for adult professionals. Custom crystal awards or acrylic awards shows fellow employees and others your business is serious about success.
Make Employee Awards Fun
This depends largely on each company's culture, but the same old "length of service" and "exceptional performance" employee award titles can be tiring. Just as there are both Academy Awards for best in the movie industry and Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst, varying things up can be fun.
SurePayroll, a payroll services company based in Illinois, was showcased in the media heavily in 2011 for their approach to unique awards. The company gives out creative awards like the year's most impressive screwup award. Such an award as best "Screwup" in this case is not to be insulting. It's to celebrate and recognize employees with big ideas who are not afraid of taking risks and failing.
Unusual and creative awards breathe life into otherwise stale award-giving culture.
The award title can vary, but rather than just sticking to a plan leadership award, why not instead create a "rising star award" to suggest to other team members that this employee is going places.
Raise the Stakes to Reward Employees Efforts
While awards are recognition for past work, they can also be used to promote future performance. Employees who receive awards should be propelled into larger roles. For someone receiving an innovator award, include a budget to develop one of their ideas.
Coming up with meaningful award ideas is essential for employee engagement and retention. Companies should thoughtfully approach employee recognition awards program and the awards themselves should reflect that.
For example:
Consider peer to peer recognition as well to make your teams feel more a part of the process. Any employee recognition award ideas that bring peers into the mix will result in better teamwork and cohesion. You can easily remind your teams of how much you trust their judgment, by allowing them to reward each other for outstanding performance. Employees choice awards add relatable experiences and encourage teamwork.
This can go a long way towards strengthening the relationship employees have with their companies. Awards are also a great reminder of company values and goals.
FineAwards.com helps companies recognize their employees by crafting beautiful custom awards for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations around the world, providing quality awards in a timely manner. Contact us today to learn more.
4 Reasons Why Companies Invest in Awards
Company award shows are becoming more and more common, with organizations of all sizes and industries giving their employees awards to celebrate their accomplishments. While traditional incentives such as benefits, bonuses, and other gifts have been staples for decades, custom awards could provide numerous benefits for your team and the company culture as a whole. Here are a few reasons some of the biggest companies invest in employee awards.
1. To Show An Employee Recognition for a Significant Achievement
There are a variety of reasons to give premium awards to your employees. Some companies give awards to honor years of service, especially big milestones like 10 years or more at the company. Others offer frequent recognition with a monthly customer service award or leadership award. You can also give a premium award when someone exceeds what’s expected of them, such as surpassing a sales goal or solving a significant problem. Custom awards go further than a pat on the back and show that you truly appreciate your team’s diligent efforts.
2. To Help Improve Overall Morale
Company morale and culture are essential in the modern marketplace. Happy employees are more likely to stay with a company and will continue overachieving, with ripple effects from the company's bottom line to the C-suite. Leaders everywhere are on an endless pursuit to help encourage employee engagement, and custom awards could be a valuable tool. When an employee sees another team member win an award at the end of the quarter and receive public recognition for their work, it shows that the company genuinely notices effort and achievements. They may imagine themselves receiving the one or more of the employee awards you offer, and will strive to meet the standard which earns those awards. If you want your team to feel more closely aligned with company values and the organization's overall mission, consider investing in premium corporate awards.
3. To Inspire the Entire Team to Achieve Greatness Together
Inspiring greatness from the team can be a challenge for some leaders. Often, it comes down to showing your team there’s something in it for them or that there is a reward at the end of the difficult journey. Premium acrylic awards, fit for a prestigious occasion, and could be the incentive your team needs to inspire greatness. Along with other creative incentives such as bonuses or special perks, try incorporating premium teamwork awards into your employee recognition program.
4. To Foster a Culture of Growth at Your Company
Company culture matters to nearly all current and future employees. Many organizations include employee awards in their overall culture initiatives because they show what’s possible when an employee stays with your company for the long term. Every leader wants to see professional development from their team, and an employee recognition award is symbolic of growth. If you’re seeking new ways to inspire greatness, encourage engagement, and foster a culture of growth at your company, custom corporate awards might be the best choice for you.