So, how is a business leader to know when a worker needs their effort and accomplishments recognized? Here are a few signs that an employee is more than deserving of a leader’s attention and appreciation:
They Produce Consistently Profitable Results
Organizations must value employees who understand that the success of the business directly translates to individual success. Oftentimes, these workers are interested in moving as swiftly as possible from the low-value positions into high-value positions, where they can have more impact on business goals and strategies. A good indication that an employee’s professional objectives align with the needs of the organization is consistent, measurable, predictable, and profitable results from their effort, which demand recognition from business leaders.
They Are Already Performing at a Higher Level
In business, there is a concept named the Peter Principle which states that many organizations allow employees to rise through the hierarchy until they reach a level at which they are incompetent. To prevent this from occurring, business leaders should be hesitant to provide promotions to high-performing employees. Instead, they look specifically for workers who are performing tasks a level beyond their station and recognize this unique effort.
They Are Volunteering for Extra Work
Many employees are capable of completing their current tasks with ease, but few are willing to take on additional responsibility. Workers who go out of their way to ask for extra assignments, particularly more challenging projects to test their skills, are definitely in need of recognition.
They Exhibit Strong Leadership Skills
An employee does not need to be a member of business leadership to exhibit leadership skills in their everyday work. For example, if an employee demonstrates that they are particularly capable of influencing the performance of fellow team members, they are deserving of a manger’s praise. Likewise, if an employee develops solutions to ongoing problems within a team, they should be recognized to their contributions to the company.
They Present a Positive Attitude
Business leaders should never underestimate the power of a positive attitude. When workers can consistently lighten the mood, brighten their coworkers’ day, provide energy to the workspace and relieve everyone’s stress, they are vital team members who need to be retained to keep up morale.
They Maintain the Support of Their Coworkers
Many workplaces unintentionally become competitive environments where coworkers vie for a limited number of promotions and raises. Thus, when employees rally behind one of their own, business leadership can be relatively certain that the worker is integral to the feeling and function of the team. Business leaders should pay attention to the names dropped by employees, and if one worker seems to garner the support of most of the workforce, that worker should be celebrated in some way.
They Are Actively Learning New Knowledge and Skill
Businesses benefit when their workforce is highly skilled, but training employees can be expensive and time-consuming. When a worker goes out of their way to learn new knowledge and skill to improve their capacity to complete their daily tasks, leaders should offer ample gratitude to that worker.
Conclusion
Employees who go above and beyond to deliver impeccable performance undoubtedly need to have their effort seen and appreciated by those in charge of the organization. Yet, the truth is that business leaders need to recognize all workers for their contributions to company success, even those workers who are just fulfilling their responsibilities and nothing more.
Regular recognition is essential for maintaining morale, and morale directly impacts workplace productivity. Thus, business leaders who struggle to know when to award recognition would likely benefit from structured employee recognition programs, which help track performance metrics, employee milestones, and more to ensure no one is left out of the opportunity for recognition.
Providing recognition to employees who deserve it is not difficult — because every employee deserves to be appreciated for their contributions to common goals. Still, by looking for the above behaviors in the workforce, business leaders can be certain to reward the most effective workers and encourage top performance from the rest.
