Recognition is an important part of any healthy workplace. But how do you create a culture of recognition in your office? Here are some simple steps that can help you get started:

Learn how your team likes to be recognized

The first step is to learn how your employees like to be recognized, and then use that information to craft recognition programs that are as effective as possible. There are many ways you can recognize people on your team:

• Recognize the person, not the task. People don’t do their best work when they’re just going through their day-to-day assignments, but they do thrive when they feel appreciated for the things that make them unique. So even if someone isn’t doing something particularly noteworthy at the moment (like finishing a project early), it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t recognize them anyway—they might appreciate it more than if you had waited until later in the week or month when there were no other opportunities for praise.
• Recognition should be specific. Because recognition is most effective when it’s personal rather than general (i.e., “You did a great job!” vs “I appreciate all of your hard work”), try to take this into account when crafting your rewards system: Instead of giving out generic awards like Employee of the Month or Most Improved Team Member, choose one or two specific qualities about each employee and let them know what makes those qualities so valuable—and why it’s important for them to keep doing those things well!

Extend recognition throughout your organization

In order to create a culture of recognition, it’s important to extend it throughout your organization.

Recognition should be given generously, frequently and publicly. It should be given not only to employees who report directly to you but also to everyone in the organization because all contributions are valuable. Recognition is an effective motivator that can help build a successful company culture.

Create opportunities for your team to share their own work:

Sharing your team’s accomplishments with them is one of the best ways to help them reach their goals.

One way to do this is at a weekly meeting. Ask each person on your team to share a project they completed that week, how it went, and what they learned from it. You can also ask them to give a specific example of how they reached out to someone who needed help on that project and helped them succeed. That way, everyone knows what an impact they are having on the company as well as how much value they bring every day!

Put your team in the spotlight

When your team does great work, it’s important to recognize that achievement. You can do this in many ways, but the most effective and memorable way is by putting them “in the spotlight.”

As you know, everyone loves having their name called out—and they’ll remember how they were recognized for years to come. So why not put everyone on the same stage?

Conclusion

We’re not saying that you can’t give your employees things like gift cards and bonuses. There are plenty of ways to show appreciation that don’t involve public recognition. But what we are saying is this: if you want to create a culture of recognition, then you need to get creative with how you reward your team members. You should be looking for opportunities to praise people for their work, whether it’s in front of coworkers or behind closed doors—and those moments should feel equally special.