One of the most important things you can do to positively affect the performance of your employee recognition program is to make sure it is communicated properly. With the advent of social media in the workplace there seems to be an automatic assumption that communication of these programs will take of care of itself and we don’t have to do much. Maybe we do get a lot out of these social media sources, but don’t rely on them so heavily that you forget to promote your program whenever possible.
To start, make sure that the program is kicked off successfully. Use senior management, either on video or in person to announce it and share why it is so important. If it’s already in place, once a year you should re-introduce the program using senior management. No one has the skills of the great orators of our history, but some pre-planning will help make that introduction a success. This post from TLNT, a popular HR management blog, gives some excellent advice on how to get your message out to your audience. Simple ideas for doing this include:
- Analyzing Your Audience….who you’re talking to, what they want, how they can benefit
- Understanding the Reactions You Want to Produce….what do you want them to do
- Modify the Delivery to Achieve Those Reactions….use passion while delivering your message
The launch is critical, but ongoing communication with participants is equally as important. When you motivate your employees with a proper launch, they have a choice: they either stay engaged, they stay involved, they take a proactive stance to sort of continue to be involved in that vision, and/or they shut down. Ongoing communications help ensure that they don’t shut down.
