Engage Remote Employees with 15 Employee Recognition Ideas

Now greater than ever, workers must really feel acknowledged.  64% of workers really feel that recognition and appreciation are extra essential whereas working remotely with a purpose to really feel valued.

On the similar time, solely 1-in-5 workers say their group has carried out new methods to reward and acknowledge them because the pandemic.

With canceled worker appreciation celebrations, banquets, and different alternatives to acknowledge workers for a job properly finished, a lot of our distant staff are lacking out. 

It”s time to make sure worker recognition efforts embody distant and hybrid staff. 

Motivating Distant Employees 

With distant work, there’s typically an absence of boundaries between work and life. 

In response to insights from McKinsey, being rewarded and acknowledged for work is likely one of the workers’ prime issues throughout the COVID-19 period. 

Once we acknowledge and acknowledge our workers, it helps them take possession and pleasure of their work. This not solely will increase work effectiveness, it additionally will increase engagement and workers’ general well-being.

15 Distant Worker Recognition Concepts for Managers

1. Peer-to-Peer Worker Recognition

Peer recognition is highly effective as a result of it may well strengthen relationships whereas preserving workers engaged. The profit isn’t restricted to those that are on the receiving finish both. 

Acts of kindness, like acknowledging a coworker, have been proven to spice up the manufacturing of neurochemicals in our mind — together with dopamine and serotonin. When this occurs, fears and stress are lowered whereas belief and empathy improve, resulting in a Happiness Trifecta.

To introduce peer recognition to your distant staff, encourage them to provide one another optimistic suggestions, even for little issues. This may very well be so simple as an e-mail thanking a co-worker or a shout-out in a digital assembly.

On a bigger scale, worker recognition software program might help you implement peer recognition all through your group in just some clicks.

2. Share the Reward You’ve Obtained from Clients

Like many corporations, you in all probability give your prospects surveys to fill out. If it’s not surveying, you in all probability have some mechanism in place that allows them to provide suggestions about your organization and workers.

If the suggestions you’re getting is sweet, share it with groups and your complete group. You too can acknowledge particular person workers who’ve gone above and past to assist prospects.

To get began, you have to resolve the easiest way to share the data together with your workers. To do this, ship your workers a fast survey asking how they prefer to obtain data. 

It may very well be pushed through one thing like a month-to-month e-newsletter. Or it may very well be pulled from a “Buyer Tales” part in your intranet. Taking the time to ask what your staff prefers ensures you meet your workers’ wants.

3. Award an Worker of the Week or Month 

An worker of the month isn’t a brand new idea, however you might have forgotten about it is price. 

When recognizing your distant staff, it’s essential that you simply use a good course of to pick out winners. 

Once you’re creating an worker of the week or month program, base the frequency in your staff measurement. The extra alternatives for awards the higher. However on the similar time, you don’t wish to give out so many awards that they lose worth.

For the very best outcomes, resolve which traits or values you wish to award. This can assist deliver readability to the award choice course of.

You might additionally enable workers to appoint one another and use pulse surveys to have them vote on a winner should you get a variety of nominees.

4. Present Frequent, Simply-in-Time Worker Recognition

Rewards are good. However recognizing every day accomplishments is much more essential. 

Attempt to make sending an e-mail or calling to say “good job” the norm on your staff. This form of micro-recognition helps create a tradition of assist and reveals your staff you see how onerous they’re working.

5. Acknowledge Your Distant Staff’ Private Achievements

Attempt to sustain with what your workers are doing outdoors of the workplace.

Did they purchase their first dwelling? Return to high school to earn their diploma? Have a child?

Recognizing what’s happening of their private lives can construct belief and strengthen your relationship, making a extra engaged workforce.

6. Acknowledge Your Staff Just about

Workforce employees conferences and conferences with management groups are nice alternatives to indicate your workers how a lot you recognize them. 

At every assembly, choose a few workers and attempt to say just a few phrases about their current accomplishments.

On the finish of the day, workers wish to really feel valued. Publicly recognizing them reveals everybody within the group the worth they add. It additionally makes reward the norm and might improve the peer-to-peer recognition your workers give to one another.

7. Maintain a Distant Worker Appreciation Day

Whilst you may not have the ability to do a standard off-site, you may nonetheless take the day to acknowledge your distant staff.

Schedule a digital worker appreciation day on your distant staff. Select a enjoyable theme and ask everybody to decorate up in the event that they’re open to it. Discover digital backgrounds that go together with your theme and schedule numerous leaders to talk. It’s a enjoyable, straightforward option to spice issues up a bit.

