Recognition with impact
Employee recognition should lead to thriving, engaged employees.
Employee recognition done right offers a clear path to a more fulfilled, engaged, thriving workforce. And organizations with thriving employees perform better across the board—from providing better customer service, to being more profitable in general.
THE PROBLEM
Unfortunately, most employee recognition sucks.
You’ve probably experienced it first hand: You bust your a** on a project. You get a hurried “thank you” and a gift card or a bundle of points. You feel “meh” about both the recognition and the reward. You move on with your life. No major impact.
The reality is most workplace recognition has little to no (or even negative) impact on the employee experience. Why?
Employee recognition and reward programs often fall flat because they don’t excite or inspire employees (heck, a lot of people don’t even know their company has a recognition program).
We’re aiming to change all that with The Blueboard Method™.
We’re aiming to change all that
with The Blueboard Method™.
THE BLUEBOARD METHOD
Do recognition better with
The Blueboard Method.
Do recognition better with The Blueboard Method™.
Based on our work with hundreds of organizations and our unique experiential approach, The Blueboard Method is designed to help innovative leaders (like you!) support employee thriving—proven to positively impact your culture, customers, and bottom line.
Ready to build a better recognition program?
Get our interactive workbook to get started.
step one
Build a foundation for multi-dimensional employee recognition.
At a foundational level, The Blueboard Method relies on a known, three-dimensional approach to employee recognition. This multi-tiered approach to recognition means every employee has multiple opportunities to be recognized for their contributions.
This is key to creating a sustainable culture of recognition that powers employee experience and drives engagement and retention.
Formal Recognition
Centralized, programmatic employee recognition, generally managed by a Leadership, HR and/or People team (example: Anniversary Awards)
Formal
Recognition
Informal Recognition
Day-to-day employee appreciation & recognition
Peer-to-peer recognition that’s widely shared and received by every employee at your company. Informal, easy, and frequent (example: Appreciation Notes)
Day-to-day Appreciation
step TWO
Amplify impact
with The 5 As.
Think of the three dimensions of recognition as making up the core of your recognition strategy. They’re foundational —but this core alone won’t help you solve all of the issues with status quo recognition, like:
How to drive long-term impact on employee engagement, retention, and performance,
How to create a self-sustaining recognition culture, or
How to boost employee performance with rewards and incentives that truly motivate.
That’s why The Blueboard Method introduces another layer of framework thinking, designed to address these issues:
We call it The 5 As™.
The 5 As framework harnesses the power of experiential rewards to amplify the impact of your employee recognition.
Understanding Awareness
Employees are Aware of your recognition program(s), including their existence, duration, rules, etc.
The Experiences Difference?
Experiences help to generate innate vitality and Awareness around your recognition program(s) because they are shareable by nature. People are much more likely to tell stories about their experiences than they are to share about a material possession.
Understanding Acknowledgement
Leaders and peers are able to connect a positive employee action to a reinforcing Acknowledgement message.
The Experiences Difference?
Meaningful Acknowledgement doesn’t require a reward. But a meaningful reward will amplify the impact of Acknowledgement. Experiential rewards do this like nothing else because they are personal, nourishing, and, ultimately, help your people thrive.
Understanding Anticipation
Your recognition program(s) build joyful Anticipation. Employees are excited to earn and unlock recognition and rewards.
The Experiences Difference?
Experiences are especially effective at driving joyful Anticipation. When we’re counting down the days to our first-ever trip to Vietnam or a long-awaited reunion with friends, the experience of waiting—which can be frustrating in other cases—goes from grating to joyful.
Understanding Activity
Your program is powered by experiences, not things, which are proven to have longer-lasting impact on employee motivation.
The Experiences Difference?
An experiential reward revolves around an Activity. Ideally, you can offer a wide variety of activities so that every employee, regardless of their preferences and circumstances, can find the perfect Activity for them. Fortunately, that’s our specialty at Blueboard!
Understanding Afterglow
Recognition and/or reward results in a lengthy Afterglow period, driving long-term engagement and motivation.
The Experiences Difference?
When it comes to long-term Afterglow, experiences reign supreme. Because experiences become memories. These memories create positive feelings—associated with your company and culture—that can literally last forever.
Understanding Awareness
Employees are Aware of your recognition program(s), including their existence, duration, rules, etc.
The "Experiences" Difference?
Experiences help to generate innate vitality and Awareness around your recognition program(s) because they are shareable by nature. People are much more likely to tell stories about their experiences than they are to share about a material possession.
Understanding Acknowledgement
Leaders and peers are able to connect a positive employee action to a reinforcing Acknowledgement message.
The "Experiences"
Difference?
Meaningful Acknowledgement doesn’t require a reward. But a meaningful reward will amplify the impact of Acknowledgement. Experiential rewards do this like nothing else because they are personal, nourishing, and, ultimately, help your people thrive.
Understanding Anticipation
Your recognition program(s) build joyful Anticipation. Employees are excited to earn and unlock recognition and rewards.
The "Experiences"
Difference?
Experiences are especially effective at driving joyful Anticipation. When we’re counting down the days to our first-ever trip to Vietnam or a long-awaited reunion with friends, the experience of waiting—which can be frustrating in other cases—goes from grating to joyful.
Understanding Activity
Your program is powered by experiences, not things, which are proven to have longer-lasting impact on employee motivation.
The "Experiences
Difference?
An experiential reward revolves around an Activity. Ideally, you can offer a wide variety of activities so that every employee, regardless of their preferences and circumstances, can find the perfect Activity for them. Fortunately, that’s our specialty at Blueboard!
Understanding Afterglow
Recognition and/or reward results in a lengthy Afterglow period, driving long-term engagement and motivation.
The "Experiences"
Difference?
When it comes to long-term Afterglow, experiences reign supreme. Because experiences become memories. These memories create positive feelings—associated with your company and culture—that can literally last forever.
Build your ideal employee rewards and recognition program with Blueboard.
The Blueboard Method and platform support most major employee recognition programs, from annual year-of-service awards, to on-the-spot recognition, to sales and channel incentives, and more. Explore all of our programs, here.
Explore our programs
Looking for the best way to reward, recognize and incentivize your top people?
Connect with our team for a personalized demo of our recognition and rewards platform and see our hand-curated experience menus.
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