• Employee recognition awards programs are great morale boosters.award image by hannahfelicity from Fotolia.com
  
  Recognizing employees for hard work is an essential component to employee loyalty and a contributing factor to healthy workplace morale. Some employers go to great lengths to come up with recognition programs while others rely on the conventional method of simply praising employees for a job well done. There are a number of reasons you can choose to recognize employees and a number of ways to create an awards program.
  
  

Attendance

• Most companies off paid sick time and most employees use the benefit whether they are sick or not. Most employees want to take advantage of all the paid time off that is available to them. To minimize employees from using their sick time, some companies may offer annual awards to employees who didn’t miss any unscheduled days off. The difficulty in this type of awards program is in creating an award that is of more value than the paid time off. One idea would be to offer a cruise or vacation package to employees with perfect attendance. Of course, the employees would have to use scheduled vacation time but the company would save money on paid sick time and hiring temps to fill in. You might be able to negotiate discounts or trade services with a travel agency to counter the cost of this type of award program.
  
  

Results

• Awards programs based on performance results can be a great incentive for employees, particularly in sales jobs. Rewards could be based on meeting deadlines, acquiring new accounts or any performance type job function that contributes to the company’s bottom line. This type of recognition can inspire healthy competition among employees, inspiring them to work even harder. Awards programs for results-based performance should be issued on a weekly or monthly basis, with an annual award as well. The awards could be certificates, plaques or something of monetary value such as a gift certificate. Lunch with the boss might also be an award worth striving for. Most employees would probably enjoy the opportunity to break bread with the boss and bend his ear about all their ideas. The award or announcement of the winner should be presented in a public work setting such as a weekly employee meeting.
  
  

Customer Service

• Businesses that rely heavily on customer service should have an awards program in place for recognizing employees who go above and beyond to provide excellent customer service. Awards of this type are not scheduled but issued when a situation warrants it. For example, if a customer takes the time to tell a manager or write a letter to compliment an employee, this type of service should be recognized and awarded. A day off with pay or sizable gift certificate will motivate employees to provide excellent customer service.
  
  

Team Player

• The employee who always helps in other departments and makes sure his coworkers finish their tasks should also be recognized. For instance, in a retail setting, if an employee finishes straightening up his assigned area at closing time and then helps other departments clean up so everyone can go home on time, he is demonstrating excellent teamwork. His level of productivity is also saving the company additional payroll. Like the customer service award, this award is issued when necessary. Employees can participate in this award program by nominating coworkers who they feel demonstrate the characteristics of a team player. A gift certificate or paid day off is a great incentive for employees to work together to achieve goals as a team.