Why Motivating Employees with Awards is Important

Successful business owners or presidents of operations know what their secret to success is, and they’ll likely know the importance of building and maintaining an office culture that motivates employees. Motivated employees work more efficiently, produce higher quality work, and improve customer/client satisfaction. Motivated employees are less likely to be absent from work, and keeping employees motivated also helps employers retain talent. The benefits of motivating employees are very apparent, but the best ways to motivate them are far from obvious. While there are a variety of different ways to motivate employees, employee recognition awards are one of the best. So, why is motivating employees with awards important?

Awards Lead to More Productive Employees

Let’s start with the obvious – motivating employees with awards is important because they make employees more productive, more engaged, and generally happier. People work harder when they know they’re appreciated, and this couldn’t be truer for the Millennials and Generation Z workers entering the workforce. These young workers aren’t just looking for a fair wage and compensation benefits – they’re also looking for meaningful and fulfilling work where they feel like what they do doesn’t go unseen. Part of what makes a job meaningful is recognition for a job well done, and companies with robust employee appreciation programs that motivate their staff with awards will be more appealing to these younger generations of workers. As society and culture change, the workplace must as well. Employers that refuse to adapt and don’t see the importance of motivating employees with awards will be left behind, if not completely go out of business because they can’t find anyone who wants to work for them.

Recognition is More Effective than Discipline 

Employee awards are also much better motivators than punishment. Employers are better served when focusing their efforts on rewarding employees for good actions rather than reprimanding employees for bad actions or making threats. This is not to say that employers should not take action when an employee steps out of line, fails to meet agreed upon expectations, or does not fulfill their duties, but this punishment should never be used to motivate others. Rather than threaten employees with what can happen to them if they do something wrong in an effort to motivate them, employers should motivate them with awards that show them what can happen when they go above and beyond and produce quality work.

It Pays Off to Award Employees

Motivating employees with awards is also important because it’s the most cost-effective way of doing so. Essentially, employee awards are a win-win for the employees and the company. It’s been said that actions speak louder than words, and this is especially true in the corporate world. Words of acknowledgment are great, but when these words are accompanied by an action like a bonus or promotion, the message is communicated to a greater degree, and employees truly feel as if their hard work is not just noticed and acknowledged but appreciated. When employees feel this way, they are more motivated, productive, and engaged. The whole company benefits! However, companies only have so many managerial positions that can be filled at a given time and may not have the revenue to give every employee a substantial bonus. This makes employee recognition programs and the awards that most companies include in these programs crucial to maintaining a great office culture where employees are motivated to give their all every day.

It's simple – employee awards are an effective way of showing employees how much their work is appreciated than raises, and they’re better at communicating than a simple “thanks for your hard work.” Awards make employees more productive, engaged, and happier, and companies that recognize and award their staff for their efforts will be more appealing to younger workers.

Why Employee Recognition is Important for Overacheivers

You likely already know the value and importance of employee achievement awards in general – they’re a vital part of cultivating and maintaining a thriving office morale and come with an array of benefits for the organization like increased productivity and better customer satisfaction – but you may not realize the importance of specifically recognizing overachievers. Just like you’d want to give out an award for things like employee of the month, great leadership, the employee who best represents your company’s core values, or a department MVP, you should look to celebrate the overachievers in your company with an award. With EDCO’s extensive selection of crystal awards, glass awards, acrylic awards, and more it’s easy to find the right one for your business that comes at an affordable price.

Every office has those who go above and beyond on every task and these stars are great assets to your team so you’ll want to do everything you can to keep them and their exceptional work ethic with your company. These overachievers are largely self-motivated, meaning you and have confidence instruct them, give them the resources they need, point them in the right direction, and let them go with the confidence that you’ll get high quality work back. A good leader will continue to support, encourage, and show these overachievers just how valuable they are, and awards are a great way to send this message to them and the rest of your business.

Bestowing an award upon the overachievers in your workplace will help you retain this top talent. If employees feel valued and appreciated and have their achievements celebrated by their employer, they’ll be significantly less likely to leave the company or have issues and grievances that make them look for employment elsewhere. Recognizing just how awesome they are with an award from EDCO lets them know that their phenomenal work are not just recognized but appreciated as well. Studies show that the most important driver of great work is recognition, and while many of these overachievers are self-motivated, they’ll still appreciate this recognition and it’ll show everyone else in your workplace how much you value an outstanding work ethic and perhaps inspire them to do more.

