Does employee recognition affect positive psychological functioning and well-being?
That question happens to be the title of a study published in the Spanish Journal of Psychology in 2015, which, through surveys with more than 1,800 workers, tried to determine just how important highlighting a team member’s contributions is. The authors of the study concluded that, among other things, employee recognition positively promotes psychological functioning (and its absence does the opposite).
Interestingly, they also found that calling out employee successes actually promotes further recognition down the line. Put simply, if employers can create a consistent and regimented system of recognition, a domino effect of appreciation may ensue.
Austen Asadorian, the VP of sales at hospitality platform SevenRooms, told Built In NYC that such a system starts at the leadership level and trickles down to every team and member at an organization.
“When you have a culture where managers shout out their team members, you eventually get to a place where your team members will begin to recognize each other for their work and contributions,” Asadorian said. “This creates a culture where everyone is consistently reinforcing that behavior.”
Asadorian, along with leaders at three other local companies, recently spoke with Built In NYC about the importance and results of employee recognition. Through Slack shoutouts, awards, monetary incentives and more, they’ve helped create workplace cultures that ensure a company’s most valuable asset — its employees — are given the limelight they deserve.
Zipari’s Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Culture Committee Chair Janelle Taylor said weekly company meetings and a dedicated Slack channel are just two of the locations that give employees the opportunity to recognize their coworkers at the company, which develops products for health insurance carriers to engage with consumers.
What are a few ways you or the other leaders on your team recognize employees for their hard work?
Employee recognition is an important part of the culture at Zipari. The main ways that employees are recognized are through shoutouts at our weekly roundout meeting and our high-fives Slack channel.
Every week employees have an opportunity to nominate a coworker for a shoutout, which is announced at our weekly roundout meeting. The shoutout must describe how the coworker demonstrated one of the company's 15 guiding principles (examples include culture matters, always deliver on time, make customers proud) in their work. This practice has been a part of Zipari's culture for about five years and is a great way for people to show appreciation for their team members.
Additionally, we have just implemented a high-fives slack channel, which was a wonderful idea introduced by the company that we recently acquired. The high-five channel is a way to give kudos in real time and does not have to be aligned to a specific guiding principle. These high-fives can be given to individuals and entire teams. It’s great to see the constant stream of high-fives throughout the day and to see people promoting an environment of positivity.
As a leader, what have you done to encourage a culture of recognition throughout the entire company?
Nothing in a company is done in a silo. There are usually several people who contribute to making an initiative or project a success. So I try to always acknowledge that and show appreciation for all of the people who have contributed to making a project a success no matter how small the project may be. Giving frequent recognition builds a culture of praise and thanks — it's contagious!
I also try to recognize coworkers outside of just saying, “job well done.” Acknowledging other milestones in a team member’s life (work anniversaries, birthdays or a new baby, for example) is important for strengthening relationships and ensuring that people feel valued as people and not just coworkers.
Recognition does not have to be done in a public forum, but I think that it’s important that you be specific about what you are praising or showing your appreciation for.”
When it comes to giving meaningful employee recognition, what is the most important best practice you follow?
Recognition does not have to be done in a public forum, but I think that it’s important that you be specific about what you are praising or showing your appreciation for. This makes the recognition more personal and meaningful. A thank you is great but a “thank you for (fill in the blank)” can go a long way.
Shoutouts are great, but what about bonuses and time off? At VTS, a leasing and asset management platform for the commercial real estate industry, those methods of recognition ensure employees are being acknowledged for a job well done, said Senior Director of People Jaclyn Pomerantz.
What are a few ways you or the other leaders on your team recognize employees for their hard work?
We recognize our team in a number of ways. Spot bonuses are a great way to reward an employee for above-and-beyond work. A company-wide shoutout on our VTS-wins Slack channel is a great way to provide visibility to an accomplishment that might not be seen or understood by everyone at the company. We also give out a highly-coveted values award twice per year. Employees get acknowledged at an all-hands meeting and a spot bonus for embodying our VTS values. Finally, having an entire team sign off a few hours early after a big push or work deliverable is a great way for people to recharge and reset.
As a leader, what have you done to encourage a culture of recognition throughout the entire company?
We have performance review cycles biannually so that employees are getting continuous feedback throughout the year. Additionally, the people team has biweekly catchups where we review updates and wins from the previous two weeks to share with the broader team.
Whether it’s a big shoutout or even a small acknowledgment of hard work, it’s important for managers to have a pulse on the team’s accomplishments.”
