Employee Recognition Archives

Employee of the Month

By Terrence Dehring

Being named employee of the month is a great honor. It lets the employee know they are appreciated for what they do. It is a pat on the back for a job well done. It pumps up their confidence and most likely improves their performance. And by recognizing an employee for their work, it becomes a contagious event. Everyone wants to be recognized for what they do, and if, by doing a little more, or doing something a little better, they can be publicly recognized for their efforts, they will have plenty of incentive to go the extra distance.

The amazing thing is that is costs very little to recognize an employee for a job well done. The return on investment is huge. The collateral returns are immense. The positive impact it has on the culture of an organization are great. So why would any organization NOT want to recognize their star performers?

Un-Birthday Cake

At QuickTrophy we celebrate birthdays with a birthday cake. We have one cake per month and celebrate all the employee birthdays for the month at the same time. In July we had 4 employees with birthdays so it was a big celebration with an Oreo Cake. But what happens when you have a month without birthdays? This happens sometimes so what do you do? Skip the cake and say “Too bad”, or have the cake and celebrate all the un-birthdays with an un-birthday cake? Thanks to Lewis Carroll, and “Alice Through the Looking Glass”, we all have lots of un-birthdays!

In August we celebrated everyones “un-birthday” with a Raspberry Cake! A delicious white lemon cake with fresh raspberries between the layers and on top paired with a lemon butter cream frosting. A delicious creation of “Jule of a Cake” by our own past employee: Julia. Seems like the un-birthday cake is loved and appreciated as much or more than the birthday cake!

Fresh Cookies!

A long standing tradition here at QuickTrophy is warm, fresh cookies baked for break time on Friday mornings. We have a convection oven in our break room so I bake them fresh every week. I do it as a way to say “Thank You” for working hard all week – to show I appreciate their hard work. It is a little gesture, but an important part of our culture here. A culture that values each other, shows respect for each, and consideration for each other. A culture that feels like a family.

I often think of when I would fly Midwest Express airlines and they would bring by fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. It was a great indulgent perk worth big bucks to me – but probably only cost them pennies per person. It had a huge ROI. Likewise, showing appreciation for the work someone does is always worth way more than the cost involved. Plus – everyone loves fresh cookies, be they chocolate chip or any other flavor.

Increase Your Positive Energy

Every workplace has an energy about it. It can be positive, helpful, happy, and upbeat. Or it can be negative, grey, life-sucking, and downright depressing. You notice the feeling when you walk in. Often it is subtle, but sometimes it is very noticeable. What is your workplace like? Would you like it to be more positive? if so, you can help make it that way – Here’s how:

The energy of a place is made up of the collective energy of everyone who is present there. You are a part of your workplace environment and so you have a direct impact on the energy there. If you are more positive and upbeat, you move the needle to the positive side! As more people are happier, the needle moves even more to the positive side. Soon you can create a positive feedback loop that feeds on itself. Try this simple test: Give 3 people honest, positive complements each day. Pick 3 different people each day. At first it might be hard to think of something to say, but it will get easier each time. After doing this for a week, see if you can notice a change in the way people react to you and to each other.

If you want to take this exercise a step further, get a little “positive vibration” award for someone who exemplifies a source of positive energy. Do this each week or so. It doesn’t have to be much, just some sort of public recognition for a person with positive energy. Other people will notice and want to be recognized for their positive energy as well. You will soon see that you can have a huge positive impact on the energy of those around you!

Why Employee Recognition Awards?

Why do we hand out employee recognition awards? Are they a waste of money? Do we get any return on our investment?

Your employees work hard – but usually there are a few or one in particular that excel in their accomplishments. Maybe they pushed hard on a project to make sure it came in ahead of schedule, or they worked longer hours to make sure the system upgrade went smoothly, or maybe they helped to energize the team when things looked grim. Whatever the reason, when you publicly recognize an employee in front of their peers with custom corporate awards, the effect is amazing! Their pride generates a positive wave in the workplace and other employees are positively affected by it. They too, are encouraged to put forth the extra effort. The atmosphere is changed and charged up in a positive way resulting in a better work environment for all.

When you get right down to it, publicly recognizing your employees for a job well done and commemorating it with achievement awards – no matter how simple – results in a big payoff for the investment made. A waste of money? No way – in a big way!

Employee Appreciation Award Program

Nearly every business knows they need to reward positive behaviors in their employees.

