Choose the Right Employee Reward and Recognition Program Incentive

The most common type of service award is the traditional length of service program. These awards recognize people for their commitment to the company and can help establish an almost forgotten feeling in today's workplace . . . a sense of belonging. It's no longer realistic to wait until an employee's 25th anniversary to honor his dedication and high performance. Workers who stay with you through the ups and downs deserve to be recognized and thanked for their loyalty and excellent work more often than every couple of decades.

The attendance incentive award program is another well-known employee reward and recognition program incentive. Calling in on short notice to take the day off-whether legitimate or not-creates gaps in staffing, which can lead to costly mistakes and reductions in productivity and quality. It also builds resentment among employees who show up for work every day and have to cover for the person who is often absent.

In recent years, the peer-to-peer service award program has gained popularity. These incentive solutions allow managers and co-workers to identify and reward colleagues who have made the extra effort. Sometimes personalized awards are given on the spot, so there's no delay in recognition-one of the most important aspects of a service award program. Other peer-to-peer incentive plans are set up on a monthly or quarterly schedule, but rarely longer.

A good number of organizations have found success with a citizenship quality award. These incentive programs recognize employees who exemplify certain values that are important to the organization. Quite often they are special customer service employee reward and recognition program awards.

For instance, a large collection agency used such a service award to help motivate and reward its account executives. These employees spent all day interacting with people who were on the verge of bankruptcy and were being hounded by creditors. Frequently the customers were angry, upset and abusive, but not always.

In fact, the company regularly received letters from thankful customers who commended their account executives for treating them with a respect and dignity they hadn't experienced in years. From these letters, management would choose one employee to honor publicly. Recipients would select an award from a merchandise catalog.

Done on a quarterly basis, these customer service employee reward and recognition program awards were highly regarded by employees. They felt as if they were really helping people.

The best way to figure out which kind of employee reward and recognition program award makes sense for your group is to know your participants. Ask questions such as: