Recognition Toolkit
Recognizing and appreciating staff is fundamental for maintaining morale, motivation, and overall productivity in the workplace. The Enhancing Workplace Culture Committee of the Staff Advisory Council conducted a University-wide assessment of existing recognition programs throughout the Fall 2023 semester. In addition to this assessment, we researched best practices in recognizing employees and enhancing workplace culture. This toolkit contains recommendations for how managers can effectively recognize their staff, and how managers can encourage staff to recognize their peers.
It is important to be conscientious of how staff members would like to be recognized. Not all staff members will want to be thanked/recognized publicly. You are encouraged to get staff buy-in on any recognition options you choose to implement. One way to do so is by collecting recognition profiles from your staff members. We have created a google form template for recognition profiles you can review here. We encourage managers to begin implementing recognition profiles as a part of their onboarding for new employees, in addition to collecting profiles from current employees. We hope the guidance below will assist managers in implementing a culture of appreciation across BU’s campuses.
Recognition: Looking Back
Performance Bonuses & Overbase Payments
As your budget permits, consider providing additional compensation for employees who consistently exceed expectations or achieve significant milestones. An overbase is a form of additional compensation for work that is preapproved and is not part of an employee’s regular position. Overbase requests are considered on a case by case basis. Please contact your
HR Liaison for more information on overbase payments.
Performance Reviews with Positive Feedback
During performance reviews, managers should provide constructive feedback along with genuine praise for employees’ accomplishments. Recognizing specific achievements and discussing growth opportunities can motivate employees to continue performing at a high level.
Keep an ongoing accomplishment list for each of your employees so that you can keep track of their accomplishments throughout the year! The Council looks forward to continuing to collaborate with BUHR on improvements to managing performance.
Learn more about performance reviews and performance feedback here.
Meaningful Feedback and Recognition
Providing timely and specific feedback to employees, acknowledging their efforts, and recognizing their contributions during one-on-one meetings. In addition to recognizing their contributions to your team, remember to acknowledge the contributions of your team members for additional University commitments they may have such as serving on committees or other working groups.
Actively Listening and Responding
As defined by the Office of the Ombuds, active listening means being deeply engaged in and attentive to what the speaker is saying. It requires far more listening than talking. Your goal as an active listener is to truly understand the speaker’s perspective (regardless of whether you agree) and to communicate that understanding back to the speaker so that he or she can confirm the accuracy of your understanding. Provide space for your employees to voice their ideas, concerns, or feedback and responding to them thoughtfully can make them feel valued and appreciated. Review guidance from the Ombuds on how to practice active listening with your colleagues.
Awards Program
Consider implementing a semesterly or yearly awards program to recognize employee’s outstanding performance, dedication, and contributions to BU! Identify awards and nominating procedures that staff can engage in to recognize their peers. In our assessment, we consistently heard the importance of celebrating award winners in a public forum. Units across campus utilize their monthly staff meetings, holiday parties, and even commencement ceremonies as opportunities to highlight award winners.
Popular Award Categories
Popular awards conferred to staff in units across campus:
- Employee of the Month
- DEI Excellence Award
- Leadership Award
- Mentorship Award
- Consider highlighting staff that mentor colleagues or work closely with student employees
- Community Impact Award
- Innovation Award
- Team Player Award
- Length of Service Awards
BU Swag
Utilize our
10% staff discount at the Barnes & Noble @ BU to place a bulk order of wearable swag, like a BU hat or hoodie. When collecting recognition profiles, you can consider asking your staff members for their preferred sizes if you plan to order clothing items. Consider keeping a stock of departmental swag, like water bottles or coffee mugs, that are distributed only as rewards.
Free Lunch
Purchase pass(es) to the
BU Club or cater a lunch from your staff member’s favorite local restaurant. Consider providing opportunities for staff to take a peer to lunch or coffee in recognition of their contributions to your office.
Free Parking
Contact
parking@bu.edu to inquire about purchasing parking passes for individual staff members or placing a bulk order of parking passes.
*Please note that gift cards and certificates cannot be used as these raise tax implications. You can review the University policy here. Purchasing items valued under $100 will avoid tax implications.
Growth: Looking forward
Decision-making
Involving employees in a collaborative decision-making process is a powerful way to not only recognize contributions but also to empower and engage them further. When appropriate, consider inviting your employee(s) to attend meetings with other managers and senior leaders to give them better insight into decision-making processes within your unit.
Professional Development Opportunities
Offer opportunities for professional development, such as attending conferences, workshops, or training sessions, to employees who demonstrate exceptional performance and a commitment to growth.
Learn more here.
Professional Development Workshops
Provide opportunities for your staff to grow their skills
during the work day. Consider inviting another team/office you collaborate with to your next team meeting to learn more about their work and potentially build new skills within your team. The BU Organizational Development & Learning team offers customized workshops on various topics upon request. Their team will lead all the workshop stages in collaboration with you, from design and development to facilitation and evaluation.
Learn more here.
