Speaker 1: How do I build a successful employee recognition program? How many times a day do you say thank you? You probably say thanks to your barista, or someone who tells you that you forgot to zip up your backpack. Or maybe you give a quick nod to a driver who lets you cross the road, or to someone who holds the door open for you. These are all quick, effortless acts of recognition. But does this continue through your workday? How about when you actually get into your office? At that point, what does meaningful recognition look like? What is employee recognition? Let's start with a basic definition of employee recognition. At its core, employee recognition is the open acknowledgement and expressed appreciation for someone's contributions to an organization. And it should be happening frequently and visibly. Why is employee recognition important? Because when companies prioritize having a culture of recognition, they quickly gain a competitive edge over other organizations. Employee recognition is powerful, and it can improve employee engagement, reduce turnover, increase productivity, boost morale, build purpose, the list keeps going. Sounds good, right? So where do you start? Develop a case for recognition. You'll need to get your team on board with recognition. Start by building a business case for your recognition program by tying it to your business objectives. This is the time to crunch some numbers. Think about the cost of a recognition program, as well as the savings, such as time saved, increased productivity, and especially reduced turnover. Build a team of champions. This isn't the time to go it alone. Look for fellow team leaders to help conceptualize, promote, communicate, implement, and participate in your organization's new recognition program. Aim to get buy-in from key stakeholders and help them feel a sense of ownership. Understand the characteristics of effective recognition. Before jumping into an employee recognition program, you'll want to review the characteristics of effective recognition in order to set your team up for success. Recognition is most effective when it exhibits the following characteristics. Timely, frequent, specific, visible, inclusive, and values-based. Follow recognition program best practices. Once your team is sold on recognition, you'll want to tailor your program to your organization by following best practices. Start by defining what success looks like at your organization. What types of behaviors will be rewarded? How should desired behaviors be rewarded? How often should recognition occur? Who should recognition come from? Traditionally, recognition has been given top-down by managers to their direct reports. However, 360-degree recognition, coming from all levels, is the most effective. In fact, peer recognition is 36% more likely to have a positive impact on financial results than manager-only recognition. Use a multifaceted rewards and recognition program. Your recognition program should meet your team in the tools where they already work, help them understand why they're being recognized, and encourage them to replicate the behaviors that led to the recognition. By linking your recognition program with rewards, you'll avoid a drop-off in engagement that might occur otherwise, and you'll positively reinforce your organization's core values at the same time. Roll out. Once you've committed to a recognition solution, it's time to introduce it to your team. Anyone participating should be clued in on that program's purpose, how to use it, and when it will take effect. You'll want seamless integrations with your HRIS system and communication tools so that everyone can start using the program as soon as it launches. Be sure to communicate information about your recognition program frequently to your employees. Announce it at an all-hands meeting, set up pre-launch and post-launch trainings. If you have a recognition program that incorporates rewards, choose an appropriate reward to encourage adoption across your organization. Measure effectiveness over time. Finally, don't just set it and forget it. Even excellent recognition programs should evolve over time to stay effective. Solicit feedback from your team to understand the types of rewards they prefer, how individuals use the program, ways to improve, and the impact of recognition on business metrics. And that's it. Which is a lot, really. Implementing a successful recognition program can be a daunting task. But when you have the right people on board and keep an open mind toward feedback, you're sure to experience the full benefits of recognition at your workplace. For even more recognition best practices, great resources, and industry-leading tools, visit Bonus.ly.