Moments of recognition are powerful, they give us a feeling of purpose, a sense of accomplishment and an undeniable drive to produce our best work. Recognition is continuously proven to motivate employees by allowing them to see and feel their personal value.
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”—Khalil Gibran, third best-selling poet of all time.
An insightful survey recently conducted by the employee engagement firm
TINYpulse involved over 200,000 employees across more than 500 organizations and was
featured on forbes.com. The study,
The 7 Key Trends Impacting Today’s Workplace, shows that work environments are severely lacking in their culture, recognition and satisfaction scores across the board. Perhaps even more interesting is the proof that
peer-to-peer recognition is the #1 most positive influence, not money, that drives fellow colleagues to go the extra mile
(tweet this fact). This question remains, How will we foster a company culture that promotes peer-to-peer recognition and creatively drives strong employee engagement? Approaching the holiday season can make this task seem a bit overwhelming. Let's be honest, this blog post will not, and can not, possibly answer the depth of this question for you. However, what we have learned is that small steps in the right direction yield huge results when it comes to employee recognition. Take advantage of this holiday season. Do something light, fun and creative for your employees. Something that will engage and foster the opportunity for them to individually recognize the hard work of their peers during this busy Quarter4 schedule.
Here's a fun activity to try out in your workplace.
Sweeten up peer-to-peer recognition. Provide each employee with a jar of sweet treats, and a
gift card nestled inside. Ask them to write a thoughtful note or letter that recognizes a unique accomplishment, particular dedication to a task, or specific time when their peer inspired them or went that extra-mile to help them at work. Attach this letter to the "Sweet Jar" and have them hand deliver it to the peer that they have chosen to recognize.
