Use Regular Shout Outs to Engaged Your Employee's Participation Compared with other aspects of an employee's experience, employee recognition may not seem like a top priority. But, recognizing your team should become a focus. Why? When your employees feel...

Compared with other aspects of an employee's experience, employee recognition may not seem like a top priority. But, recognizing your team should become a focus. Why? When your employees feel appreciated, they'll be more engaged and perform better. That will make your organization more effective and productive, but it will also save you money.

Still not convinced about the power of employee recognition? Well, here's some data to prove the value of employee recognition.

• About 63% of employees who have been recognized are unlikely to seek a new job.
• According to 82% of employees, recognition at work has an essential role in their happiness at work.
• If they were recognized more often, 40% of employed Americans would give more effort to their work.
• A rich recognition culture is more appealing to employees than a higher salary, according to 59% of them.

But, how can you make employee recognition a more frequent occurrence? How about regular shout-outs to your team.

A shout-out is nothing more than a message of appreciation, support, or congratulation. Even better, it can be either in-person or online. And you can even implement shout-outs in various ways, such as the following suggestions.

Internal newsletters.

There are no guarantees when it comes to employee loyalty. But, we have learned from recent resignation records that you need to earn your employees' engagement and loyalty, notes the folks over at Campaign Monitor. And the fact that 34% of company newsletters are unopened proves that internal communications are often seen as an afterthought in organizations.

One way to make your internal emails more exciting and valuable? Put a spotlight on your employees.

It is a psychological fact that people love to talk about themselves. In fact, Psychology Today points out that it engages the same areas of the brain as eating good food and even having sex. So, "if you want to increase employee engagement, celebrate them, talk about them, let them share about themselves, recommends the Campaign Monitor team.

Celebrating success stories, sharing positive client feedback, announcing promotions, and introducing new employees are ways to highlight your employees. And while you could do this weekly, I think a monthly email shouting out to your team will be just fine.

Social media posts.

Taking advantage of your company's social media platforms to recognize employees is a fantastic and affordable way to give the shoutout you want to share. If they agree to it, you can post a picture and explain what makes them so unique. Your attention should be focused on their job title, accomplishments, and most recent contributions.

Here's another perk about social media shout-outs. It's not internal. That means that your customers and their friends and family will see the shout-out as well. As a result, their accomplishments may continue to be highlighted and discussed outside the workplace.

As for the frequency? You can probably make this a weekly piece of content on your social media calendar.

Dedicated Slack channel.

There should be recognized throughout the organization, not just at the top. To encourage this culture of recognition, you could create a channel on Slack that allows anyone in the company to easily share wins and recognize others' successes with the entire office workplace.

Employees who can celebrate their colleagues create a culture of accountability where they do their best instead of running through the motions. Tools like Slack make it easy to high-five frequently and spontaneously. In addition, your team members can recognize each other's success through GIFs, emojis, and creative encouragements.

Make shout-outs a regular occurrence at meetings.

During weekly team meetings, you can start by showcasing your outstanding employees. Again, this format makes the recognition timely and authentic. And again, it's great to be recognized and rewarded by your peers and leaders.

Of course, you can modify this however you please, depending on your organization's core values. For instance, if you have a daily check-in every morning, just give a quick shout-out to someone who's gone above and beyond. Or, you could open the floor at the end of each meeting and let your employees offer praise to a colleague.

Employee recognition wall.

In elementary school, we did something similar. Student all-stars were given awards, and their pictures were placed on the recognition wall each month. Walking past your picture brought you a sense of pride — even if you did so 100 times.

Establish a board or commit a wall to distribute messages of appreciation among employees. As a result, it will motivate employees who have already received recognition to keep doing well. But, it will also inspire others to work harder to make the recognition wall as well. Bonus points if you also include your monthly all-stars in your company newsletter or social media update.

Celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones.

You don't have to wait to acknowledge an employee for their hard work. You can also give them a shout on their birthdays. Again, you can do this in your internal communication channels like email or Slack and on social media. And, if they're up for it, some people are introverts; throw them a little birthday bash during lunch.

In the same way, you should reward your employees for their dedication and loyalty to your organization. Thank your employees for their continued contributions to your company in a company-wide announcement each year. To remind your in-house employees that you care, decorate their workspaces with a few things they love. Or rewards and incentives that they'll enjoy, like volunteer days or sabbaticals.

Since birthdays, anniversaries, and milestones have the same date every year, you can make this a recurring event in your calendar so that you won't forget. And more importantly, plan accordingly.

Have a toast.

Despite the association with heavy drinking, toasts don't have to be cringy. For example, you could raise a glass to an employee during a happy hour event. But, toasts don't always have to involve alcohol. For instance, during lunch, you could stand up and say, "Time for a toast," and have everyone raise their glasses with whatever they're drinking.

Depending on your audience, you could have a little fun with this. For example, you could make a toast with sparkling grace juice or mocktails instead of wine or champagne.

Host an award ceremony.

You don't have to go all Micheal Scott here and recreate the Dundees. You could have your team nominate an employee of the month and send out an email with a description of why this person is being recognized. Or, you could include an annual award ceremony during a holiday party or annual retreat.

Or, yes. If your team avoids "Office" fans, you could host your version of the Dundees.

Just say, "thank you."

There's nothing complicated about this gesture. But that doesn't make it any less impactful.

Give your employees thanks when they do a great job and tell them how much you appreciate their effort. This could be when you're walking past their desk or taking a break at the same time. Or, you could just send them a quick email or instant message.

An employee survey conducted by RewardGetaway of 1500 employees found that almost 75% of respondents believe a simple "thank you" will boost their morale and motivate them to do better work.

The bottom line.

If you haven't done so yet, give regular shout-outs to your employees. When you do, this builds trust, boosts productivity, and decreases turnover. In short, it's a win for you and your team.

At the same time, for employee recognition to be effective, it needs to be a consistent part of your company's culture instead of a one-time event. More importantly, be specific and personal. For example, don't just say, "Good work." Instead, describe what they did that impacted both their team and the company.

Image Credit: RODNAE Productions; Pexels; Thank you!

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