An effective employee recognition scheme is simple, immediate, and must be equally powerful for both the organisation and its employees. As such there are some important aspects to consider when creating any employee recognition scheme:

• Ensure all employees are eligible for the recognition;
• Communicate specific information about what behaviours or actions are being rewarded and recognised;
• Publicise the recognition as close to the events being recognised as possible;.
• Don’t design a scheme in which managers select the people to receive recognition as this can lead to accusations of favoritism or be seen as “it’s your turn”.

There are a few other aspects to also consider:

• Ensure the criteria is easy to understand and applied consistently;
• Ensure you don’t single out a few employees who are mysteriously selected for the recognition;
• Have individual and / or group schemes, whatever fits best within your organisation;
• Don’t make the criteria too simple to meet.   If you thank someone every time they hit a deadline with a reward, gradually it becomes the ‘norm’ and is no longer rewarding;
• One off events, e.g. for Children in Need day. Make it a bit of fun as this will also help build morale.

Rewards and recognition that help both the employer and the employee get what they need from work are a win-win situation.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this HR article in more detail, please contact our HR consultants at info@connectivebusiness.co.uk