CIPD

Sample Employee Recognition Program Checklist

Sample Employee Recognition Checklist

• Set goals.

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• Be really clear about what you want to achieve through recognition. Is it culture change or reinforcing company values. Is it achievement of specific targets or do you want to create a happier, more collaborative workplace? Be really clear on the ‘what’ up front.

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• Create a toolkit.

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• There are many different ways to recognise employees both formally and informally, low cost and high end, manager led and peer to peer. Think of these options as a recognition toolkit and match the method to what you are trying to achieve.

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• Use technology.

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• Technology and systems are enablers for recognition and make it easy to deliver high impact personalised recognition.

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• Evaluate today.

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• Consider how you are recognising employees now. What have you got in place today and how effective is it? It may be a formal system or it could be an informal system or the way managers behave. Is it delivering the results you want?

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• Consider tomorrow. 

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• Your recognition approach can and should evolve over time to best support changes in company strategy, goals and culture as well as your employee profile.

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• Be authentic.

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• Recognition is most impactful when it’s authentic and becomes part of your company’s everyday way of working. It helps to build a plan of how this can be achieved so it’s not seen as a novelty or another initiative.

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• Listen to employees. 

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• Find out how your employees want to be recognised and develop an understanding of what works and, just as importantly, what doesn’t work. Everyone is different and so building flexibility into your recognition will pay dividends.

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• Think global.

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• One size doesn’t fit all – if you have employees in more than one country then different cultures will have different needs. What works in the UK may not deliver the same results in Hong Kong or Brazil.

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• Measure.

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• Identify the metrics you’ll use to measure the impact that recognition is having. This will help you assess whether you’re on the right track and that you’re not seeing anything you didn’t intend to.

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• Test.

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• Pilot, test, refine and review your approach to check it’s delivering what you want or can it evolve to be even more successful.

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• Develop a team.

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• Build a broad team to work on this – reward, talent & development, communications etc. The end result will be best for your business.

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• Upskill.

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• For recognition to be at its best, your managers need to be capable and confident in what they need to do. Understanding what support managers will need and delivering this will really increase the impact of your recognition approach.

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• Smile.

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• Developing and delivering a recognition toolkit is energising, creative and will have a really positive impact on your employees – so enjoy the experience!

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