One of the main reasons employees leave their jobs is that they don’t feel appreciated; 65% of employees haven’t received any form of recognition over the last year and why highlighting your team’s triumphs is so important.

It’s important to put equal weight on celebrating wins big and small, in many cases, even the most significant projects and accomplishments are filled with micro victories throughout the journey.

The most effective recognition is honest, authentic and personalized to how each employee wants to be recognized. This means creating opportunities to get to know your team. 

We have talked about the challenges of having a remote team and maintaining collaboration and connection to create a culture of community and why this is important. 

We have also talked about having an engagement strategy as well as leadership styles, but sometimes the easiest thing to do is to grab a coffee with your team. Either over zoom, if you have a remote team or at the local cafe. Having these informal and formal moments with your team where you learn about your team on a personal level and praise them for their excellent work in both settings is invaluable in creating stronger bonds within your team.

Highlighting an employee’s strengths in team meetings can help generate a sense of accomplishment and motivation. Encouraging peer to peer recognition in the workplace as well as making it part of the culture comes from the leader and even if it feels uncomfortable or unnatural at first, persevering with it will reap greater rewards in the long run. Not all team members may be comfortable with public recognition; some quiet achievers or those with varying cultural nuances may find the fanfare embarrassing and think that it is all just part of the job.

The criteria for recognition should align with the purpose, brand and culture of the company and should reflect its aspirational identity to inspire others. Rewarding employees who do not reflect these behaviours will adversely affect high performers’ motivation.

Great leaders know that they can never give too much recognition as long as it’s honest and deserved. Acknowledging an employee’s best work goes a long way toward making them feel valued and can lead to other desirable workplace outcomes.