So we’ve talked about how infusing employee appreciation into your organization can improve company culture, employee engagement, and retention, but (like a cheesy infomercial) -that’s not all!

An infographic published by Work indicated that “69% of employees would work harder if they were better besthookupwebsites.org/escort/chico/ recognized,” and “78% of U.S. workers said being recognized motivates them in their job.”

“My favorite thing we do here at IMPACT is the peer-to-peer recognition through 7Geese. The joy of getting one and sending one out is what makes me strive to do excellent work.” – David Little, Strategist at IMPACT

According to an article from Cutting Edge, “The Walt Disney World Resort established an employee recognition program that resulted in a 15% increase in staff satisfaction with their day-to-day recognition by their immediate supervisors. These results correlated highly with high guest-satisfaction scores, which showed a strong intent to return, and therefore directly flowed to increased profitability.”

This tells the whole company when you provide positive feedback about someone

With a happy, productive and high-performing staff, you can expect that enthusiasm and performance be brought forward in value and delight to your clients or customers.

By now, you’re bought into the benefits of employee appreciation and how it will improve your company overall – but what’s the next step?

Public recognition: This can be as simple as telling someone how much you appreciate them and the work they’ve done. While it can be effective in a one-on-one setting, public recognition at a company meeting or through an internal meeting or social network, like 7Geese, uplifts the individual in front of the entire team, sets a great example, and increases transparency into individual wins and expressed gratitude.

Company events: For the broader team, consider hosting a special lunch, happy hour, team-building activity or outing. This will benefit the entire group and help encourage additional camaraderie.

Gift cards: Identify milestones, wins, or other instances when you can recognize an employee or the group for their work with a small treat to their favorite coffee shop or store. If it’s more than a handful of employees, consider going through a bulk gift card service, like Amazon.

Support their personal charities/causes: Share in your employees’ passion by contributing to a charity, cause or nonprofit they actively support. This could be a monetary donation or attendance at a fundraising event. You can also encourage other team members to join you in support of their teammate.

Time off: While a larger soft cost to the company (in terms of man hours), dedicating a half or full day to employee appreciation will give your team a chance to reset and relax. Think about the impact this could have on productivity with a team that is fully rested, refreshed and ready to tackle a new day!

This example showcases the potential employee appreciation has to not only impact your internal staff and work environment, but also extend beyond your four walls to those you serve

Gamification: Enable employees to earn points and rewards through a gamification system that centers on appreciation and recognition. This offers a personalized approach to appreciation, letting them select an option that will mean most to them.

No matter how your company decides to approach employee appreciation and recognition, make sure it’s authentic and aligned with your organization, values and culture. The investment, be it large or small, can make all the difference to your staff, those you serve and the potential you can reach as a team.

“The deepest principle of human nature is a craving to be appreciated.” – William James, American psychologist and philosopher (quote source: Little Things Matter)