Are you considering new ways to recognize your team for all their hard work?  One of the more traditional methods is to offer an Employee of the Month award.  However, before you begin passing out the laminated certificate to the best of your employees at the end of each month, it may be worthwhile to consider the different pros and cons.

What Are The Different Pros?

It Makes The Recognized Staff Member Feel Valued

When a worker earns the title of Employee of the Month or gets an employee of the month certificate, they will instantly feel valued.  According to research, this is significant because less than 30% of all staff feel valued by their bosses. Only a small percentage feel they are making a difference to their team.

Staff Are Motivated To Reach Their Full Working Potential

If there is an Employee of the Month award available, who would not want to earn the title?  Passing out this type of award motivates all employees to work as hard as possible so they have a chance of earning the award.  As a result, productivity in the office increases and the quality of the work improves dramatically. As an added bonus, the customers will be happier with the work provided by your business.

Theoretically, All People Have A Chance To Win The Award

All staff members believe they are able to win the Employee of the Month award and, theoretically, they do.  This should encourage staff from all departments to work hard with the hope that they will receive recognition for their efforts when the month ends.  Consequently, it is not difficult to see why managers often use this type of award – productivity increases across the full organization as employees battle it out for the award.

What Are The Different Cons?

Unrecognized Employees Feel Unvalued

As there is only one award to pass out at the end of the month, there will always be staff members who do not receive recognition.  Looking back to the statistic of workers who feel valued, it is common for workers who ‘bust their tails’ only to fall underneath the radar to feel undervalued or completely unvalued by employers.

Employers Are Motivated To Suck Up To The Boss

Staff members who desire the Employee of the Month title may want the award so desperately that they will learn how to game the system instead of becoming more productive at work.  This means that they will choose to suck up to the boss instead of increasing their productivity.  Unfortunately, this type of behavior is not helpful to the company and could damage the business’ reputation.

In Practice, Bosses Tend To Choose Their Favorite Employee

In reality, managers will become familiar with certain individual staff members they work with regularly as compared to other distant employees.  Based on this familiarity, the boss is more likely to notice the work completed by these familiar faces and will pick out the same people as Employee of the Month consistently.  While the entire department are convinced that they have a chance of winning the award, in practice the ones that work closely with the manager are often the ones that will gain recognition.

So, do the benefits of handing out an Employee of the Month award outweigh the disadvantages?  Unsure if this title would be suitable for your company? Consider how you would like to receive recognition as an employee and do not wait until month end to recognize a single staff member.  Instead, acknowledge good work frequently and immediately as this is the most effective method of fostering a culture of staff recognition.