Empowering Your Workforce with a Quality Employee Recognition Scheme

Employee recognition is a strategic tool that can significantly impact the employee experience and organisational performance. A quality employee recognition scheme is key to achieving these effects.  

Employee recognition schemes play a crucial role in streamlining appreciation strategies to deliver a positive and motivating work environment. They can help organisations boost morale, employee engagement, and productivity. 

Learn what an employee recognition scheme is, the types of schemes to consider, and the results they can achieve for your business. 

What Is an Employee Recognition Scheme?

Employee recognition schemes (also known as employee recognition programmes) are programmes designed to acknowledge and reward employees’ contributions and achievements. 

You can think of a scheme as a box that encompasses a range of recognition practices and strategies, such as: 

• Methods: Small gestures of appreciation (e.g., thank-you notes) or public awards 
• Favourites: Private or public praise and recognition gifts aligned with the interests/hobbies of employees
• Flows: Peer-to-peer or top-down recognition
• Budgets: Inexpensive, affordable, and expensive options
• Rewards: Monetary (e.g., bonus or gift card) or non-monetary (e.g., extra leave) rewards

Popular Types of Staff Recognition Schemes

A successful recognition scheme requires selecting the right type of programme based on your organisation’s needs, objectives, and workforce. 

Popular types of employee recognition schemes include:

• Peer-to-peer recognition scheme: Empower employees to recognise and appreciate each other. Examples include on-the-spot programmes where team members can send a message of gratitude anytime.
• Performance-based recognition scheme: Reward employees for outstanding performance and achievements. This might include selecting an employee of the month or offering a social media shoutout.
• Incentive scheme: Motivate employees to achieve specific goals or behaviours. For instance, you can incentivise your sales team to target a specific number of leads each quarter. 
• Milestone recognition scheme: Celebrate employee milestones, such as work anniversaries and personal achievements (e.g., birthdays, new homes, wedding celebrations). Remember, celebrating the events that make people happy outside of work is just as important as celebrating internal wins.
• Wellness scheme: Promote employee well-being and work-life balance. For example, you might initiate a walk/step program and reward team members with the top step count for the week or month. 

Why Recognition Matters 

Implementing a well-designed recognition scheme is an investment that yields significant returns. Research has shown employee recognition has a significant impact on workplace culture and employee performance, including:

• Increased retention: When employees are consistently recognised, they are more likely to stay with the company. Studies show that those who have their service anniversaries celebrated are half as likely to job search as those who don’t receive service acknowledgements. The resulting lower employee turnover means better morale and significant cost savings for the company.
  
  
• Enhanced engagement: Fair and consistent recognition impacts employees’ sense of belonging and engagement at work. This makes employees more likely to be productive and want to go the extra mile. Workforce members are 2.7 times more likely to be highly engaged if they know they will be recognised for their contributions.

Get More Insights into Why Employee Recognition Is Important to Your Business>>

Best Practices for Driving Effective Recognition

Selecting the right recognition scheme is only one piece of the puzzle. Once you’ve chosen a programme, it’s time to drive it to full fruition. 

Doing this entails making recognition:

• Personalised: Tailor recognition to individual favourites and accomplishments.
• Timely: Recognise achievements promptly to maximise their relevance and impact.
• Specific: Clearly articulate the reasons for the recognition.

Establishing an effective recognition scheme requires constant feedback and iteration. So take the time to continually evaluate the effectiveness of your recognition schemes and make adjustments as needed. 

Learn How to Build an Effective Recognition Programme in 6 Steps>>

Leverage the Power of Technology to Automate and Streamline Your Recognition Scheme

A tool like Awardco can simplify the implementation and management of reward and recognition schemes by:

• Providing a centralised platform for recognising and rewarding employees
• Automating the process of awarding points and rewards
• Tracking employee performance and identifying top performers
• Generating reports on the effectiveness of the recognition programme
• Providing access to a global rewards network to make gift-giving simple

Ignite Your Recognition Scheme with Awardco 

By recognising and appreciating employees’ contributions, organisations can create a positive work environment that fosters success.

To learn more about how Awardco can help your organisation implement a successful employee recognition scheme read more about our recognition tool and request your demo.