• Recognition programs are a way to say thank you to your employees.many thanks image by firelover123 from Fotolia.com
  
  Employees are vital to the success of a small business. A great way to boost their morale and show appreciation is through a recognition program. This will encourage them to continue working hard and help your organization to thrive. There are three basic types of recognition programs that you can institute. You may want to use a combination of the programs to create your own.
  
  

Informal Recognition Programs

• Informal recognition programs are the most cost-effective type of recognition program. The idea of an informal recognition program is to recognize employee efforts as often as possible in simple ways. This can involve simply saying "Thank you" to an employee for a job well done. Other ways of recognizing employee achievements and efforts can be through company newsletters, announcements at meetings or through personal emails and notes. At large companies, it may be difficult to institute an informal recognition program. But with a small business, it is easy to simply begin recognizing your employees.
  
  

Awards Programs

• Awards programs are a formal way of recognizing the efforts and achievements of your staff. Some awards may be competitive, such as a top sales award, or they may be intended to recognize behaviors (such as a leadership award). A popular method is a service award program. Service award programs recognize employees for the number of years they have worked with the business. This can be very important in a small business. It builds loyalty within your team, both from the people receiving the award and their colleagues, who see that years of dedication are recognized and rewarded.
  
  

Group Recognition Programs

• Small businesses often have a small number of employees. This means that the most effective type of recognition program may be a group recognition program. A group recognition program simply recognizes the efforts and achievements that are made as a whole by your team of employees. You may want to recognize achievements, such as meeting a sales goal, or you may just want to show that you appreciate your employees in general. Ways of recognizing employees as a group can include giving them a paid day-off, hosting a dinner or luncheon or hosting a group event, such as a golf tournament or barbecue.