Awards and Recognition: A tool for Employee Motivation

If you have a company, or any kind of business that requires a certain number of employees ,you already know how vital it is keep the people that work under you happy and motivated. After all it’s training new employees is hard, expensive and has an impact on productivity.

The question that naturally occurs is how do you keep your employees motivated and in the same time loyal to you?

Well, there is a wide variety of methods. You can give your people bonuses on their salary, use a promotion as an award or just have a friendly and personal relationship with them. After all, everyone likes to be treated with respect and have his work recognised.As mentioned above all of us are recognition hungry ,regardless of our position in a company. So when you recognise an employee’s effort you keep them motivated and even an unknown capability of them may surface.

These claims are not empty. Many studies have concluded that people who are recognised and rewarded for their valiant efforts, are more productive and happy. Also a bigger amount of loyalty is expected.

What motivates people to perform better?

Nowadays an increasing amount of companies introduce performance-related pays. This kind of reward focuses on employee’s self interest and individual performance. Other companies seem to attempt a different approach. They focus not on individual but group performance. The employees are motivated by internal factors such as job satisfaction and identification with shared values.The first motivational strategy is based on the results of economic theory. This theory is describing the homo economics as a self interested being that it’s primary interest is financial gain. This strategy has been applied to other areas too, such as politics, sports, etc. and had great success.

Sociology and psychology are supporting a different approach. Human preferences and standards are not stable and they often don’t bring in any financial reward. What really seem to have an impact is values like decency, honor or dignity and emotions like envy, love or hate.

Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation

a. Extrinsic motivation is based on satisfaction of indirect needs. In this type of situation money always seem to be the solution; paying for vacations or buying a house, a car or anything else. Extrinsic motivation arises from the desire to satisfy one’s not work-related needs.b. Intrinsic motivation on the other hand is supporting the claim that employees find satisfaction in the activity itself and they are provided with a pleasurable experience.

As a result intrinsic motivation is more preferable by companies that want to achieve a higher amount of teamwork a friendlier environment for their employees. Extrinsic motivation can create jealousy, hatred and in general negative emotions between co-workers.

Recognition VS Rewards

It takes a lot of energy to keep a team charged, which is why so many companies have reward programs that stand out. To maintain top performers and keep them motivated often requires a great reward, like a fancy sports car to a paid vacation. Companies that are capable of offering rewards like the ones mentioned above should continue doing so because commission-based work is unique and requires another set of rules. If a company is not capable of offering rewards of this magnitude there is a different approach on the matter. Employees can also be rewarded with gratitude and respect.

Rewards & Recognition Software programs demonstrate respect for your employees. An honest and thoughtful employee appreciation program is based on valuing employees’ efforts and having respect for their employees’ personalities and effort. Getting rewards like nice cars or vacation does not always mean that a person is recognized. There are many cases that, senior management equates the “reward” with “recognition” when in fact, they are very different things.

Recognition starts with having a personal relationship or even friendship with the people that work for you. Meaningful and sincere words can be extremely more powerful than a fancy sport car.

You may have a hard time justifying your “rewards” budget, but you absolutely need to justify the concept of “recognition.” Challenge your senior leaders to practice recognition every single day. If they engage in this practice, it will become your company’s gold.

Why recognition is crucial?

For managers it is sometimes easy to forget that the most crucial factor in keeping your company successful is your employees. Having an employee recognition program not only can maintain your company’s success, it can also increase productivity and raise revenues. The ability to effectively appreciate and treat with respect can make a huge difference to an employee’s career and a company’s future.Holistic programs that aim at building relationships and make an improvement on the performance across organizations can influence the amount of success of any recognition program. When employees inside a company feel useful and appreciated, they will extend that same attitude and commitment to the company’s costumers. This strategy is the reason why recognition alone or combined with rewards can change the future for all businesses.

If you consider all the things mentioned until now a conclusion naturally comes to your mind. When recognition and rewards are used properly they can lead to a very bright future for a company. And we must always keep in mind that happier and more satisfied employees can produce better results.