The primary objective of any employee recognition program is to celebrate the efforts and achievements of the members of the workforce and make them feel valued. When planned and implemented in the right manner, these programs can ensure major benefits for an organization in the following ways: 

· It helps in boosting the morale and motivation of the employees significantly, which, in turn, impacts their performance efficiency as well as their commitment to business growth. 

· A good recognition program plays a critical role in improving the business bottom line and the overall profitability of an organization by enhancing employee productivity and work quality.

· These programs can ensure higher retention of top talent within the organization by making them aware of the impact of their good work and appreciating and rewarding them for the same.

· Most importantly, employee recognition programs can go a long way in motivating and inspiring the entire workforce to improve their skills and competence in order to become eligible for the recognition and appreciation received by their colleagues.

In order to take advantage of the various benefits offered by a good recognition program, it is important for organizations to provide recognition in an effective manner. This means that the recognition should be specific and timely and should be offered frequently and publicly to make it more impactful.

In addition, organizations also need to ensure that the recognition being offered is inclusive and is well-integrated with key corporate values.

All these aspects combine to add value to the recognition program and make it more authentic and inspiring for the employees. Organizations need to focus on the key elements of a perfect employee recognition program and incorporate them into their programs to enhance their effectiveness.

Even though organizations implement employee recognition programs implemented in different ways, there are a few key elements that every such program should feature.

The most important of these elements of perfect employee rewards and recognition program is discussed in brief as follows:


1.     Timely and Specific Recognition

The organization needs to make sure that the recognition program implemented by them is flexible enough to appreciate the deserving employees in a spontaneous and immediate manner. Timely recognition maximizes its impact on employee motivation levels and also inspires them to continue to give their best for business growth.

Moreover, the program should focus on recognizing specific efforts, achievements, and even specific behavior of the employees. This is essential to maintain the relevance and authenticity of the program. 


2.     Involvement of Top Management

The effectiveness of a recognition system depends on a great extent to how much the top management of the organization is involved in the planning and execution of the program. This is due to the simple fact that the active participation of the top management sends out a strong positive message to the employees about the significance of the program.

They feel assured that the big wigs within the organization really value their efforts and their achievements. This simple fact can go a long way in enhancing the overall engagement level of the employees and keeping them motivated through the recognition program.


3.     Peer-to-Peer Recognition 

Peer-to-peer recognition holds almost the same level of significance as the recognition offered by top management. Being appreciated by their peers and co-workers for their good work and achievements fills the employees with a sense of pride and accomplishment that is quite unmatched.

It assures the employees that they are truly respected by their colleagues. Rather than causing resentment among their fellow workers, they have actually managed to win their trust and appreciation. This in itself can help in increasing the engagement level of the employees significantly and make them feel valued.


4.    Variety of Recognition

It is extremely important for organizations to maintain employee interest in the recognition programs to keep reaping its benefits. This can be ensured by increasing the diversity of recognition so that the employees feel constantly excited and curious about the program.

Another major benefit that organizations are likely to enjoy by enhancing the diversity of their recognition programs is that it enables them to acknowledge and appreciate a greater number of employees for different reasons, thus enhancing its reach to include the maximum number of employees.

The diversity in recognition can also be implemented by ensuring employees are rewarded or appreciated at different levels and different criteria. This increases the coverage of the program and helps in building a happier and more satisfied workforce. 


5.     Integration of Core Business Values

Building a perfect recognition program is nearly impossible if it is not integrated the core business values of an organization. This ensures that employee engagement is happening for the right reasons, which, in turn, helps in reinforcing organization culture in a strong and effective manner.

In order to integrate the rewards and recognition program with is corporate values, an organization should clearly establish acceptable behavior guidelines at the workplace, have a proper understanding of the objectives it intends to achieve with the recognition program, and the reasons for having specific rewards and recognition categories, etc.
These factors should form the basis on which a strong and effective recognition policy and the system is developed.