It’s time for a fresh start. The holidays are behind us and the year-end scramble is done. There’s no better time to make a few resolutions in pursuit of employee engagement.  Here are the top four that you should consider:

1. I Will Say Thank You. A lot. Say it every time there’s a good reason. And say it as soon as possible.

You want your team to work hard towards organizational goals. When you show appreciation for the right decisions and actions, you’re teaching everyone what is expected and you’re giving meaning and purpose to the work.

2. I Will Use the Recognition and Engagement Tools I Have. You’ve done the employee engagement survey. You’ve got a recognition system in place. So is it working? Engagement is one of those use it or lose it things. . . To see results, you have to use the tools at your disposal, whether it’s sending eCards, nominating people on your team for the annual awards, or creating incentive campaigns. Do you have points to distribute for performance? Distribute them as soon as possible after the achievement.  You’ll have to tie the reward to the accomplishment for it to have maximum meaning.

3. I Will Know My Audience. All those people at the office are unique individuals with unique needs and aspirations. Recent research by the Incentive Research Foundation and the Incentive Marketing Association showed that out of 452 employees polled, there were 448 recognition preferences. Yes, the reward matters. But so does who’s presenting it, how and when it’s presented, and what career opportunities it opens up. Be sure you have a handle on what connects with your people, to get the maximum boost from recognition.

4. I Will Celebrate. Celebrate success. Celebrate service anniversaries. Celebrate personal milestones – weddings, babies, first homes, graduations – of everyone on your team. Celebration connects people. People who can celebrate together are more likely to give each other a hand when needed… because they care. You are building a community, after all.

We wish you a very Happy, Healthy, and Successful New Year. And we wish you an engaged work community that makes it great to go to work every day of 2016.