Managers should engage staff and help them feel valued with awards, NHS Employers have advised in a briefing released today.
Staff recognition schemes – such as individual or group awards – are a formal way to recognise your employees contribution as well as create “a positive culture where staff feel valued and engaged by their organisation” the briefing said.
The awards can mainly be nominations from other staff members, however, increasingly, patients and visitors can also nominate.
The briefing, Approaches to Staff Recognition, read: “As part of an overall approach, a focus on ensuring staff feel valued can help sustain engagement during periods when staff are under greater pressure…
“A number of organisations use the industry-wide WOW awards scheme that anyone can join. This uses common categories focused on customer care across a range of employers in both private and public sectors,” NHS Employers recommended.
To present the awards, “almost all organisations with recognition schemes” have a ceremony of some type. While the format varies it usually includes a formal award of prizes by senior management such as the chief executive combined with a dinner.
In most cases, costs of the event are met from non-core funding or it is sponsored.
