February 10, 2025
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Recognition and engagement often become priorities during the holiday season. November and December are filled with rewards for annual achievements through gifts, gatherings, and award ceremonies. Now, it’s the new year—and it’s time to refocus your employees and sales teams on new goals and productivities.
How can you use recognition as a tool to effectively motivate employees? Consider our suggestions below.
Find opportunities to celebrate
Recognizing top performance can positively reinforce hard work and goal achievement. Company leaders should acknowledge employees for completing projects, meeting milestones, and exceeding expectations.
According to Great Place to Work, a genuine ‘thank you’ from company leaders can ignite a 69% increase in the likelihood of employees bringing their extra effort to the forefront.
There are plenty of additional opportunities to celebrate your employees, especially in the first quarter of the year, including Employee Appreciation Day in March. A simple “thank you” for a milestone or team accomplishment can have a very powerful impact.
Align recognition with core values
According to a recent survey of 10,000 working adults, employees who strongly agree that they get authentic recognition are four times more likely to feel connected to their organization’s culture.
Your corporate values are the foundation of your company’s culture. Connecting accomplishments to these values makes your message more authentic and further strengthens the bond between teammate and organization. This genuine connection can also drive engagement and encourage teammates to align their personal goals with the company’s mission.
Invigorate with communications
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again…a robust communication plan is critical to the success of any internal initiative.
Want your teammates to pay attention to your message? Tie everything together with consistent, engaging communications that establish your goals and support continuous recognition within the company.
Celebrate with personal gifts
According to a landmark study, out of 452 respondents, 99% had a unique set of reward and recognition preferences.
Everyone has a unique set of preferences for the types of gifts they receive. Participants value the opportunity to select something that they personally want or need, and in turn this can help motivate towards meeting a goal.
We’ve seen first-hand how rewards can enhance a teammate’s sense of accomplishment. Consider some recent feedback we’ve received from Rewards Program participants:
“The Rewards Mall has allowed me to cash in on real work experiences in real time. Achieving milestones & recognitions are taken to the next level when a reward is followed.”
“The Rewards Mall gives us the opportunity to earn awards for hard work at my company. I love that I can build them to buy something I really want.”
“My company awarded me points for winning a service award. I used the points to purchase gift cards and am purchasing holiday gifts for a family in need this Christmas!”
Our Rewards Mall offers thousands of award options for everyone, including name brand merchandise and eGift card catalogs, with the option to fully brand and customize your storefront. NXL’s expertise in Employee Recognition and Engagement spans nearly 50 years, and our proprietary software platforms seamlessly integrate for an easy, motivating recognition experience.
Refocusing your team in the new year can significantly enhance productivity, and these tips can help. Contact us today to speak to one of our experts about how we can help boost your motivation and engagement efforts in the new year and beyond.