Rewarding your employees is critical for not only recognizing the efforts of your team but also helping retain them. Praise is more than recognizing exceptional work; it’s also about valuing daily achievements that help the company reach its goals. Each team member can be recognized for something like their performance, loyalty, or contributions to the company. By appreciating a person’s work daily, you show them what they do matters. And more importantly, you are demonstrating that their work has value. Here are four tips for engaging and retaining employees through recognition.

Encourage Input and Communication

One way to ensure your employees feel appreciated is to encourage their input in meetings or individually. Encouraging your team to speak up will strengthen their ties to the company and lead to a more positive experience. Every employee has bright ideas: it’s up to you to create an environment that fosters the sharing of ideas and feedback with the team. The more your team feels incorporated in the decision-making processes, the more invested they will be in the overall goals set by the company.

Provide Mentorship Opportunities

Leaders have a great opportunity to build a mentor/mentee relationship with their employees. Forming this type of relationship will help your team accelerate their development, improve their work quality, and stay with the company longer. There are several ways to implement a mentorship opportunity; one way could be pairing mentees with mentors based on departments or industry specialty. This allows both parties to learn new things from each other and helps expand the company’s knowledge-based overall.

Provide Opportunities for Growth

Creating opportunities for your workforce is the key to retaining top talent. When employees are given ownership, they feel respected and more enthusiastic about their work. Empowering your team members will help them develop a sense of loyalty to the company.

Create new opportunities for your employees to take on new challenges and responsibilities. As their leader, give them opportunities to work on projects outside their areas of expertise. This will expand their knowledge, give them the chance to learn something new, and stretch them to grow professionally. If a member from a different department seems genuinely interested in the projects of another department, let them take on some of the responsibilities of the projects and see how it goes. This might spark some promising opportunities to advance new ideas.

Providing opportunities for growth and development doesn’t always have to tie directly with your employee’s role – you can also invite guest speakers to teach your team something new or encourage them to watch an online course or attend a seminar that would be beneficial to them. There are plenty of free or cost-friendly options available if your company doesn’t have the budget specifically dedicated to professional development. Providing growth opportunities is a great way to boost your employee’s
motivation and engagement, which leads to more long-term retention of your top talent.

How to Recognize Your Employees

The whole goal of employee recognition is to make your team feel appreciated for the ways they contribute to your organization. When you consistently praise, promote, and show appreciation towards your team, they will know the work they do matters.

While bonuses or pay raises are great to recognize and retain your employees, recognition can be more than a monetary incentive. Companies can publically recognize their employees by highlighting individuals on your company’s social media profiles, spotlighting a team member in a meeting, or using a rewards recognition tool like Bonusly. Acknowledging your team’s accomplishments will show your employees they are valued which will increase their productivity, loyalty, engagement, and morale.

Recognition in the workplace is crucial for employee retention. Be sure to encourage input and dialogue from your team, provide opportunities to be a mentor to your employees, and create growth and development opportunities for your top performers. When your team does step up, be sure to reward that with recognition. Whether it’s monetary, public praises, or a tangible reward, having a consistent, intentional, and authentic recognition program will keep your top talent engaged and retained.

About EG Workforce Solutions

We’ve been in this business for decades and have developed a deep network of professional connections. Whether they’re companies looking for talent, job seekers looking for work, or an up-and-coming store in need of some temporary help, we know the right people to bridge the gap between the hiring and the hired.

But what’s more, we get to know people. From employers hiring to candidates looking, we take the time to listen and learn. We hear your likes, talents, and needs. We gain an understanding, and with it, we’re able to facilitate lasting relationships between businesses and people.