When it comes to giving meaningful employee recognition, what is the most important best practice you follow?
It’s important to recognize employees for things that are big, splashy and visible but also the small tedious things that other team members might not realize are a huge lift for someone. Whether it’s a big shoutout or even a small acknowledgment of hard work, it’s important for managers to have a pulse on the team’s accomplishments.
Core values aren’t just phrases on a wall at Botify, a company that uses technology to connect enterprise websites to major search engines. SVP of People and Culture Kristin Langdon said the company’s core values help to determine which employees are recognized at their quarterly awards.
What are a few ways you or the other leaders on your team recognize employees for their hard work?
Recognition is part of the culture at Botify. One of our core values is “go the extra mile,” and our employees really live that value. Because going the extra mile is so ingrained in our employees, we recognize employees who show up in a big way for someone each week in our newsletter.
While this is a huge part of who we are at Botify, it isn’t our only core value. Each quarter, we recognize Botifyers who exhibit all our core values with our Botifyer of the Quarter award. Employees vote for regional employees who exemplify all four core values and we celebrate them at our quarterly global team meeting.
But real-time recognition is also important, which is why our appreciations Slack channel is one of our most used channels. From giving a shoutout for a new deal won to singing the praises of our R&D and product teams for another successful launch, this channel is a mainstay for our employees to let each other know that they are valued and appreciated.
As a leader, what have you done to encourage a culture of recognition throughout the entire company?
I find leading by example is the best way to spread a culture of recognition within your organization. The whole Botify leadership team feels the same — in each global team meeting, the leadership team makes a point to shout out specific employees.
Leading by example is the best way to spread a culture of recognition within your organization.”
When it comes to giving meaningful employee recognition, what is the most important best practice you follow?
Recognition is so much more than just saying, “good job.” I think the best practice for meaningful recognition is to make it specific and personal to the person receiving the praise. Think about how different it is for a leader in your organization to talk about the specific things you have excelled at and how that's impacted the business.
While incentives can be nice, what’s something money can’t buy? Opportunity. Austen Asadorian, the VP of sales at hospitality platform SevenRooms, said giving team members the opportunity to take on new challenges or projects helps them build internal brand equity.
What are a few ways you or the other leaders on your team recognize employees for their hard work?
With a sales team, the obvious answer is always sales performance incentives. These help us align business priorities to sales rep behavior around a certain target or data point. At SevenRooms, we know that it’s important to reward individuals for their performance, either financially or otherwise, but it’s also important to empower the whole team to win together. We create team goals that help us win and that also enable us to shout out individuals based on their performance.
We don’t just reward our team with money, but also with opportunity. This could take the form of new projects, time to learn a skill — either as an individual contributor or for a managerial role — or a task that helps them grow into a different area of the business. This goes hand-in-hand with helping them build their internal brand equity. We give our team members the opportunity to speak in public settings — like a sales meeting or all-hands meeting — to present their big wins to the whole company. This not only gives them exposure but gives the company the ability to share in their successes and puts a face to the names they see on our company dashboards and channels.
As a leader, what have you done to encourage a culture of recognition throughout the entire company?
It’s important that companies empower people leaders to reward their team members; it comes from the top down. I make it a priority to celebrate the successes of my team, whether that’s a manager or cross-department stakeholder, and encourage them to reward reps in the ways that they think are going to be most impactful for that individual. For some, that could be getting on a call to congratulate them privately, for others it could be shouting them out via a public forum. It’s all about making them feel good about their performance and empowered in their roles.
A culture of recognition starts at the leadership level. When you have a culture where managers shout out their team members, you eventually get to a place where your team members will begin to recognize each other for their work and contributions. This creates a culture where everyone is consistently reinforcing that behavior.
Across departments, a culture of recognition means you’re taking the time to understand the goals of other departments. Having a deeper understanding of cross-company goals helps create better alignment that ultimately leads to greater transparency and communication. This creates wins that help companies grow.
Across departments, a culture of recognition means you’re taking the time to understand the goals of other departments.”
When it comes to giving meaningful employee recognition, what is the most important best practice you follow?
The most important practice is to take time to understand what matters to that person. You can go out of your way to do a hundred different things, but you need to make sure that it satisfies their individual needs when it comes to recognition. You can pay them more money, send them a gift or thank them publicly over Slack, but you need to make sure you know how they tick so you can provide the recognition that’s most impactful. This really extends to every area of people management. You need to first understand a person’s motivations before you can lead them anywhere.
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