Nearly every business knows they need to reward positive behaviors in their employees. But if you don’t have an employee appreciation program, how do you start one? One of the first steps, is to narrow down the behaviors that management wants to see rewarded. The second step is to determine which types of appreciation trophies and awards will be handed out and in what sort of time frame to do so. See more at entrepreneur.com.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/75340

In this Forbes article by Kevin Kruse, you can learn a variety of ways to show appreciation to those employees who go above and beyond the call of duty. Not only does this type of proactive behavior help your business out, these appreciation trophies and awards can also serve as a motivator for other employees as well.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/03/01/25-low-cost-ways-to-reward-employees/

In this article, Susan M. Heathfield writes about achievement awards and trophies. Using them to acknowledge the efforts employees are making can do a great deal to encourage loyalty and goodwill. As she points out in her article, these awards don’t have to be elaborate or expensive either.

Source: http://humanresources.about.com/od/employeebenefits/g/service-award.htm

The ‘No-Sugar Coach’ first tells you the difference between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Then, he gives you lots of different ideas on things, such as stickers, days off, trophies and awards, and more, that you can use to show your appreciation for your employees.

Employers might wonder if appreciation trophies and awards are really worth the time, effort and expense to hand out to employees. In this article on the Vanadium Mining website, a worthy case is made in favor of not only starting up some type of program recognizing employees but making sure that it doesn’t fizzle out after just a few months.

How To Build An Indestructible Team

No matter how big or small your business is, you most likely want to make the best of it.

No matter how big or small your business is, you most likely want to make the best of it. If you want to make it grow as much as possible, then there are two categories of people you will simply not be able to live without: your employees and your customers. Keeping them happy and united is the key to success, regardless of the field of your activity. We will present a set of tips on how to build an indestructible team any business owner would dream of: One that loves working for you, one that puts in as much effort as they can, and one that knows that there is no first person singular in a group of people working together.

Team Building: Doing It Right Will Save The Day

Most companies organize team building activities on a regular basis. And they know why: creating good relationships between the employees helps to make work much better for them; thus, they will be more effective in working together for the sake of everyone’s happiness.

Team building exercises are of four types: communication exercises, trust exercises, planning exercises, and problem solving exercises. Keep these in mind whenever you want to organize team building activities and try to group them according to their type. Here you have two examples of activities for the first two categories mentioned above:

The circle of friends. Have everyone sit in a circle. Every person has a chair of their own, except one, who stands in the middle of the circle. This person starts by saying something he/she likes or dislikes. Those who agree with him/her stand up and try to grab another person’s chair. One will be left out. And then the game starts all over.
The Lie. Have everyone write one true story and one lie on a piece of paper. Every person will have to tell the true story as if it were a lie and the lie as if it were truth. The others will have to guess which story is true and which one is a lie.
The knot. Split everyone in small groups (5-8 people). Have them close their eyes and put their hands forward. While they have their eyes closed, unify each hand with another hand until it all looks like a knot. Tell them to open their eyes and remake the circle without letting go of their hands.
The Pharaoh. This one will require a lot of trust between the partners of the game, so try doing it only when the team has already been shaped. Again, group people in small circles of 5-8 and have one person sit in the middle with their hands crossed over their chest (just like a Pharaoh) and their eyes closed. Remember, for this exercise, the circle has to be very tight, so tell everyone to stand as near as possible to their left and right partners. Once the person in the middle has closed their eyes, tell one of the circle members to push him/her gently. The circle will always have to catch softly the person in the middle, as he/she is bouncing from one part of the group to the other.

Making Your Employees Feel Important

Show your workers how much they mean to you and how important they are to the entire business. Sometimes, a raise or a bonus is not an option, especially when on a very tight budget. Still, there are many ways to make them feel good about their work.

Training. Those who are passionate about their career will always appreciate some extra learning, especially when it is provided by the company and when they can get certificates for it.
Happy Friday. Once in awhile, organize hangouts: drinks, pizza, karaoke. This is also a great and fun way to break the ice between older employees and newer ones and to build a hardworking, loyal team.
Small gifts. Be careful with these, and only use this reward system if you know your employees very well. Candy, wine, plush bears- anything can work, really, but only if you know for a fact that they will love that gift.
Plaques and trophies. If you have an “employee of the month” section, then this is the perfect way of showing them that they are really important. This manner of rewarding is relatively inexpensive, but it will pay off when you see the pride and excitement on your worker’s face. “Hey, I got a plaque with my name and picture on it” will be on his/her lips for the rest of the month.

