One of the most difficult jobs a manager has to do every day is boost the morale of the company employees. Employee morale is crucial if you want your employees to be productive in the workplace and happy with their jobs. It can be difficult to keep employee spirits high, however, especially if you work in a 9 to 5 office setting. You can try as hard as you like, but there is nothing exciting about sitting in a cubicle 8 hours a day. Business managers have long been looking for ways to solve this problem. One idea that works well is starting a recognition program. If you are looking to increase morale and productivity in the workplace, here are some tips for giving out employee recognition awards.

The first thing you should do when starting your program is to outline your objectives. Why are you handing out employee recognition awards? Do you want to increase productivity or sales? Would you like your employees to get along better with each other? Once you answer these questions you will know what types of awards to give out. If you want to increase sales, for example, give an award for the top salesman in the company. You will have to decide how often you would like to give this award. It can be monthly, quarterly, yearly, or whatever makes the most sense for your company.

The next thing you should do is set up the guidelines for the awards. Make a list of all the qualities an award winner needs to have or the benchmarks they need to reach. This is important for two reasons. If the employees understand what goals they are striving to reach they will be more motivated to win the award. Setting strict award criteria will also help to justify your decision in case you are accused of bias or favoritism when it comes to picking winners.

If you follow these tips your employee recognition awards program should run smoothly. Once you find something that works for your company, run with it. Do not be afraid to be creative and have fun. Your employees will appreciate it.

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