Recently we covered how to keep employees motivated during seasonal transitions and distracting times of year. Part two of this Motivation Series will focus how to utilize frequent touchpoints throughout the year to keep employees engaged.

Keeping your audience engaged is the key to any successful employee engagement program. The best way to accomplish this is by having multiple touchpoints throughout the year, not just during times when employees might be distracted or unfocused.  

Why is Employee Recognition Important?

It is no surprise, having happy and engaged employees is one of many critical components for business success. If an employee is unhappy at work, they are more likely to waste time, mistreat customers, not be productive and distract other employees, ultimately creating a poisonous environment. For employees to feel motivated to do their best, businesses should think beyond traditional compensation and recognize and reward their hard work and dedication in other creative ways.

A study conducted by Rymax found that 69% of employees said that if their efforts at work were rewarded they would feel more appreciated and motivated. Although a simple “thank you” can go a long way, having multiple touchpoints throughout the employee’s time at the company improves morale and dedication. These recognition tactics can be casual in format or have a more formal presentation, such as company-wide announcements. 

For example, recognizing outstanding performance on a large project in front of a departmental meeting allows for peer to peer recognition, celebrating work anniversaries shows an annual commitment and loyalty, and offering retirement gifts to tenure employees goes well beyond recognizing years of service efforts. These types of major milestones should be celebrated for all employees, from sales to customer service to product development.

How to Show Employees Appreciation

Understanding the importance of employee recognition is one thing but putting it into practice isn’t always easy.  There are many different types of employee recognition programs and ways to show your employees they are appreciated. For example:

• Appreciation programs 
• Experiential celebratory events
• Peer-to-peer recognition
• Performance-based badges
• Printable certificates
• Sales incentives
• Departmental lunches
• Company newsletter 
• Personalized thank you notes
• Spot recognition
• Corporate gifting program
• Company-wide Employee of the Month program

There are countless ways to thank employees for a job well done, but the key is to make sure they feel valued and appreciated. 

Leverage Reward Events

Reward events are all about creating a customized experience that appeals to your employees and rewards them for their accomplishments. Whether you host these events once per year or once per quarter, you need to ensure employees feel excited and motivated to attend. While there is no one size fits all approach to these events, staging a truly unique and interactive experience is difficult if you do not first have an understanding of your audience, their wants and needs. With demographic information and knowledge of current trends, the brands your attendees gravitate towards and the rewards they are most interested in, you can incorporate these into your rewards event to inspire and motivate your employees effectively. 

Create a Successful Program

Incorporating frequent touchpoints into your loyalty and incentive programs year-round throughout your employee’s career increases your company’s productivity, brand awareness and bottom line. If you’re ready to build a successful employee recognition program tailored to your business, contact Rymax today.