Whichever of these activities and ways of expressing your gratitude you might choose, always keep in mind that it is your staff that makes things move for your business. They are worth all your attention and all your devotion, the same as you are worth theirs. Treasure them and show them how great they are doing. Eventually, it will lead to the production of high quality products and services and your business will prosper like never before.

Appreciation Awards do Matter

Everyone likes to be thanked for a job well done, and the employees of today are no exception.

Everyone likes to be thanked for a job well done, and the employees of today are no exception. In today’s global economic environment, businesses are facing even more fierce competition than ever before from other companies in the local area as well as those across the world. Keeping those employees who are the best at what they do is a win-win situation for both the employee and the business. Appreciation awards and trophies can help!

As Josh Bersin writes in this Forbes article, the most recent research points to facts like the companies who take the time to thank their employees on a regular basis outperform their competitors time and again. Yet many companies still cling to the outdated method of rewarding employees on a consistent basis only for their long service, instead of concrete accomplishments that help the business meet, or exceed, its goals.

Of course, staying with one company, through all its ups and downs and growing pains still deserves acknowledgement as well. Perhaps a combination of recognition for key milestones for length with the company and acknowledgement for a job well done is in order. After all, smart businesses want to keep their great talent to help them reach their future goals as well as to prevent the competition from enjoying their expertise. Use appreciation trophies and awards to recognize those employees.

Gone are the days when tenure meant a lot to employees besides those in academic circles. Instead, employees need to recognize their top employees using other methods. These include acknowledging them with appreciation trophies and awards for the specific things they do to help further the company’s mission, not just a general “Good job” award. Read about four more ideas in this Forbes article.

Awards for Motivation

There are different ways to motivate workers and employees. Some are able to motivate themselves, while some need a form of external encouragement.

There are different ways to motivate workers and employees. Some are able to motivate themselves, while some need a form of external encouragement. Working for a company that you believe in, or doing a job that you really love are the two best situations that a working adult can ever have. However, even the most dedicated and passionate individuals need some sort of motivation in time, especially if they’ve been doing the same kind of work for a long time. Here’s where appreciation trophies and awards come in handy.

Depending on the company administration, awards for motivation can be given on a monthly, quarterly, biannually, or yearly basis. Titles like “Employee of the Month” or “Highest Sales” are some of the titles and acknowledgments that we are familiar with. The awards can come in many other forms, too. This is the company or the employer’s way to let the workers know that hard work, loyalty, and dedication to the job still matters no matter how long they’ve been there. Incentives may also come with these accomplishments, through material gifts, monetary bonuses, or even promotions.

Not everybody receives these awards all the time, so these can also boost the individual’s self-esteem and renew their drive for the work that they do. Appreciation trophies and awards are merely concrete proof that the company values its best employees, it is the sentiment behind it – the real “appreciation” – that counts the most.

Finally, check out this blog post on unique award ideas published in the General Motivation Blog. You can give a simple personalized gift set such as framed artwork, or bronze statues with themes matching specific occasions such as car show trophies or animal trophies. QuickTrophy has all sorts of awards and trophies you can think of!

Displaying Trophies and Awards

Trophies and awards are proof of your brilliance and can help you make a great first impression on potential clients, add to your reputation

Trophies and awards are proof of your brilliance and can help you make a great first impression on potential clients, add to your reputation, draw admiration or envy from anyone who looks at them. With all these benefits you can get out of your accumulated medals and awards, it’s unwise to have them lying forgotten under a pile of old junk or thrown higgledy-piggledy on some obscure shelf. Here’s some tips on displaying trophies and awards for the best effect.

Instead, follow these great tips by Megan Allen to let your trophies reflect your shining achievements.

Decide which room you want the trophies and medals displayed in. Choose a prominent shelf for your trophies and a wall for your medals, preferably one overlooking the entrance to the room. Position the trophies in a way that the tallest ones are at the back and shorter ones in front.

Place your medals in a shadow box. Shadow boxes are framed boxes that are deep enough to hold items and are great for displaying medals and even trophies.

Adding lights over the shelves and shadow boxes will spotlight your awards and add to the interest. You can use small battery operated lights – the stick-on type. For enhancing the display, you can also add framed photographs of yourself receiving the awards.