And the winner of the Employee of the Year award is…
As part of your leadership responsibilities you will occasionally want to recognize the qualities and efforts of various members of your team. An Employee of the Year (or Month?) award is an incredible opportunity for you to show them how proud you are of them.
Imagine this: a beautiful award or trophy in the middle of the room and all your employees waiting to get their hands on it. But, what guidelines should you follow to make the Employee of the Year award one that is heartfelt, sincerely presented and highly coveted? At Trophy & Plaque Shack we will tell you everything you need to know.
What is an Employee of the Year award?
This award is a badge of honor that employers give to specific employees to recognize their exceptional effort. But not just any effort is not recognized: it seeks to give this distinction to that employee who is distinguished from the rest by her/his performance, attitude and disposition.
As the boss, it will be you who determines what requirements your staff must meet in order to have a shot at reaching this distinction. These requirements are typically called the “selection criteria“.
The big goal
If you want your company to have a harmonious, productive and high-performance environment, implementing this type of award is a wise decision.
The theory is that, thanks to this award (and possibly others) and how masterfully it is presented, employees are motivated to give their best effort throughout the year. This type of recognition can be accompanied by an economic stimulus and/or something additional to the trophy, plaque, etc., such as a new cell phone or a vacation coupon.
However, the award itself achieves an invaluable goal: recognition. An employee who is awarded this award is recognized in front of all of their colleagues and held up as an example for others to emulate.
This, in addition to the trophy, can be the best prize of all.
Successful employee recognition program: Key things to do
Employee motivation and increased morale is one objective of this type of award. But, to run a successful employee recognition program, developing award criteria is essential.
Each of the criteria must be impartial, so that no one employee benefits more than another.
If you design the award criteria to benefit a narrowly defined function or person, the motivational aspects will be lost.
Now, if you wish to target several areas or functions within your company it is best to create different categories.
In other words: “Production Employee of the Year“, “Human Resources Employee of the Year“, and so on. With this, you can ensure that all your teams strive hard throughout the year.
What is a good employee like? Characteristics and abilities
Soft skills and techniques are important in an employee. Soft skills include:
- Social experience & ability to work well within a team
- Personality
- Character
- Communication skills
- Emotional intelligence
- Influence
- Work attitude
- And, in the post-COVID world, ability to effectively work remotely
These skills complement the hard skills, which were learned and acquired through experience. The main difference is that hard skills can typically be measured and quantified, whereas for soft skills, not so much – more of a “you know it when you see it” factor.
In addition to these two areas of evaluation, generic skills and characteristics of a good employee are:
Knows the what and also the why
A good employee knows the reason why his job exists. This is a step beyond knowing how to do your job. With this, he/she can come up with new ideas to improve the result.
Professionalism
Good employees are courteous, address everyone properly, and are always presentable in their work area. They are ambassadors for your brand to the outside world as well. This factor should be on display at all times.
Honesty and integrity
When a person is honest and operates with integrity, it is possible to have a harmonious and productive work area. Good employees are known for balancing the workload with their personal lives, as well as fostering a safe environment and mentoring others.
Innovative ideas
When you are in the presence of a good employee, you are in front of someone who brings new ideas and reinvents their processes to benefit both customers and the company. Stagnation and complacency are the completely opposite traits.
Problem solving skills
An outstanding employees will stay “on task” until problems are resolved and all assigned work completed. Abandoning tasks is not characteristic of a good employee.
Positive attitude and teamwork
Recognize those employees who bring a positive attitude to work. This type of individual will have a positive impact in the workplace and improve the energy level of the team.
At the same time, this attitude is linked to the ability to work with other people, coordinating skills to reach a common goal.
There is a saying for evaluating job applicants: “you hire the attitude” and then each the missing skills.
Willingness to learn
Anyone with a mind open to acquiring new knowledge, who is inquisitive, is deserving of the highest recognition. Value your employees who are continuous learners, because they will add value to your processes.
Creativity
Creativity, contrary to popular belief, is a skill that can be learned. Although some people naturally have this ability, it can be acquired through experimentation, imagination, questioning, collaboration and analytical methods. Allowing some level of risk taking in every job, without penalty for failure, encourages a “safe” environment for innovation.
Generosity
Your good employees are the ones who instinctively make time to coach and mentor others. They share their experiences and are generous in sharing knowledge.
How to choose the winner of the employee of the year award?
Let the employees decide! They know better than anyone who has supported and guided them throughout the year to accomplish important objectives.
The next step is to think about how, when and where to do the awards presentation. We have some suggestions on that topic as well.
Once you set your guidelines and organized the awards event, it is time to choose the prize!
Visit our website for ideas for the ideal trophy for your next Employee Achievement award. You can design your own, or our skilled staff can offer recommendations. Give us a call at 610-326-8841, or contact us here for more information.
