Student 1 William

Hello,

After reviewing the materials from this week, discuss the importance of employee recognition programs. Ensure you are noting the following:

There are many different types of employee recognition programs. Some programs focus on group performance recognition, some focus on individual performance recognition, and some use a hybrid of the two. There is no single type that is best for every situation. The important thing is that the chosen method is effective at managing and driving employee production.

What are some of the ways to recognize employees?

“Cash bonuses and incentives need to be linked to project priorities. It makes no sense to reward a team for completing their work early if controlling cost was the number one priority ” (Larson & Gray, 2021, p. 407) Cash bonuses, gift certificates, company financed vacations, extra time off, and other tangible intangible assets that will last longer than cash. This theory falls in line with the 1st R of The 3 Rs of Effective Employee Recognition video from this week’s course material. It is vital that managers recognize employees for the right kinds of behaviors. Employees should be recognized for “…specific behaviors proven to meet clearly stated performance goals including those that support positive company culture.” (P2PEngagement, 2016)

Why is employee recognition important?

Project Management Body of Knowledge states that “ Project teams who are recognized for work they put in and the performance they achieve are more likely to continue to perform well.” (Project Management Institute, 2021, p. 22) A well-managed employee recognition program drives productivity by inspiring creativity building team cohesion and fostering positive team competition. A well-managed reward system keeps employees focused on the priorities of the project and encourages team performance and extra effort. This extra efforts often results in a completed project that meets or exceeds the project charter’s definition of done without overages in budget or schedule.

What happens if you don’t recognize employees?

Why Employee Recognition is Essential for Performance Management states that “If high performing employees feel that their work goes unnoticed, their morale and motivation will weaken.” (Tracker, 2014) Employees/people sometimes need external recognition in the form of positive feedback or rewards to validate their accomplishments. In some cases, failing to do this will likely cause them to feel unfulfilled. A lack of intrinsic value will likely result in a carefree nonchalant approach to their task. This will have a negative impact on their performance.

Will,

References

Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2021). Project Management: The Managerial Process. New York: McGraw-Hill.

P2PEngagement. (2016, August 24). The 3 Rs of Effective Employee Recognition! Retrieved from YouTube:

Project Management Institute. (2021). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (17th ed.). Pennsylvania: Project Management Institute.

Tracker, G. (2014, October 14). Why Employee Recognition is Essential for Performance Management. Retrieved from YouTube:

Student 2 Joshua

Joshua Andersen

Park University

PM693 Human Resource and Procurement Management

Dr. Nickea Harris

Discussion 2

24 August 2022

Executive Summary

What are some of the ways to recognize employees?

Some of the ways that a company can recognize their employees are Motivation events, Loyalty programs, Empowerment programs, Service awards, Reward systems, Motivational speakers, and Employee suggestion systems (Phillips et al., 2015). I want to highlight the Employee suggestion system, Loyalty programs, and Service awards because I believe these can be the most effective. Studies have shown that while recognition programs can help employee satisfaction, it is only successful if the employee is receiving something they wish to receive (Montani et al., 2020). An employee suggestion system can ultimately help the company save on costs while providing employees with a voice to receive things they desire (Phillips et al., 2015). It may prove difficult to adequately recognize those in our organization if we do not understand what they want. Loyalty programs are usually used with association with the consumer of a business, but similar tactics can work with employees as well. Recognizing employees that have worked at the same place for longer will make them feel more involved and like they are appreciated for what they do (Phillips et al., 2015). Service awards go hand in hand with loyalty programs in that they reward longevity of employment (Phillips et al., 2015). It does not go without saying that since the time in between recognition may be upwards of 5-10 years this by itself may not be enough of a recognition program. The best way to recognize employees is by compounding methods and offering various ways to recognize those who work for you.

• Motivation events, loyalty programs, empowerment programs, service awards, reward systems, motivational speakers, and employee suggestion systems are all ways to recognize employees
• The best recognition methods involve the voice of the employees
• A business should understand its employee’s desires or ask for their input when selecting a recognition strategy

Why is employee recognition important?

Employee recognition is extremely important within any organization, the last thing you want, especially in businesses that involve multi-million-dollar equipment, and deal with life or death scenarios, is an employee or operator who is disgruntled (Montani et al., 2020). Employee recognition can also lead to reduced costs in training and turnover since bringing replacements onboard can take up valuable time and effort, especially in terms of project management. Overall employee recognition leads to employee satisfaction which ultimately helps the bottom line of the business (Montani et al., 2020). Aside from non-profit organizations which typically self-serve the role of recognition, a business sets out to make money, and considering employee recognition can come at no cost to the employer, it is extremely important to retain qualified talent for as long as possible.

• A lack of employee recognition can lead to significant losses for a business
• Employee satisfaction can allow a company to retain necessary talent and a happy workforce

What happens if you don’t recognize employees?

Without meaningful recognition, employees may feel less motivated to accomplish their work, and in some cases do not do their work at all (Montani et al., 2020). As mentioned earlier, turnover and training new employees constantly come at great cost to a business, combined with the time it takes others away from focusing on what their job is to train someone new can be a byproduct of an organization’s ability to recognize employees. Job satisfaction is one of the leading reasons employees quit, and it can be something as simple as providing non-incentive-based recognition to avoid it (Montani et al., 2020). At worst, a lack of recognition within an organization could cause an employee to cause intentional damage to the company, and at best could lead to a vacancy the company was not anticipating. In personal experience, I have seen both paths play out, after an IT worker was denied requests to adjust workload and began feeling undervalued, he provided his notice and proceeded to disconnect all of the servers within the health clinic we worked at causing millions of dollars in lost time and care. More often I see people leave their positions to work for other companies that have a better quality of life and treat their employees better. In many cases, a simple thank you or a handshake in front of others you work with can be enough to make an employee feel recognized and valued for their contributions.

• A lack of employee recognition can lead to frequent turnover
• Job satisfaction is one of the main reasons employees quit
• Unsatisfied employees can wreak havoc on a company’s bottom line and affect others’ morale

References

Montani, F., Boudrias, J.-S., & Pigeon, M. (2020). Employee recognition, meaningfulness and behavioural involvement: Test of a moderated mediation model. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(3), 356–384. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1288153Links to an external site.

Phillips, J. J., Phillips, P. P., & Schell, S. C. (2015). The Value of Motivation: How to Measure the Value, Impact, and ROI of Motivational Projects, Programs, and Events. Performance Improvement, 54(5), 16. https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.21480Links to an external site.

PM693 Discussion 2.docx