5 Ways to Make Employee Recognition Fun and Straightforward

Employee recognition often gets brought up in a connotation of something that could be a neat add-on to the existing internal culture. The pros for doing it are that it is a great way to show value and appreciation for the employees, boost internal morale, and be a differentiator when hiring. The cons are the costs, the challenge of onboarding and implementing a new tool, and the stickiness of the program, aka how likely are employees to still use it in 6 months. 

Don’t fret! Employee recognition doesn’t need to be daunting or challenging. Let’s look at 5 common objections and discover ways to make the program fun, exciting, and internally sticky. 

1. “I do not want to spend time on learning how this works.”
   
   There is an abundance of tools out there aiming to make the employees’ lives and experience better. Plenty of companies go through short trials and onboarding to realize that their employee stops using the tool within the next few months. The reason for the drop-off is quite simple - stickiness and ease of use. This is especially true for employee recognition software. If the employee experience is not seamless or familiar, they will not use it long term.
   
   We’ve all had the experience with tools that are very beautiful but do not become second nature.
   
   At Assembly, we’ve kept this in mind with the new recognition flow look. It has a very familiar process (there is most likely a tool with the same format that you use already), fun that doesn’t feel forced, making it stickier with employees, and close to no learning curve.
   ‍
2. “One size does not fit all.”
   
   ‍The concept of employee recognition is not new. It is a known fact that people like to feel valued and appreciated, leading to better employees. What is a newer concept is going beyond kudos or cash rewards as a way to show appreciation. Cash might still be king, but it is not one solution for all situations. Allowing employees to pick a reward the resonates the most with them is a beautiful gift any organization can give.
   
   For this reason, Assembly has an entire catalog of rewards - raging from cultural like getting an extra day off or having lunch with an executive of your choice to gift cards, swag, and charity donations. Assembly encourages the continuous recognition loop by giving people an opportunity to pick something they care about having.
   ‍
3. “Don’t make me use another tool.”
   
   ‍Do you roll your eyes when you get an email that says the company is implementing another tool? Tool fatigue is absolutely real. With the variety of options available, it can be tough to switch between solutions on even branch out. The best tools are the ones that do not require extra effort. They become a part of your already existing routine, thus saving you additional steps.
   
   When it comes to employee recognition, to truly make it a part of the routine, it needs to seamlessly integrate with the existing tools that employees use - like Slack and MS Teams. Assembly lets you recognize and show appreciation for your peers in any Slack or Teams channel for the most convenience and simplicity. No tool fatigue here!
   ‍
4. “Don’t put me in a silo“
   
   ‍Appreciation and recognition are very satisfying but amplifying it and making it public can be genuinely motivating. One of the problems with bonuses and performance review kudos is that they are siloed and outside of the manager, and the employee knows one knows about it. More often than not, the manager is not the one who has the most contact with an employee and might not have visibility into some of the work that gets done.
   
   Assembly’s goal is to empower teams to show appreciation for each other more and share it publicly. There is a sense of unity in knowing how hard everyone is working and having visibility into achievements. It makes getting to the goals feel like a team sport rather than an individual battle.
   ‍
5. “So what”
   
   Employee recognition is great, but so what. What does it actually do that is so valuable? The workplace environment is full of relationships, and any good relationship is based on mutual respect and appreciation. Assembly makes employee recognition into the workplace version of the catalog of love languages. It allows employees to show and celebrate their achievements in the way that speaks the most to them. Happy people make happy employees, and they do successful businesses.

Assembly is focused on opening the door to what recognition could look like, and the new recognition flow is just a first step. Check out below:

‍