On Tuesday, Jessica shared some thoughts about Informal vs Formal recognition.  So you know that Formal Recognition Programs can help a company reach its goals AND create a loyal and fulfilled employees. Well-communicated and consistent formal recognition is a great incentive for your employees to meet their position objectives.  But what type of formal recognition is best for YOUR company?  Here are some types of recognition we see.  Keep them in mind when planning your recognition program.

Service Awards

Service Awards acknowledge length of service with your company and can help to increase employee longevity.

Traditionally awards are presented for 1,5, 10, 20 years of service.  However in some industries or companies with high turnover positions it may make more sense to provide employee recognition at the 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 year mark.

Sales Awards

Recognize the achievement of goals and attainment of quotas with Sales Awards.

Individual awards may be for attainment, year-to-year growth in a territory, most new accounts, biggest competitive win-back.

Names like President’s Award or Million Dollar Club add prestige to the achievement.

For a national or international organization, recognize your Top Distributor, Regional Leader or Greatest Store Sales.

Sales awards can be monthly, quarterly, annually or some combination.

Non-Sales Performance-Based Awards

Consider awards or gifts for each employee based on reaching identified Key Performance Indicators.

These can be unique for each individual or for a team.

Reward those who perform above and beyond, or provide inspiration and motivation to the rest of the team.

Customer Service Awards

We all know that it takes great customer service to grow a business.  Recognize those who provide that service with special awards for Best Customer Satisfaction Rating based on your internal measurements, or a Customer Service Award to a representative who receives great feedback from your customers.

You can even ask your customers to nominate their favorite customer service reps for an award.

Employee-of-the-Month

Or Employee of the Quarter or Employee of the Year.

Define and document what it takes to earn these distinctions.  They can be objective or subjective, you decide.

Think about having a perpetual plaque in a central location where each month the winner’s name and picture is posted.  Provide some type of take-away award for the that employee as well.

Other Types Of Awards

Safety Awards

On-time Product Launch

Leadership Achievements

Corporate Honors

Community Recognition

Teamwork Award

Peer-to-Peer Award

Spending the time up front defining what you want to recognize and how you want to do it will make the program easier to communicate and implement.  If you feel that you’d like to have someone help you with this process, contact Jeff Anderson, our president.  He’s a Certified Recognition Professional and would be happy to help. You can reach him at [email protected].

Best of luck to you in your Recognition Programs!

Blessings, Anne