Employee Appreciation Day technically only happens once a year, but showing your employees how much you appreciate them is something that you should endeavor to do regularly. It improves employee engagement and retention while letting them know that they are doing a good job.
When deciding how to reward employees for their hard work, it is important to keep inclusion in mind. Not everyone responds to the same rewards in the same way. Additionally, some methods of appreciation will not apply to every employee. The goal is to find a way to praise your employees that is inclusive for the whole organization.
Things to Keep in Mind for Inclusive Employee Appreciation
When you begin working on ways to reward employees, you want to keep a few things in mind. Praise and rewards should always be timely, visible, and inclusive. You never want employees to feel as if their work is being pushed to the side while others are receiving constant recognition and praise.
Additionally, you should use a variety of rewards rather than just one all the time. Everyone reacts differently; some people prefer monetary rewards while others thrive best under just receiving recognition. Get feedback, vary it up, and be prepared to listen.
1. Recognition Technology
A great way to show your employees that they are doing well is to use a recognition system like 15Five or Achievers. These programs allow you to give public or private kudos to employees who are doing a great job. One of the top benefits of using a program like this is that you can include every employee.
These programs help to ensure that you keep your praise even amongst employees, preventing bias based on race, gender, age, disability, or other factors. Employees can also provide feedback using these tools, making them useful for gauging your company culture.
2. Additional Paid Time Off
In today’s world, it sometimes feels harder for employees to shut down work. When your workplace and your home become one and the same, it gets too easy to just check another email or finish up that project after hours. This can quickly lead to employee burnout.
To help keep employees fresh and working at their best, consider offering additional paid time off as an inclusive way to show employee appreciation. Just make sure that you set specific key performance indicators for each team member (KPIs) to earn the extra time off or that you choose to give it across the board.
3. Monetary Bonuses
Providing bonuses is a great way to show employees that you appreciate their hard work, especially as a private business that relies on employees to turn a profit. Generally, profitability is a direct reflection of the talent on your team. If the business has a good year, employees should receive a piece of that.
Monetary bonuses also provide a reward that can have a positive impact on every employee. Money is universally useful, rather than providing something like sports tickets or other benefits that not everyone wants to or is able to participate in.
If your organization is working on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, such as inclusive employee appreciation programs, Applied Development can help. Give us a call today at 410.571.4016 or contact us online for more information.
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