Using trophies to improve business performance

With the economy looking challenging for the next few years it is imperative that businesses ensure their most valuable asset is generating great returns. In most businesses, employees are the most important factor in generating sales and producing quality service and products. Having a highly engaged workforce is thus paramount to success, a disengaged workforce can be extremely costly. Trophies and plaques are a great way to boost engagement levels in the workforce. Having a recognition programme boost engagement through three components; a performance based culture, a teamwork based culture, and through employee respect and appreciation.

Creating a performance culture is all about about settings goals and targets for your teams to achieve. Trophies and plaques are a great way to motivate and reward teams for meeting targets. Is is best to have a regular programme, at least monthly, to ensure regular reinforcement.by breaking larger goals into smaller sizable chunks. Such a programme could have regular trophy presentations for meeting monthly targets, and a larger overall trophy for meeting end of year targets. Alternatively you could maintain one large plaque on the wall which has the goal divided into monthly targets. Each month this can be updated with achievements and winners names.

Teamwork is another important aspect which is closely related to performance culture. Presenting awards, trophies or plaques to teams as well as individuals can improve morale and boost cooperation within teams to achieve common goals. Another method is to have a large trophy or plaque for each team, and each team nominates an individual each month to recieve the team member of the month award. This can motivate other team members and essentially create a performance culture within a specific team, this can then spread through the rest of the company.

Lastly recogniton and respect for employees can boost business performance. We all like to be recognised and to feel we make a difference. Receiving trophies or plaques is one way to formally thank and recognise employees for a job well done. By reinforcing these behaviours you ensure that poeple are more likely to keep giving their best in the future, as we all strive for more reinforcement. Outstanding individual performance can help teams meet targets, which will boost team morale which can then lead to a performance culture throughout the whole organisation.

As you can see these three factors are all interlinked. The great thing about trophies and plaques is that they will affect all three factors in one go. A once monthly presentation of trophies and plaques is enough to boost performance, teamwork and employee wellbeing. With this in mind it is easy to see how an employee recognition programme is an essential investment to make in ensuring a productive and engaged workforce. Visit Xpress Awards for some professional corporate trophy and plaque designs.

Choosing corporate trophies and plaques

So you have decided to implement an employee recognition programme, but now you are faced with choosing what to present to those outstanding individuals. Should you present trophies or plaques, and in what materials and size. Also what kind of text are you going to use and how often should you present the awards.

The most important aspect of choosing a recognition product is that it fulfills it's purpose; to reward someone for a job well done. From this perspective it is important the trophy or plaque is customised with the recipients name and what they are being rewarded for. All trophies and plaques can be personalised with laser engraving and title plates, so you only need to worry about wording the text appropriately. Any trophy shop will have many examples of previous wording for corporate trophies and plaques so this should not be an issue.

Now getting on to choosing the type of recognition product. People like being rewarded, but the reward must reflect the achievement. Giving an employee a packet of chocolate biscuits for 20 years service is insulting, it would be better not to have given the biscuits at all. Because of this it is important to give a corporate looking trophy rahter than a medals or sports award.

Glass, crystal and acrylic are all great options for corporate trophies. They can be laser engraved with company logos to also align the trophy with company branding and values. Corporate plaques are also a great option as the text and logos can be easily read and displayed. Acrylic can also be shaped to further customise the award, it could be in the shape of the companies product or brand. Visit Xpress Award's website to see some great corporate trophy designs. There are many standard and custom trophies and plaques for you to choose from. Get in touch with the team and they will be able to help you choose the best trophy for your needs, as well as the text and wording.

Improving employee engagement through recognition trophies, awards and plaques

Employee engagement is a somewhat new term used by HR firms and has become a popular measure used in businesses to improve performance and other employee attitudes. First coined by Kahn, W. A (1990) it is now a popular subject in academia and the workplace. While there is no universally accepted definition of the term, generally it involves psychological and behavioural elements. Psychologically, engagement is energy, absorption, involvement and commitment in one's role. Behaviourally it involves performing above what is expected in a positive manner. Engagement levels are assesssed most commonly with pen and paper tests given to employees as well as objective measures. This article gives a brief overview of engagement and how awards, trophies and plaques can be important in achieved high engagement levels.

The advantages of high employee engagement for an organisation include; more productive employees, higher profits and less staff turnover. As employees are most often the most valuable asset within a company, it is important to maintain an engaged workforce. It is even more important considering that lower engagement levels will lead to reduced productivity and high staff turnover. Having just a few disengaged employees can make the culture within a workplace drop, spreading to more disengaged employees. Therefore assessing engagement levels is important in preventing drops in productivity and then motivating employees to perform at thier best to improve organisational success.

New Zealand has seen a surge in the popularity of this measure which has been helped with by the annual "Best Places to Work" survey run by Kenexa|JRA . In thier 2011 annual report JRA identify four key drivers to high engagement levels; Vision and Values, Sense of Community, Learning and Development and Performance Culture within an organisation.

An employee recognition programme can contribute to the four key driver, achieving a performance culture within an organisation. A perfomance culture involves employees being valued for their contributions and being rewarded for them as well. Presenting awards, trophies and plaques can serve both goals. Presenting a plaque or trophy for performance shows that people are valued as well as being rewarded with a tangible trophy they can hold in their hands and display in the workplace.

A regular and consistent recognition programme can quickly create a performance driven culture. Once this culture is created it becomes the norm, thus disengaged employees will be seen as outcasts and may become more engaged as everyone around them is positive. Having awards and trophies displayed in the office provides a permanent reminder of people's success and cements a performance culture in the workplace. Having a large honours board or plaque is another great way of implementing a recognition programme. Displaying this near the entrance reminds and enforces the performance culture for everyone. Having this at the entrance is also great for visiting clients who will be able to see they are dealing with an organisation that recognises success.

It is important that the type of award, trophy or plaque reflects the achievement of the individual as well representing the company brand and culture. Xpress Awards NZ Ltd specialises in corporate trophies, awards and plaques. Have a look around their website to get some ideas. The timing and consistency of rewarding performance is also important, this will be the topic of my next post.

Why trophies and recognition are important

Abraham Maslow published his Hierarchy of Needs theory in 1943. It describes what being human is all about, what we need and want as we grow as humans. The needs are often portrayed as a pyramid shown below, the bottom being the basic needs, moving up to self-actualisation at the top.

So what do trophies and awards have to do with self-actualisation and psychology? They play a part in fulfilling the third and forth layers; belonging and esteem. Recognition is a key component in letting someone know they are loved and respected. Trophies, awards and plaques offer a formal way to provide this recognition that is a lasting reminder.

Maslow's Hierachy of needs (Wikipedia)

Providing you live in a developed country, the first two tiers of the pyramid are met; physiological needs such as shelter and food, and safety needs such as policing, healthcare and employment. Therefore in order for us to be happier we can move onto the next layers; a sense of love and belonging from friends, family, community and a sense of esteem from our jobs and hobbies. It is undeniable that in our daily life we respond positively to praise and postive comments from others, especially from our peers and those we look up to.

It is no wonder that trophies, awards and plaques play a large role in sports and corporate settings. They provide people with a sense of belonging and esteem which then further drives them to continue doing what they were rewarded for. This allows individuals to perform to their potential, trying harder to do better everytime they are rewarded. This is important in a business setting as well as sports and the economy in general.

Next time i will talk about employee engagement and how this is influenced from feedback and recognition in the workplace. If you are looking for ideas on what type of award, trophy or plaque to give to someone check out Xpress Awards and Trophies NZ for some ideas.