“Gain elevation” was one of the favorite phrases a former CEO used to say to me. I think that phrase serves us well as we talk about improving engagement. Too often I see organizations get stuck on slicing and dicing survey results, rather than looking at the big picture and developing some action plans that are highly visible and impactful for their workforces. So let’s get out of the weeds and talk about some high level scenarios that might resonate for your organization.

Employee appreciation is normally one of the biggest drivers of employee engagement. Employees want to be recognized for doing a good job, making an extra effort or just solid and steady performance as a dependable team member. So what can be done? Here are a few ideas:

• Create a points program so employees can show their appreciation for each other. This is normally very cost effective and can have a big, culture changing effect on an organization. A points program can easily be managed in the cloud so the administration is very easy. Rewards can be virtually anything the company deems suitable, so managing costs is easy. There are several best practices to think through when setting up a program, so we recommend contacting a professional organization to get you started.
• Set up an online company store so you can easily recognize teams when they accomplish something important. Allowing employees to choose logoed apparel at the conclusion of a successful project is a relatively inexpensive way to recognize employees and they get to show their pride in the organization with logoed apparel, which becomes a badge of honor and builds pride among fellow coworkers.

What other ways have you seen appreciation improve in organizations? We look forward to hearing your ideas as we elevate our thinking!

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