Have to plan an employee of the month award ceremony? Here’s a detailed guide to executing employee of the month award ceremony to perfection.
Employee of the month award
Employee of the month award is given out to the employee who has worked exceptionally work as per the company standards. It is awarded to someone who has outperformed during a given duration. It is the best form of recognition and motivation for any employee.
The employee of the month description
Employee of the month description states that it is a form of recognition given to someone for working over and beyond the set expectations. Employee of the month award is given in the form of a gift, thank you note, etc to celebrate the achievement.
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Why employee of the month programs are important?
Employee of the month programs is essential in a company to keep the employees motivated to be more productive. It also encourages employees to think out-of-the-box and bring their best to the table. Anyone who brings something exceptional into their work has to be awarded and appreciated.
Hence, Employee of the month award celebrates hard-working employees and sets an example for the average performer to give their best. Recognition is of utmost importance for an employer seeking continued excellence. It also helps in keeping the hard-working employee motivated to do better.
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How to choose employee of the month
There can be different ways of choosing employee of the month and each of them has their own downside. The best employee of the month award program is the one that suits the needs of your company. Let us dig deeper into the different steps,
1. Set up an employee of the month criteria checklist
The first step towards establishing an effective employee of the month award program is to set an objective. It could be either employee retention, employee recognition, overall productivity, or employee advocacy. Once decided, set up the different criteria one has to fulfil in order to be eligible for the employee of the month award.
Assign someone as an in-charge to look after the entire program such as coordinating different steps, gather votes, compile the data, and present the information. This would ensure that the employee of the month program will function smoothly.
2. Create a voting system for selecting employees of the month
There are two kinds of voting systems,
The first method is to create a nominating committee consisting of managers and executives from all the different departments of the organization, including members from human resources. The committee is asked to meet once a month and nominate one person each based on their performance against the set goals. The group then discusses the merit of each nominee in detail and picks a winner.
The second method involves the entire company in the nomination process. This is a democratic way of picking the winner by going with the person who gets the highest majority of votes. The challenge however is to get everyone to participate in the voting process.
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3. Verify criteria for employee of the month
Once nominations have been received from each member of the nomination committee, it is important to verify if the selected candidates fulfil the set criteria. Human resources can verify the candidate’s merit against the criteria checklist. This step helps in avoiding any favoritism present in the system.
Fair election of the member is essential for a successful employee of the month award program. Any employee who fails to fulfil the set criteria is ousted from the list. The employee with the most merit is declared the winner and eligible for the employee of the month award.
4. Assess employee of the month qualities
Once everyone from the employee of the month nomination committee has dropped their nominations, it is time to assess the nominated employees based on their work qualities. These can be punctuality, teamwork, quality of work, discipline, time management, leadership, honesty, etc.
Anyone who doesn’t stand true to these values is out of the nominations. The employee of the month award is given to people who are remarkably talented not only in the way they work but also in how they conduct themselves at the workplace. The employee of the month award winner sets an example for others.
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5. Pick one amongst the employee of the month nomination
There can only be one winner amongst the different nominations submitted by the nomination committee. Once all the nominations are collected, the group collectively discusses each employee’s merits and unanimously comes to a decision. This might not work effectively in some cases as one of the committee members might do a better job at campaigning for their team member.
In some cases, the committee can also keep rotating names from the list of previous nominees, until everyone gets a chance to earn the employee of the month award and title.
Top 5 employee of the month questions
There are few questions that you should be asking your employees every month to make employee-of-the-month award decisions easier. Following questions help managers to get a sense of what type of work intrinsically motivates each team member as well as learn their strengths.
- What has been your biggest achievement this month?
- What is the biggest challenge you are currently facing?
- What is the biggest challenge you faced this month?
- What is something a colleague did recently that made a positive impact?
- Which of the core values do you identify most with?
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10 Best employee of the month ideas for your team
There are different ways in which you can appreciate your employees, acknowledge their hard work, and present them with an employee of the month award. Let us look into the top ten employee of the month ideas for your team,
1. Spot awards – Employee spotlight ideas
Spot awards are designed to recognize exceptional contributions made towards the work by an employee. These can be either organized in the form of a huge event or simply handed out in a team meeting. Employee of the month ideas helps you in successfully acknowledging the team efforts.