As alluded to above, giving out awards like these that celebrate and recognize overachieving can also increase employee engagement. Awards like these will encourage friendly competition – perhaps you have multiple overachievers in your office who will now compete to see who can get the most quality work done. In general, employee reward programs support friendly rivalry among workers, which in turn creates a competitive, fast-paced work environment that’s fun too be a part of, and bestowing the office’s overachiever with an award that celebrates their remarkable efforts will make your overachievers achieve even more! The overachievers in your office may start comparing their performance with each other and then make it a goal to do better the next month, quarter, or year depending on how often you bestow this award. Then, when they receive the award, they’ll feel super accomplished and everyone else will want to give it there all. Communicating one person going above and beyond, or even a departments success, will increase awareness amongst other employees and incentivize them to achieve even more.

Considering these benefits – better retention of top talent and increased employee engagement and productivity – and recent IRS guidelines that make most awards tax deductible, why not start giving out awards for the overachievers in your company? EDCO provides you with a myriad of different award designs and materials so you can find the right one for your business that aligns with the other awards you give out. Shop our extensive selection of awards today!

Why You Should Recognize Your Top Rookie Employees

While it’s important to recognize the veteran members of your team, it’s also important to recognize the hard work and achievement of your rookie employees. If they are making a positive impact on your business, recognizing them with a crystal award is a great way to make them feel appreciated and valued. Rewarding and praising your rookie talent will not only lead to an improved work ethic among your employees but will help lead your business to greater overall success.

A rookie of the year award offers a unique way to help your team recognize new talent. When experienced employees recognize your new talent, their relationship will grow and make your newcomer feel valued and welcome.  Peer recognition is a vital and valuable part of employee appreciation, and it will even help with retention further down the road.

A rookie of the year award helps showcase your new worker’s high performance and helps promote that continued excellence down the road. There’s always a learning curve when it comes to starting a new position, and a rookie of the year award lets your rookies know their hard work is not going unnoticed. This award showcases what excellence looks like to all your new employees and helps them recognize what it takes to perform at that top level

An employee who feels recognized for their commitment to a company is likely to feel an increased sense of job satisfaction. Today it’s more important than ever to recognize your rookies due to high turnover in an average employee’s first year. Hiring new employees can be expensive and strain the resources of your talent acquisition team, so it is important to retain the talent you have brought on. Rookie of the year awards help create an uplifting environment that is desirable to employees, and this will help keep your talented team around for years to come.

Recognition is an essential part of retaining and nourishing your talented employees. With all the great befits a rookie of the year award can bring your team, it is a worthwhile investment for your company. Corporate awards are an inexpensive yet effective way to show your staff the appreciation they deserve. At EDCO, we are the nation’s leader in recognition and offer one of the widest selections of awards, perfect for showing your employees how much you appreciate their continued hard work. Shop our selection of Corporate Awards today!

Rebooting Your Company's Employee Recognition Program

Employee recognition programs aren’t new, but they are changing. Today’s employees – and companies – have different values. But as they say, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Research on workplace motivation goes all the way back to Frederick Herzberg in 1959. In his famous studies, Herzberg categorized workplace motivation into “maintenance” factors, like salary, job security and benefits, and “motivating” factors, like achievement, pride and recognition. He found that maintenance factors only went so far. For employees to be truly satisfied in their jobs, they needed motivating factors. If you find your employee recognition program isn’t having the effect it used to – or never had a very big effect – it may need a makeover to take it from a maintenance factor to a motivating factor. Here are five things to look at, along with a few employee recognition program examples that work.

Check Your Incentives

Everyone loves free stuff – that’s just a fact of human nature. But if your employees feel like you are trying to buy their loyalty, rather than truly recognize their accomplishments, it can have the opposite effect. The best examples of employee recognition programs go beyond just handing out free stuff. They give thoughtful, personalized gifts that make employees feel seen and appreciated – because the true value of an employee recognition program is to contribute to positive company culture and make your team feel they are a part of something bigger.

Make Your Employee Recognition Program Easy

Does your company seem unenthusiastic about your employee recognition program? Do you have to remind people constantly of what they need to do? If your program is flagging, it could be because it’s  too complicated. Too many steps in the voting process, too many people involved or too many large events can all be roadblocks slowing down your program. You don’t have to give out fewer awards – just find a way to streamline the process. Employee recognition programs should be fun!

Provide Clear Goals

Sometimes, employee recognition programs decline because the team simply doesn’t know what they are aiming for. For example, if you have an Employee of the Month program, make it clear what employees need to do to earn the title: jumping in on projects unasked, learning new skills, mentoring a teammate or resolving the most customer complaints are all criteria you could use. Give your team a path to being recognized so that they know where their efforts are most valued.

Use Technology

This is a great way to reboot complicated employee recognition programs. Use Google forms to create a recognition nomination form that employees can fill out and submit entirely online. Or, create a survey using Google or another free service to take votes regarding categories, winners and the overall format of your program. You can also use surveys to ask for input on what employees think is working and not working about your current program.

