The Importance of Staff Awards
In business, it’s important to know how to motivate staff and increase productivity. When it comes to mobilising your employees, there are various ways you can go about it, with the carrot or stick debate being a constant thorny issue for employers the world over. We at Hercules land firmly on the side of the carrot, and we believe that positive reinforcement is the best way to encourage your staff to do well.
We put together this article to illustrate the reasons why implementing employee awards is a great method for getting your team to do their best work.
Added Incentive
Of course, you want everyone in your team to have the innate drive to do well, but even in the most rewarding jobs in the most pleasant workplaces, work can feel like just that – work. Establishing some in-house targets for people to aim for is an effective way of adding an extra motivating factor into their day-to-day work. If they’re seeking that employee of the month award, they might feel more inclined to take on the extra hour here and there, or simply engage more while on the job.
Improved Morale
Another great reason for giving awards is to boost employee spirits. Dr Ashley Whillians from the Harvard Business School puts it simply, saying “what really matters in the workplace is helping employees feel appreciated”, and implementing staff awards is the perfect way to express some of that appreciation. People do their best work when they feel it’s being seen and recognized, and a shiny plaque or statue with a gift basket or voucher is a tangible way to demonstrate that their efforts aren’t going unnoticed.
Encourage Healthy Competition
Forging a sense of healthy competition in the workplace is a great way to facilitate a higher standard of work being completed. Forbes describes the benefits of “cooperative competition”. What they mean here is that while your team may be up against each other for a prize, they’ll still be working towards a common goal. Working together is shown to encourage camaraderie, motivation, and bonding, and trying to one-up each other and improve upon their colleague’s work can prove a powerful way to boost productivity. Setting prizes and awards for runners-up, or perhaps a top ten leaderboard, is a great way to make the awards feel more attainable for workers across your business environment.
While gift baskets, bottles of wine, and cash prizes are great motivators, they are also expendable. An explicit symbol of appreciation goes a long way in a staff award, adding a degree of sincerity and sentimental value. At Hercules, we manufacture various awards, ranging from statues and shields to medals and plaques, along with everything in between.
Check out our range of award options today, and motivate your team to do their best.