2. Wall of fame – Employee of the month award ideas
Employee of the month ideas can be picked based on the company size and general preference. Creating a dedicated place as the wall of fame to honour the employee of the month award winners is a popular idea. You can also put pictures of the winners along with some of their achievements and testimonials.
3. Send a thank-you note to the team member of the month
The best employee of the month ideas are simple and effective, such as a basic thank you note acknowledging the hard work and congratulating for the success. Thank you notes are personal and heartfelt when handwritten by managers.
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4. Company swags – Employee of the month program ideas
Employee of the month ideas could include sending goodie bags or company swag boxes to the employee of the month award winner. Customize the products to honor the efforts and hard work of the employee. E.g, a coffee mug or a t-shirt saying “best employee of the month”.
5. Gamify employee of the month awards ideas
Gamification is an excellent form of motivation and appreciation in today’s world. Award reward points for conducting tasks successfully throughout the month. At the end of the month, whoever is at the top of the leaderboard is given employee of the month award.
6. Social media takeover by the staff of the month
Another great employee of the month ideas is to let the employee of the month award winner takeover the company social media for a day. It makes the employee feel special and privileged as they are in power for a day. They can share their work and their pictures on social media page.
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Employee of the month ideas can include giving a shoutout to the best employee of the month in the company newsletter. It can also contain testimonials, achievements, employee photos, etc. The employee of the month award can be given separately.
8. Give worker of the month the gift of relaxation
Gift of relaxation is one of the most thoughtful employee of the month ideas. Give your employee of the month award winner a day or two Paid time off to relax and unwind. You can even gift them a short vacation.
9. Social media recognition for safety employee of the month
Recognizing the hard work of an employee on social media is one of the excellent employee of the month ideas. Share the achievements of the employee on your company page. This way the employee can show it to friends and family as well.
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10. Present them with the employee of the month prize
Last but not the least, having an award ceremony is the best employee of the month ideas. To make it extra special invite the employee’s friends and family to the occasion. Present them with a thank you speech and employee of the month award.
Top 3 employee of the month board ideas
Employee of the month award program is extremely effective to keep the employees motivated and productive. Many companies use different employee of the month board ideas to honor their employees. Let us have a look into three of the most common ones,
1. The associate of the month wall of fame
Wall of fame is a widely accepted board idea. It uses a dedicated space in the office area to mention and honour those who have received employee of the month award.
2. The employee of the month display photos
Another effective employee of the month board ideas is to display photos of the people who have received employee of the month award. It can be in the form of a display board or an entire wall mentioning the achievements along with the name. Give them a cool title such as “best coder” for extra jazz.
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3. The staff member of the month with testimonials
One area of the employee of the month award board can be used for accentuating positive testimonials from the staff about the employee of the month award winner. This employee of the month board idea is useful for acknowledging the special contributions made by the honoree.
The employee of the month example write up
Dear [employee name],
Congratulations! You have been selected as [company name]’s Employee of the month!
We’ve recognized your hard work and extraordinary efforts on the project [x]. Your entire team has put a lot of effort into making this project a success.
We are proud of your achievement, and we look forward to seeing you doing more amazing work with utmost passion just like project [x]. Thank you for being such an energetic member of the team!
Once again, congratulations from all of us at [company name]!
Thank you,
[your name]
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The employee of the month speech sample
Congratulations! For being selected as the ‘Employee of the month’ for <month and year>.
We highly appreciate the amount of time and effort you have put into your work in the past year. To show our appreciation for your work and conduct, we want to confer upon you the certificate of “Employee of the Month”.
This is a gesture on our part to reward the efforts of our employees with appreciation certificates.
Kindly, come to the stage and receive your award and certificate. Once again, we congratulate you on your achievement.
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The employee of the month examples from top companies
Zappos – an online shoe and clothing retailer, has an unconventional “employee of the month award” program in place. They call their program “Monthly Hero”, and this is what happens. They give $50 to each employee every month and they can give that money to a coworker they think is awesome and supportive. Once a month Zappos executives randomly pick up a name from the workers that received $50 as a bonus and call them their “Monthly hero”.
The monthly hero then wins a covered parking spot, a $150 Zappo’s gift card, and a cape to proudly wear.
Megha is a content writer with sharp technical skills, owing to her past experience in networking and telecom domains. She focuses on various topics including productivity, remote work, people management, technology, market trends, and workspace collaboration.
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