Relevance of Corporate Recognition Programs in Workplace

What is Employee recognition?
Acknowledging or appreciating the work, efforts, performance, contributions and behavior of an employee is termed as employee recognition.  An employee is recognized when he/she achieves predetermined set of targets or goals on or before the deadline that contribute to organizational success.
Recognition can be on a yearly, half yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly or day-to-day basis.
It can be in form of money, company shares, gifts, verbal or written appreciation, improved quality of life at workplace, trophies, certificates, parties etc.

Why Employee recognition is necessary?
Everyone likes to be appreciated, motivated and recognized for their efforts.
Recognition is not limited to the corporate world but is applicable across all walks of life, whether it is recognition by parents at home, some friend at a party, your partner in a relationship or by a teacher in school.

On a corporate level employees need to be recognized for the following reasons -:

1. To boost their morale and make them feel part of the company’s success.
2. Whenever they achieve more than what is expected, an appreciation creates an environment of  
    respect and gives them a sense of responsibility and belonging in their workplace.
3. To higher the employee productivity which is beneficial for the company.
4. To make the employee more loyal and attached to the company.
5. To decrease the attrition rate.
6. And finally to retain the middle & high performers and make them feel different from the low
    performers.

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Employee Recognition Programs
Employee Recognition Programs are part of organization’s compensation and reward system.
These programs reflect the cultural value of an organization.

An effective recognition program consist of frequent communication, impartiality, management support, consistency and a balanced approach with all the possible & popular award choices.
It supports behaviors that improve individual and team performance, align with organizational values and result in better overall company performance.

Some of the key characteristics of such programs are

1. They are built to cover the largest number of employees across functions, departments and
     hierarchies.

2. They are structured in such a way that they effectively deal with different situations and different
    kinds of needs of the employees.
3. There is always generosity and human touch in the way they function.
4. They are aligned with the values, strategy, culture and goals of the organization and also pull the
    employees in the same direction to achieve the best possible outcome.

Relevance of Employee recognition programs
According to a study in 1990 it was argued that rewards and recognition programs boosts morale of employees, maintain high spirits among them and keep them motivated & satisfied.

Another study conducted by the Society for incentive and travel executives found that properly constructed reward programs can boost employee performance by 44%.

Most of the organizations that were analyzed across various studies have shown to made significant progress by implementing a well balanced rewards and recognition programs for employees which in turn impacted their motivation and motivation has a direct effect on the innovation in an organization.

Ways to recognize employee accomplishments
There are different ways to reward and recognize the efforts and achievements of employees -:

The Traditional one includes -
1. Promotions mainly based on the experience.
2. Assured annual salary.
3. Annual increase in compensation based on the year round performance.
4. Bonus to those who have given exceptional performance.
5. Stake in the company in form of stocks to the people at higher positions.
6. Verbal recognition in front of the public or in person.
7. Appreciation mails from higher management to those employees or team who have done
    outstanding work.
8. Various awards on a monthly/quarterly/half-yearly or yearly basis, like best team award, star of
    the month award, star of the quarter award etc.
9. Trophies, certificates and cash rewards.

Nowadays there are many other innovative ways to appreciate the talent -:
1. Celebrating birthday and anniversary of employees by sending them gifts, chocolates and flowers.
2. Including names of those employees on the Hall of Fame, who have given some brilliant out of the
    box ideas, saved big bucks for the company or revolutionized the way a process works making
    their employer stand tall in the market.

3. Distribution of movie/match tickets, dinner vouchers and shopping cards to employees on special
    occasions.
4. Hand written notes for the employees from CEOs or MDs for their outstanding performance.
5. Fully sponsored travel trips for the employees and their family.
6. Periodic contests, quizzes and events, rewarding employees for their outstanding contribution.
7. Providing extra leaves.
8. Stock purchases program which enables employees to purchase shares of the company at a good
    discount.

How Employee recognition programs are improving quality of life at workplace?
Survey done by SHRM showed that employers with recognition & reward programs had more value based employee engagement, increased employee happiness, improved employee relationships and augmented humanity at the workplace.
They feel more motivated, satisfied, worthy and oriented than those employees who are not part of such programs.

The best part of such programs are both the employees and employee enjoy the win-win situation.

Leader in Quality of Life Services
Sodexo is the world leader when it comes to Quality of Life Services.
It is the only company that offers integrated Quality of Life services to its clients through On-site Services, Benefits and Rewards Services and Personal and Home Services in 80 countries around the world.

On-site Services -:
Sodexo enhance the health and well-being of employees, students, patients and doctors, through a wide range of services from construction to reception, sterilization of medical equipment, cleaning and foodservices.

Benefits and Rewards Services -:
Sodexo provides innovative responses to ease daily life and also design customized tools to recognize hard work and accomplishments to improve individuals’ quality of life.
From gym memberships to theater tickets or from meal vouchers to incentive and recognition programs, Sodexo opens the doors to healthier lifestyles, a more satisfying work-life balance, an improved standard of living and greater access to culture that directly impact individuals’ engagement.

Personal and Home Services
Sodexo’s personalized services respond to key trends currently impacting the society. As more women enter or re-enter the workforce, Sodexo eases the transition by providing flexible, affordable and reliable Childcare Services. As society ages, Sodexo’s In-Home Services allow seniors to remain safely in their own.