The Pros and Cons of Handing Out Awards to Employees

It’s truly rewarding for employers to recognize employees for their hard work. Unfortunately, as rewarding as it is there could be some drawbacks as well. Could employers be setting themselves up for failure by doing so?

Hard Work Deserves Recognition

Let’s face it employees that work hard deserve to be given an award for their achievements. It can be tough for employees working years for a company going above and beyond their duties to meet deadlines and set standards and not receive recognition. Employers often get away with overloading employees and failing to show hard workers their time with the company is well appreciated.

Perhaps this is due to the fact that higher-ups within the company want to keep good workers at a standstill because they work extremely well in their current positions. And the thought of that employee moving to a different department would be devasting to them because they know that employee is extremely beneficial to them.

Pros To Giving Awards

Employees that receive acknowledgment for their great work ethic feel satisfied with the fact that their hard work is not going unnoticed. Awards also help to build one’s self-esteem. Maybe that employee doesn’t want to stay in that same position forever. By receiving an award in his current position he feels more confident in moving up the later to pursue a new position. Awards are extremely gratifying but timing is key.

Cons To Giving Awards

Employers should also be careful with whom they choose to hand awards to. Just as well as employers use employees and spit them out, it is also true that employees could prove a company negligent and prove themselves to be the perfect worker when facing a legal battle against a company. An employer that has given that employee many awards over a course of his time with the company may have a hard time firing that employee if necessary due to all of the awards the company gave him. Exceptions can be made if the employee is an at-will employee.

As mentioned earlier timing is key. For an employee that has been with a company well over 5 years and he finally receives an award for all of his hard work, it is possible he will become ungrateful. He may give expressions of appreciation but deep down inside he would prefer a raise. Awards should be handed out with respect to how long that employee has served the company well.

The Award Is Not The Problem

As you can see giving an award to employees is not the problem. Employees can use it to their advantage and move up the later and employers can make an employee smile. The exchange is priceless just be sure it’s given in the right manner.