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

Times have changed. Employees are staying at jobs for shorter periods of time, care more about positive company culture and may not feel rewarded by the same things they did 20 – or even 10 – years ago. If your employee recognition program has been in a slump, maybe it’s time to switch it up. Instead of awards for years of service, give awards for innovation and leadership. Try unique gifts like barware or clocks. Or, let a team of employees run the show instead of HR. With a little creativity, you’ll create a program that’s exciting and motivating.

Examples of Employee Recognition Programs That Work

Need a little inspiration? Here are a few employee recognition ideas that can take your program to the next level.

• Employee of the Month: It’s a tried and true recognition program because it works. Singling out just one employee makes that person feel especially valued, and gives everyone else something to work toward. Just make sure that the exact traits you’re rewarding are clear.
• Peer-to-peer recognition: Praise from peers means more than praise from managers or supervisors – and it encourages teamwork and collaboration. Employee recognition programs should always incorporate peer feedback, through a nomination or voting process that includes all levels of the organization.
• On-the-spot awards: Awards don’t have to be a complicated nomination and voting process. Set up something like a “Going the Extra Mile Program,” where colleagues can nominate each other on the spot for doing that little something extra for a teammate or client. Award a small plaque, pin or other economical prize to the recipient.
• Friendly competition: You don’t always have to recognize professional accomplishments. In fact, encouraging fitness – both mental and physical – among your employees directly reduces sick days and other time taken off. Set up workplace fitness challenges like step-counting, stair-climbing, biking to work or other friendly competitions. Don’t forget a fun trophy for the winner!

Employee recognition programs should be personalized, simple, inclusive and provide a clear path to winning. If you think yours needs a boost, it’s time to go back and make sure you’re checking all those boxes. And remember: Most importantly, employee recognition should be fun!

Get High Quality Employee Recognition Awards from EDCO

Now that you know all the reasons why motivating employees with awards is important and how to invest in an employee recognition program, you can get all the awards you need from EDCO and start enjoying these benefits today! EDCO is a leader in many types of employee recognition awards including employee of the month awards, crystal awards, and more. Contact us now to get started.

When the time comes to determine what employee will be receiving the employee of the month award, there are likely a few members of your staff that are always in the conversation. These are your company MVPs – they consistently produce quality work, go above and beyond expectations, and are great problem solvers that make everybody else’s lives easier. Maybe they’re leaders who everybody in the office knows and respects, or maybe they have a less visible role that doesn’t garner the same amount of attention but regardless, you need to ensure that these MVPs get the recognition they deserve.

Simply awarding these members of your staff with an employee of the month award almost every month won’t do because it wouldn’t feel right to the other people in the office, nor would it be fair to them. This isn’t to say that they shouldn’t receive an award every now and then, but there are a few different, better ways to uniquely honor these MVPs on your team. Here are 5 ways to honor your MVPs:

Company-Wide Shout-Outs

There is a certain level of pride some people take in knowing they’ve done a stellar job in their work, and hearing it from a boss or person in an executive position is even better. Publicly acknowledging your MVPs is not only a great way to make them feel appreciated but a great way to inspire and motivate others to do amazing work that gets them noticed by the higher-ups. These shout-outs can be done at company meetings, through email blasts, or through other company-wide correspondences. Or gather your employees together at a seemingly random time to make the shout-out more impromptu. As an added bonus, this doesn’t cost a cent!

Offer Professional Development Opportunities

You likely have your eye on the MVPs in your office for a higher position in your company, so give them the opportunity to grow their skills and knowledge while also recognizing them for their hard work. Additionally, if you know one of these MVPs has interest in learning a certain skill or exploring something work-related, why not sponsor them in a class or get them tickets to a local conference or seminar?

Special Parking

By granting your MVPs a special parking space, you’re giving them the gift of convenience. These special parking spaces will typically be those closest to the building, but you can also think about spots that get a lot of shade or covered parking depending on the weather in your area. While this way of honoring your MVPs doesn’t cost anything, don’t be afraid to decorate the spot, so everyone knows who gets to park there and why.

Surprise Treats

Give your MVPs the opportunity to provide an in-office treat like coffee and donuts to the rest of the office using the company card. They can choose their favorite spots to eat around town to get some food they know they’ll enjoy and get everyone in the office hooked as well.

Award a trophy

Because of how special these MVPs are to your business, they deserve a special award that you haven’t given out to any other employees. You could simply name it the “MVP Award,” but get creative with the title, so they truly feel special. Our crystal Goal Buster Award is an excellent choice for recognizing exceptional performance.

As the nation’s leading supplier of recognition, EDCO has a wide variety of award trophies for you to choose from, so you can find the perfect one to honor these MVPs with. Shop our selection of crystal awards, glass awards, and acrylic awards that will be perfect for your MVPs and order today!