7 Reasons Plaques and Awards Will Motivate Employees
Are you looking for ways to motivate your employees and encourage their excellent work? Plaques and awards can be a great way to do that and here’s why.
For a solo entrepreneur, success and monetary profits are reason enough to keep working hard.
But when it comes to a big corporation, it can be difficult for an employee to feel valued by their paycheck alone.
In fact, a lack of appreciation by management is the number one complaint by approximately 63% of US workers, according to a study by Interact.
So how can you leave a lasting impression of your appreciation to keep your employees motivated? One great way is with plaques and awards.
Let’s dive into the seven top reasons these symbols help motivate employees:
1. The Power of Recognition
Whether in a personal relationship, professional relationship, or an interaction with a stranger, we all know the power of appreciation and recognition.
Think of the last time you held the door open for someone and the just blew past you with no “thank you” or physical acknowledgement. You probably muttered a sassy “you’re welcome!” under your breath, or something similar, right?
That’s because we all want to receive recognition for going the extra mile.
Working hard for a corporation or a small business is no different. Employees want to feel that their efforts aren’t going unnoticed.
Recognition in the form of plaques or awards is a fantastic and cost effective way to recognize a job well done.
2. It Builds Loyalty
Employee turnover is a costly and frustrating issue for many employers.
But, recognition with plaques and awards can help decrease employee turnover. In fact, businesses with incentive programs show a 31% decrease in employee turnover.
Build employee loyalty by letting them know that their work is seen.
Employees who that feel that they are not a valuable or even a noticed part of the team have far fewer reasons to stay at the company.
Appreciated and acknowledged employees, however, will feel a stronger connection to the company and be much more likely to be loyal and stick around.
3. It Shows You Put In the Time
While a verbal acknowledgment can be a great place to start, it’s not always enough to convey your appreciation for an employee’s job well done.
Plaques and awards are more powerful than just a verbal acknowledgments because they show the extra time and effort you put in to show your appreciation.
It’s easy to customize plaques and awards by having them engraved with the employee’s name, your company logo, and a written summary of their achievement.
This personalization shows the thought you put into the acknowledgment, as well as the depth of your appreciation. The fact that you put in the time is meaningful to employees.
Also, the formality of an award gives the employee a powerful sense of accomplishment. More on that in the next section.
4. They Leave a Lasting Impression
Plaques and awards are meant to be displayed to continually remind the employee of the appreciation.
They can be hung on the wall, displayed on a shelf or placed on the desk to give employees that extra boost when they need some motivation.
Awards are deeply valued in our culture because they are a status symbol. An Olympic gold medal, for instance, represents that that athlete is the best in their field.
Even as kids- a girl scout with a sash full of patches shows her deep rooted commitment and all the time and effort she put into the program.
Rewards remind us to take pride in our work and help drive us to continue working hard.
5. Plaques and Awards Foster a Sense of Teamwork
In many corporations, there is a strong divide between employees and executives.
When the executives get all the credit, employees are left feeling disposable. Acknowledgment from the higher ups makes employees feel like they are a valuable part of the team.
Awards help to bridge this gap and show that every job in the company is crucial to the business’ overall success.
6. Greater Employee Satisfaction
We all know that Monday morning feeling. You know, the dragging day with a mountain to climb before we get to the next weekend?
The best way to combat that feeling is working a job you actually like.
How can employers create a positive work environment? You guessed it! Plaques and awards!
Tangible recognition helps employees like their jobs more because of the sense of being valuable. Plus, employees who are happy at their jobs are more productive. In fact, a study reported by Fortune found that happy employees show an increase in productivity of up to 20%.
For obvious reasons, increased productivity is a huge advantage for any company.
Productivity feeds right back into employee satisfaction too. That’s because employees will be able to see all they have accomplished and take a greater sense of pride in their work.
7. Direct Performance Feedback
With all of the positive reasons we have discussed, it’s important to also acknowledge the flip side.
When there is a work culture that recognizes achievement, it also sends a message that underperformance will also be noticed.
This can light a fire under the seats of unmotivated workers because it gives them something to work towards. It also reminds them that someone is evaluating their performance.
Think about it, aren’t you more likely to behave well when someone’s watching?
For example, you wouldn’t let out a huge belch in front of colleagues you were trying to impress, but if no one was around you wouldn’t have to worry about the judgment. Showing that good work is recognized by the company also shows that bad work is noticed.
As you can see, rewards motivate employees in more ways than one.
In Closing
If you want to harness the motivational power of plaques and awards, check out the extensive shop at Martin Awards.
We offer a wide variety of awards, promotional products, trophies, and more. All are customizable and able to be shipped worldwide.
Check out our testimonials to see that at Martin Awards, great customer satisfaction is close to our hearts.
Questions? We are only a call or email away!
