Well done! Good job!… Didn’t it feel good to be told that? It’s not often we are told that. People just forget to reward a job well done, sometimes. But that can leave people feeling unappreciated and unmotivated.
These days, times are tough. The economy is softening, gas prices are up, and people are unsure about the future. If it’s not global terrorism they’re worrying about, it’s Global Warming; and if not that, it’s making a living and health care. Yet, more and more companies are cutting back; those terms down-sizing and outsourcing are getting used quite a lot these days. With all those things stacked against us, what can companies do to try and inspire loyalty among employees, yet not go into the red over it?
One simple option is the use of acrylic awards. So often we hear about – or see in our own dealings with a boss – only the negative. They yell, scream, rant, and so on over a mistake, a missed deadline, a contract that the company didn’t win etc. Well, there’s an old saying: you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. The point being - a simple compliment goes a long way toward boosting employee morale. Acrylic awards last, too. Others can see them and they can be proudly displayed at the office, at home etc.
To that end, you can arrange to have an annual, semi-annual, or maybe even a quarterly company get-together. A simple luncheon can be the perfect setting, and then you give out acrylic awards for various positive things that different employees have done over the previous year, six months or quarter. Acrylic awards can be custom made in whatever shape, size, and configuration you want. Does your company have a logo or mascot? Get the awards in that shape, or with it etched into them.
Next, you can consider doing two different types of awards. First, there are the standard – the recurring – awards. This would be something like: Most Productive Employee or Least Number of Sick Days Taken, and so on. By having these every time, they give the employees something to strive for. Then you can do speciality awards. These are ones you make up for a specific event or person, and they can even be spoofs. Sometimes, those are the best sorts of awards, as they can make people laugh. If an employee has a feature or attribute that people notice and find amusing, you can capitalize on that. Now, care must be taken to not make the award insulting or demeaning. As an example, if John Smith wears a toupee and he’s always making jokes about it; then a good-natured award to him for such as The Best Hair in the Office could be most amusing. Fun acrylic awards help to build team spirit.
Finally, as acrylic awards are not expensive, make sure the awards are personalized, and not something that will be passed on to another person at the next gathering. That sort of thing can be a real downer for your employees. On the other hand, seeing their name etched into a nice little award, and the words (as an example): Best Editor of the Year above them, along with the year, can go a long way to cementing a feeling of company loyalty.
When you consider how easy it is to change jobs these days, and how some people even work from home or telecommute, a company has to look for any little things they can do to make them stand apart from the pack, and be more appealing to an employee. Acrylic awards are a great way to do that.
