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Creating recognition awareness: 10 ideas from your peers
Try out these innovative program communication tactics.
You already have a recognition program in your organization, but how can you ensure that your employees remember to use it regularly? The most successful recognition programs are those that keep the program front of mind throughout the year and reach out to regularly include everyone in the organization.
When you communicate about your program, you signal to your employees that you value gratitude. You are letting them know that noticing and valuing great work, building community, and thanking one another are priorities in your organization.
Here are some examples of communication approaches we have seen our clients use at Workhuman® that really work!
10 creative communication ideas from your peers:
| 1. | Use office visuals to keep recognition top of mind. Use visual reminders to establish recognition as a company priority. This might include desk drops, posters, floor decals, mirror clings in the bathroom, or digital visuals such as screen savers or desktop backgrounds that can reach remote employees. |
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| 2. | Encourage your execs to champion the program. Enthusiastic executive support and sponsorship is a critical factor for program success. Encourage leaders to talk about the program in company meetings and record them on videos to share on your intranet. |
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| 3. | Model use of the program and lead by example. Employees will feel they have permission to give gratitude if you and your leaders model appreciation first. Advise managers and executives to recognize people at all levels of the organization at least once a week. |
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| 4. | Engage employees as they settle into the new normal. If employees are returning to the office, use that as a moment to remind them about recognition. Consider a Team Award for returning or remote employees – thanking them for their effort during extraordinary times. You can also foster feelings of belonging and inclusion in your organization by giving periodic Team Awards to groups or the entire company. Ideas include awards to underscore company achievements or gratitude month awards to help them feel valued by leadership. |
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| 5. | Stage internal communications takeovers. Wherever you communicate with employees is an excellent place to talk to them about recognition! Add reminders to blog posts, newsletter articles, and internal podcasts or videos. Consider a company social network takeover to generate excitement, with giveaways or contests offered over Yammer, Slack, MS Teams, or your company intranet. |
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| 6. | Promote your program through external communications. Employees will also encounter your brand out in the world. Let them see how proud you are of your recognition program and share in that pride themselves. If you promote your recognition program as part of your employer brand, it may also be the first thing prospective employees see about your culture! Consider talking about it in press releases, podcasts, interviews, articles, job listings, and external social media posts like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. |
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| 7. | Highlight your program at company meetings. Use company gatherings – big and small – as an opportunity to plug and highlight your recognition culture. For example, you might share selections from the award feed as a screen saver at company all-hands meetings. Add slides to presentations as reminders. Managers might use team meetings or stand-ups to congratulate colleagues on awards received that week. |
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| 8. | Roll out some swag Wearables and items to display on a desk can be a powerful visual reminder to log in to your recognition program. Consider a desk drop with a reminder about the recognition program and a fun gift. Be sure to plan a care package with similar swag for employees who are working remotely. |
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| 9. | Recognize personal Life Events Your Workhuman platform is also a place to acknowledge and celebrate life events – helping employees feel connected to their peers. Don’t overlook this critical aspect of the platform that contributes so much to belonging and inclusion. Be sure you educate managers on which events you hope to celebrate. |
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| 10. | Don’t forget remote, hybrid, and offline employees. Not everyone in your organization will be reached with traditional communication channels, so be sure you’re thinking inclusively. It’s easy for remote or offline workers to feel disconnected or isolated from the mainstream in your organization. Encourage remote employees to participate virtually in wellness events or employee resource groups and celebrate those efforts through the Workhuman platform. Include them in promotional efforts by offering signage, digital options, or swag as applicable. |
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Do you have program communications ideas you’ve seen work at your company? We’d love to hear about them. Share them with your account team or drop us a line at [email protected].
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