If you’re a manager, you’ve probably got a few employees on your team who go above and beyond the call of duty. These are the unsung heroes of your organization; they’re the ones that make things happen when they need to, and they’re often overlooked by other managers who simply don’t know how to recognize their contributions. Fortunately, there are lots of ways you can recognize these hard-working employees. In this article, we’ll explore four different employee recognition examples that will help ensure you give credit where credit is due—and inspire others to do the same:

Recognizing unsung heroes

An unsung hero is a person in your team who goes above and beyond to help others and make the workplace more productive. Unsung heroes are often overlooked, but they deserve recognition because they are the ones who make your company successful. Here’s how you can recognize unsung heroes:

  • Encourage people to nominate an unsung hero. You could use an online form, or just ask your employees directly.
  • Give them a gift card or other small token of appreciation. This will show them that you care about their work and efforts on behalf of the company.

Celebrate accomplishments

Once you have identified a few of your employees’ strengths, it’s time to put them to good use. Start by setting goals for each employee, and then track progress as they work towards reaching them. If an employee achieves their goal before the deadline, celebrate. This could be done in person or via email or text message.

If you want to get creative, try using social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram to showcase your unsung heroes’ accomplishments. If this is something that makes sense for your organization and its culture, why not post photos on these platforms? Your employees will love seeing themselves being recognized in this way. Another idea would be to create an awards program—this can make recognition more fun while also motivating other employees who might otherwise start slacking off if they don’t feel like they’re being noticed enough by management.

Get creative

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to recognize an employee. Creativity and resourcefulness are what will help you get the most bang for your buck. Recognizing the accomplishments of your team members is important, but it’s also important to recognize what they’re doing outside of work. If someone has volunteered at a charity event or won a sports competition, make sure you let them know how much you notice and appreciate their efforts.

If you’re looking for more ideas beyond monetary rewards and gifts, there are several great options. One is to create a friendly competition between departments. You could do something as simple as seeing which department can submit the best sales report each month, but if this idea doesn’t fit with what your business does then find another way to encourage friendly competition amongst employees who share similar goals or interests.

For example, if one group has more female members than another group then perhaps they could have an internal bake-off contest where everyone brings something homemade into work that represents their culture. The winning item gets served at the next office meeting. Alternatively, you can host regular events like book clubs or movie nights where employees can enjoy themselves together outside of their normal working environment

Lead by example

You can lead by example, too. Set the pace for your team and recognize others’ efforts. The more you reinforce recognition with your own words and actions, the more likely it is that others in the organization will follow suit. Think about how you can create a culture of recognition at work by by setting aside time each week to recognize employees, even if it’s just a few minutes at the end of a meeting.

Conclusion

The time and effort that goes into recognizing employees can be worth it if you’re looking to reward the people who do their jobs so well. The bottom line is, don’t wait until they retire—recognize them now.