People work more effectively if they are engaged in valued work and if they don’t come across too many stumbling blocks to their forward progress, according to a recent Harvard Business Review blog article referencing the progress principle (find out more here). In order to increase the accountability and personal effectiveness of your employees, you may wish to take advantage of this idea. An inexpensive employee recognition program could help your employees feel important and appreciated, thus increasing their personal accountability and improving their general attitude about their work. This could in turn improve your talent retention and keep your division running smoothly.

Employee recognition helps employees to feel like a valued part of your organization. Recognition of employee strengths and accomplishments does not need to be expensive, though. Here are a few simple ideas to get you started.

Inexpensive Employee Recognition Ideas

1. Superlatives

Come up with positive and possibly humorous superlatives for each employee in your division, such as “Most likely to save the day” or “Most likely to help a colleague out of a tight spot.” Come up with a unique superlative for each employee, and print a certificate for each employee with their superlative on it that they can display at their desk if they wish. This can serve as a way to publicly praise employees for their unique strengths and accomplishments, and it can also build a sense of community, both of which are likely to increase personal accountability by increasing each employee’s personal investment in their job.

2. Trophies

Create an informal employee of the day or employee of the week or employee of the month program. Find an outlandish trophy (or spray paint a random object gold to be used as a trophy). When an employee acts in an especially praiseworthy way, make a big deal about presenting the trophy to them to display on their desk in honor of their accomplishment. Employees may engage in friendly competition for the trophy and increase their levels of personal effectiveness as a result.

3. Contests

Occasionally, harken back to past school days and steal some school spirit types of activities to improve employee morale and personal accountability around the office. Lighten the atmosphere every once in a while with an ugliest tie contest or a wackiest sweater contest. Award the winners with a small coffee shop gift card or similar inexpensive treat for their participation.

How do you recognize your employees?