You too can ship worker appreciation items to your workers’ properties. Higher but, have meals delivered to them from an area restaurant utilizing a service like DoorDash, GrubHub, or Postmates. 

It is probably not the catered lunch you are used to, however it may well nonetheless be enjoyable. When all’s stated and finished, take into account giving them the afternoon off.

8. Acknowledge Quirky Milestones of Distant Work

Did you have got a Zoom assembly with out anybody forgetting they’re on mute? No technical difficulties? Do a fast shout-out because the assembly wraps up.

Adjusting to distant work has been difficult for everybody. Having the ability to keep light-hearted about it and acknowledge these small wins will deliver a smile to your workers’ faces. Protecting humor and/or positivity part of your every day communications could be the distinction between disengaged workers and engaged workers.

Drawing on work from organizational theorist and psychologist Karl Weick, Mehrnaz Bassiri, an educator explains: 

“Small wins have transformational energy. As soon as a small win has been achieved, forces are set in movement to favor one other small win and one other small win till the mix of those small wins results in bigger and higher accomplishments.”

Many occasions, we overlook the small wins. However by acknowledging them, our groups can understand how far they’ve come and proceed to develop.

9. Construct Recognition into Your One-on-One Conferences

When many managers begin one-on-one conferences, they’re typically centered round standing updates and data sharing. However they’ve the potential to be a lot greater than that.

Along with working in your worker’s long-term progress and growth, one-on-one conferences are the right time to acknowledge your workers.

For instance, if an worker lately accomplished a venture, use the time to acknowledge their accomplishments. Be sure to be particular about what they did properly.

10. Begin a Celebration eNewsletter

Searching for a option to spotlight your staff’s accomplishments? An digital celebration e-newsletter could also be simply what the physician ordered.

Contemplate placing collectively a month-to-month staff e-newsletter celebrating your workers’ birthdays, births, adoptions, and extra. You too can embody particular person milestones — like years of service and different accomplishments.

After getting your digital celebration e-newsletter prepared, you may e-mail it to your staff, or publish it on the intranet to publicly acknowledge your workers.

11. Ship a Thank You Card to Your Staff

Positive, you could possibly simply ship off an e-mail to acknowledge your workers. However in an more and more digital age, nothing beats a handwritten card. 

Taking the time to purchase the cardboard, write your message, and mail it off reveals your workers that you’re prioritizing their well-being. It reveals that they’re essential sufficient so that you can make investments your time in speaking with them.

Distant Worker Appreciation Reward Concepts

12. Deal with Your Staff with a Sit-Stand Desk Converter

Despite the fact that now we have been working remotely for some time, many workers nonetheless have make-shift workstations. 

A spare countertop. The eating room desk. They’re doing what they’ll to make sure the work will get finished. However their surroundings is suboptimal, which stifles productiveness.

Past that, it may well additionally result in long-term ergonomic points for groups — in flip growing staff’ compensation prices and absenteeism.

You may keep away from this by being proactive and exhibiting your workers you worth their well-being by giving them a sit-stand desk converter. Not like a sit-stand desk, converters can work with just about any workspace. They’re handy and oftentimes inexpensive than a desk.

13. Give Your Staff Native Treats for Accomplishments

Did an worker meet a efficiency objective for the primary time? Full a difficult venture? 

You don’t have to take a position a variety of time or cash for a reward to be significant. Small rewards could be reasonably rewarding, too. For instance, have a look at present playing cards for a restaurant close to your workers or ship a flower basket from an area florist. 

Utilizing a local-to-them enterprise makes the reward appear extra private. That is significantly true for big geographically dispersed distant groups.

14. Let Your Staff Decide a Subscription for Their Recognition Reward

Letting your workers choose a subscription service for his or her worker recognition present means they may have one thing to look ahead to each month. It additionally serves as an ongoing reminder that you simply recognize them.

Put collectively an inventory of company-sponsored subscription choices and let your workers resolve which one they need. 

15. Give Your Staff the Reward of Well being

For a few years, health club memberships have been a preferred option to present workers we recognize them. Nonetheless, this may not be the best answer for all workers.

A research has proven that three in 4 People have gained over 16 kilos since March. This not solely probably places them in danger for different well being issues, but it surely additionally takes a toll on their general well-being. 

Investing in digital well-being packages might help your workers take management of their bodily well being and be extra inclusive than a health club membership. It additionally reveals them you worth greater than their bodily well being however their general well-being.

For extra data on the way to interact distant staff, try our infographic on distant work non-negotiables under: