Every employee wants to feel appreciated for their hard work and dedication. After all, a happy and fulfilled employee is a motivated employee. But how can you tangibly reward your employees while reinforcing your small business’s core values and beliefs? One way is to establish an employee of the month program. However, before you do so, you should consider your goals, parameters, rewards, and selection process, all of which will help shape your program.
Define Your Program Goals
First, take the time to speak with HR and management to determine the aim and goals of your employee of the month program. You want to make sure the program goals are concrete, such as increasing revenue or decreasing spending, because you don’t want to show favoritism by selecting the winner based on undefined goals. In addition, you may want to consider having your employees vote on each month’s winner so that the voting is more inclusive.
Establish Your Program Parameters
Next, you want to create parameters that aren’t too difficult to reach, yet challenging enough to attain so that your employees have something to strive for. For example, you need to come up with something more tangible than “team player” or “best attitude.” If you really want to emphasize teamwork as a parameter, you can establish goals such as interdepartmental contributions.
The parameters should be fair for all employees and give them a chance to compete on a level playing field. Here are some other things to consider:
- Get a consensus on how performance will be measured.
- Make sure program rules are easy to understand and verify.
- Be open to flexibility with the rules; there could be circumstances that call for re-evaluation.
Determine Program Rewards
Spend some time thinking about the type of rewards you want to offer each month’s winner. Monetary compensation is nice, but there are many other options employees would appreciate. For example, you could award the winner a day off, a day at the spa, a free month of parking, or a gift card. You could also select a unique award each month and publicize it at the beginning of the month to generate interest and motivate your employees. In addition, a personalized plaque or trophy is a nice touch; although it should be unique and stylish enough to warrant interest. Finally, make sure the winner is publicly recognized at a company function and/or in a company-wide newsletter. After all, increasing the profile of the program will help raise awareness.
Communicate Openly and Ask for Employee Feedback
The employee of the month program is for your employees, so keep them in the loop about what’s going on. What parameters and goals would you like them to accomplish? And what do they have to do to earn recognition? Also, make sure you have a meeting or offer an informational blog post about the program so that employees know what to expect.
You should also welcome feedback and input on the program when you are drafting it. You could consider creating a nomination form and selecting a diverse committee from different departments or even have your entire staff vote on the winner. Once you have a final program in place, share the goals and parameters with your employees. Finally, be transparent. When you announce each month’s winner, specify exactly why that employee won and detail the work they put in.
Periodically Assess Your Program
Your employee of the month program might not be perfect from the start, but if you objectively review the program and ask for feedback, you can ensure that employees will appreciate it. As long as the criteria is unambiguous and everyone has an equal opportunity to win the award, employees will embrace the program.
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