One of the most successful yet NO cost ways to create employee engagement is to recognize them. It can be as simple as saying thank you. Have you said thank you to any of your employees or peers lately? Find a way to say thank you at least once a day. Look for opportunities. Have they gone over and beyond? Have they finished an assignment early? Did they make a suggestion? Were they helpful to another employee? There are countless opportunities to say thank you.
Another way to recognize employees is to give them meaningful work. Make sure you communicate the value of the work your employees are performing. Look for opportunities to give them a meaningful project – either something important to the company’s success or something the employee is interested in. Tell them you are recognizing their hard work and ideas with a special project. Ask if there is something they are interested in?
Recognize your employees in public. Write about their successful ideas in a company newsletter. Give them a gift card for dinner at a company lunch. Recognize the best with awards once a year. Typically these small gestures go a long way as the employee knows you were thinking of them and are able to share it with their colleagues.
Last but not least, recognize your employees with what is meaningful to them. Find out about your employees. Some might prefer to take off time in the middle of the day to go to their child’s school assembly. Others might prefer the opportunity to take a day off from time to time. Another might prefer to work on a priority project. Another might like to go to an Angels game. If it is meaningful to the person, it will go a long way!