Employee Recognition and Service Awards - Showing Appreciation to a Company's Best Asset

Employee recognition and service awards can take shape in several forms. Historically, service awards have been synonymous with employee recognition. Service awards are a way of recognizing employees for length of time with the company and their service to the organization. On milestone anniversaries businesses will offer gifts to commemorate the occasion, usually giving the employee a selection of gifts to choose from.

This type of recognition has changed a little in the past years as companies have downsized and baby boomers have retired from the work force earlier. Companies are now also recognizing special efforts by employees. For example, a company might give a recognition award or gift to a top salesperson, or a customer service representative who goes above and beyond. These types of recognition awards should not be confused with incentives, which are more of a motivational tool to reach a specific goal.

Although with these changes in the larger corporate arena, there appears to be an increase in small corporations and businesses offering tenure awards to their employees. The methods of offering this recognition have also changed in the last couple of years.

Methods of Recognition - The traditional method of recognition was for a corporation to offer gifts to their employees by means of selection out of a printed catalog. Today more and more companies are offering gifts to their employees via company branded websites.

Many corporate gift companies and recognition/incentive organizations will enter into a relationship with a corporation and will setup a website with the corporate identity of the client; featuring a selection of gifts for each year of recognition. These will not have dollar figures so the employee will be unable to know the exact dollar value of their reward, but they can easily select exactly what they want. The corporate gift company will then fulfill the individual order requests.

Setting up a branded website with gift items is an economical way to show employees they are truly appreciated. It gives the feeling that they are appreciated enough for the business to have a place for them to select gifts that are meaningful to them. It is much more effective than just handing them a clock for 5 years, or a watch for 10 years of service.

Types of Service Awards - Many companies such as large pharmaceuticals and banks will present their employees with items that have their logo included. Other companies will offer gifts such as appliances, personal use products, jewelry or functional office gifts. Some will even offer a combination of logo items and non logo items. The gift selection depends entirely on the philosophy of the employer.

An investment in your most important asset, your employees, will prove to have a great return on your investment. If they are happy you will be happy. Employee recognition and service awards are just one way to show your appreciation.