Thoughtful Employee Recognition & Appreciation Ideas for 2019 Part - 2

1. Shout out on social media

The St. Louis Children’s hospital leveraged social media to extend employee recognition reach during their staff recognition gala. Employees nominated for awards of honor were profiled on Facebook and they even made the effort to Skype employees into the gala for special recognition if they couldn’t make it. Dedicated employees working late shifts were still justly recognized. Supplement any employee recognition idea with social media.

You can also recognize employees by using them in your profile pictures across networks. A picture of your best employees in a Facebook cover photo, for example, is a great shoutout to those who go the extra mile.

2. Gamify…in real life

This idea actually comes from our very own SnackNation Member Success Team (MST). MST leaders Chelsie Lee and Clay Telfer designed a recognition program in which team members earn badges for hitting milestones related to their most important metrics.

Think of it like a video game achievements program come to life – complete with custom-made badges for unlocking milestones and participating in team campaigns.

MST employees are awarded in elaborate fashion during the team’s weekly department meetings.

The coolest part is that some of the achievements are kept secret until you unlock them, making the experience full of delight-inducing Easter eggs.

For more on this program, check out this podcast we produced and this incredible step-by-step breakdown from Chelsie.

3. Recognize your team by recognizing their passions

Omelet’s employee recognition idea involves recognizing something at the core of every employee: passions. The ad agency has a program they call 60/60, which grants employees two hours every week to work on a project they’re passionate about – and it doesn’t even have to relate to a client!

Through the program, employees have been able to work on anything from sports sites to food blogs. When you value an employee’s passions, they know you value them as a unique individual.

4. Be true to your culture

MINDBODY offers online business management software.  Their goal is to “leverage technology to improve the wellness of the world.” This goal informs how they treat clients and their staff appreciation ideas. Jeff Harper, Senior Vice President of People and Culture at MINDBODY, says:

“Employee recognition can have an amazing impact on culture of a company and employee behavior when done well.  With all the various ways to approach employee recognition, one of the most important things to remember in developing a recognition program is: be true to who you are. At MINDBODY our culture is core to everything we do, so we build our employee recognition programs to align with our company values. This approach helps connect employees’ behaviors to what we believe, while strengthening our brand.

For example, we are a purpose-driven organization focused on improving the wellness of the world.  It’s an integral part of our own Core Values and Culture, and one that we offer to other companies through our Connect Workplace Program. This program provides employers with the opportunity to reward their employees and keep them engaged by promoting healthy behavior via the services of the nation’s largest network of wellness practitioners!”

5. Use your website well

Your company homepage counts as prime real-estate. Why not dedicate a portion of it to your hard-working employees? Denver based communications firm, Ground Floor Media, carves out a generous section of their valuable homepage space for employee stories.

In addition to strictly business biographies, Ground Floor also includes the “Real Story,” so people can be recognized for their lives and passions as well as their amazing work for the company.