As we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, rewarding and recognizing employees is essential to maintain motivation and increase employee morale. However, one common question managers and budget holders ask is “when is the best time to give employee recognition?”
The answer is that there are a few different scenarios that warrant a reward or some form of recognition. However, the key is to act promptly! Timing is everything because the more quickly you reward the action, the more likely employees are to be motivated to repeat those actions, and strive for future success.
Here are a few concrete examples that illustrate the importance of immediate recognition:
- When the workload is heavy and employees are working overtime to meet deadlines and accommodate the work demand.
- An employee has achieved a personal development or promotion (e.g. an employee finished an educational course or received a certificate for passing an exam, or was promoted to a higher position or title).
- An employee has gone above and beyond on a task or project (e.g. did exceptionally well presenting a deck or closing new business or helping a current client solve a problem).
- An employee has provided feedback or ideas that increase efficiencies or company success.
- An employee has accomplished a milestone – a birthday or service anniversary. To help build employee retention provide more points or higher valued awards to certain milestones. For example, 5 years at the company will count for double the amount of points.
- A group of employees worked exceptionally well together as a team.
If at all possible, these momentary or non-monetary awards should be sent the same-day, while the meaning of it is fresh in their minds. Real-time incentives are key to the sentiment and value to the recipients.
However we’ve seen that two other scenarios (if not sent the same day) are:
1) Sending the same week or
2) Building on a consistent cadence (weekly, monthly or quarterly) where an employee’s accomplishments are recognized and rewarded.
Employees are the foundation to your business, so always treat them with the same respect and urgency that you would for a client, prospect, or customer.
If you’re interested in learning more, contact a Marketing Innovators specialist today. We look forward to helping you recognize and reward your employees.
