As firms were busy pivoting at the begining of the pandemic there was a pause in recognition. Initially, it was anticipated that the shutdown would not last as long as it did. As a result, there is a chasm in employee acknowledgment, making many employees feel undervalued and unnoticed for the important efforts they’ve been providing behind the scenes at home, or while working away from their managers. 

Studies show 50% of employees would stay with their job longer if they are appreciated, implying that businesses are more exposed than ever to employee exodus due to underappreciation.

There is an urgent need for effective employee recognition program right now. So where do you start?

It all begins with creating a culture of employee appreciation that ignites your company values, and that caters to the needs and desires of the employees themselves.

Below are 4 Key Elements for a Recognition Program that makes it successful in a Hybrid workplace

Choice 

Inclusivity

Shareability

Equity

The power of choice in a hybrid company.

The first element of an effective employee recognition program is choice, It all boils down to developing a program that is less transactional and more transformative. When you limit how people can celebrate, you take away the best element of a party: individuals being able to be themselves. When people get to appreciate the item that fills their cup, they feel most noticed and acknowledged. Catering to the needs of all can be a tiresome process, that is where employee recognition platform can help built a system where everyone has the choice to be themselves and celebrate each other.

The need for inclusive employee recognition programs

When it comes to incorporating diversity into your employee recognition initiatives, there are a few areas to start. To begin, incorporate a talk about company culture and inclusivity in your employee onboarding process, using new hire surveys, learn about the employee’s preferences for how they want to be recognised.

Your team leaders are in charge of upholding your corporate values and incorporating them into the recognition moments they generate for their teams.

Everyone feels welcome at the table in an inclusive employee rewards program. Furthermore, company value awards are an effective approach for all employees to be recognised for their accomplishments. Everyone in the firm has the ability to express your corporate values in their unique way. This means that everyone is welcome to contribute, from the CEO to the marketing intern. Company values awards assess not only what you do, but also how you do it.

Employee incentives that are exciting to talk about and share.

When it comes to the hybrid workplace and retaining your culture, shareability is very important. We need the capacity to connect over common experiences and unite as humans when we’re not all together. Dropping a gift card on someone’s desk doesn’t generate positive buzz, and it’s probably not even possible in today’s workplace. Employee awards must be exciting and worthy of sharing in order for employee recognition to succeed in the hybrid workplace. Employees are genuinely delighted to talk about their travels or share images and videos with coworkers, therefore we adore experiential rewards. These activities have a cascading effect that affects the entire team, not just the reward receiver. This helps employees connect and celebrate remotely, as well as to build anticipation amongst the rest of the employee population who can’t wait to get recognised themselves and talk about the rewards and recognition program

The importance of equity

Employee appreciation programs that work are designed to be fair. This is especially significant in the context of mixed work. Making space for everyone to contribute and bring their best work first creates an equal workplace where employees feel seen.

It’s critical not to miss out on chances to “see” individuals and relate to their needs. We recommend forming an employee appreciation committee comprised of employees who are representative of your hybrid workforce (for example, half remote, half in-person) so that those employees and their personal preferences can be better appreciated.

Another important factor to evaluate is the equality of the rewards themselves: are employees offered a consistent menu of prizes to pick from across the globe? Or are certain people left out, or are they given prizes that aren’t appropriate? Nobody wants to feel excluded.

These inspiring takeaways are for how you can go forward to create employee reward and recognition programs that will succeed in the hybrid workplace

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADVANTAGE CLUB

Advantage Club is a global provider of employee benefits. The platform serves to digitize all

employee demands under one canopy through numerous employee engagement programs

such as incentives, rewards & recognition, flexible and tax-saving modules. It now serves over

300 organizations in 70 countries and has over 10,000 brand partnerships.