Opportunities for Leadership
Offering employees the chance to lead a project, mentor others,
supervise student interns, or take on additional responsibilities can signal trust and recognition of their capabilities. This should be paired with discussions about how the employee can use the leadership to advance within their department or the University. ODL has launched
several leadership development programs that you can encourage your staff members to participate in!
Promotion Opportunities
Recognizing high-performing employees by offering them opportunities for career advancement, promotions, or taking on additional responsibilities that align with their skills and career goals.
There are several Terrier eDevelopment courses, like Talent Development and Transformation: Developing the People You Lead, available for managers on how to support your employees on their pathway to promotion!
Personal/Team Support & Celebrations
Encouraging Work-Life Balance
Recognize employees’ efforts by promoting a healthy work-life balance, such as encouraging them to take regular breaks, use their vacation time, or providing support during challenging personal circumstances. Encourage your employees to utilize resources within the Faculty and Staff Assistance Office (FSAO) where BU faculty and staff can find help for a range of personal, work-related, and family concerns. When possible, create systems of built-in redundancy so one employee’s absence does not over-tax their colleagues. Utilizing flexible work arrangements is another great way to promote work-life balance for your employees.
Modeling Work-Life Balance
It is important for managers to model work-life balance in order for staff to feel empowered to prioritize their own. Managers should be open about time taken off and should also model engaging in professional development. Managers should discuss individual preferences with staff members about how and when they prefer to communicate. Foster open dialogue about the differences between expectations, job responsibilities, and preferences. Consider adding the following to your email signature: “Please do not feel obligated to reply outside of regular business hours or on weekends unless the subject matter of this email requires it.”
Flexible Work Arrangements
Recognizing employees’ hard work by offering them flexible work arrangements.
Flexible Work Arrangements include hybrid work, fully remote work, and modified work schedules such as four day work weeks and schedule shifts. Flexible work arrangements may be allowed on an ongoing basis, a seasonal basis (e.g., for periods outside the fall and spring semesters), or for other specific time periods based on school, college, and department needs.
Learn more about the University’s Flexible Work Arrangement Policy here.
DEI & Management
Learning and affirming employees’ cultural needs and holidays is an important part of fostering an inclusive workplace. You can review the interfaith calendar from Marsh Chapel
here. Managers can use this to coordinate flexibility with employees, such as arriving late, leaving early, or additional remote days
Team Celebrations or Outings
Organizing team celebrations, outings, or social events to celebrate achievements, milestones, or successful project completions, allowing employees to bond and feel appreciated as a team. A few examples for activities:
- Wheelock has a Staff Activities Committee as part of their Staff Assembly, that plans staff events like their recent Solar Eclipse Celebration, a chili cook-off, and a Valentine’s Day breakfast where staff can enjoy pastries and write Valentines/notes of gratitude for one another!
- Marketing & Communications holds an end of year party to appreciate the accomplishments of their staff!
- CAS Student Academic Life hosts a yearly white elephant gift exchange when staff return from the intersession break!
- Human Resources holds quarterly Java Engagements to provide space for their staff to connect and enjoy coffee and treats!
- BU Academy hosts monthly breakfasts for staff!
Peer-to-Peer Recognition
Public Praise
During team meetings and gatherings, managers and peers can publicly praise employees for their exceptional performance, giving specific examples of their contributions and accomplishments. Managers should also commend employee performance during leadership team meetings, letting managers of other teams and the managers’ supervisors know who is doing exemplary work. Managers can also make a habit of mentioning which employees are on which projects during these meetings (i.e. instead of saying “Our team is working on Z project”, “Employee A and Employee B are working on Z project”.)
Managers: Encourage staff to contact you, or other members of your leadership team, via direct email, Slack, or Teams to directly recognize their peers’ contributions.
Public Acknowledgment
Recognizing employees via emails, newsletters, Teams/Slack, bulletin boards, or possibly through the creation of a
Kudoboard for your team to showcase their achievements to a broader audience.
Managers: Staff should be given space and encouraged to participate in these forms of public recognition for their colleagues.
Personalized Thank You Notes
Managers can write personalized thank-you notes or emails to employees, highlighting their specific achievements or efforts that have made a positive impact on the team/department. Staff should also be encouraged to send personalized thank-you notes when a colleague’s contributions went above and beyond. This could be via email, Slack, Teams, or handwritten notes.
Celebrating National Days of Honor
Recognize national days that honor particular demographics of staff members, like Administrative Professionals Day, Boss’s Day, System Administrator Appreciation Day, Nurse’s Day, or Bring Your Children to Work Day!
Social Committees
Depending on the size of your office, you can consider implementing a social committee. Having social committees that plan regular recognition events will help foster a culture of appreciation within your office. Your social committee can assist managers in the regular implementation of many of the recommendations in this toolkit.
Managers should review their budget to determine the funding available for social committee programming. Our committee conducted a large scale assessment of recognition programs on campus and some examples of social committee activities & responsibilities included:
- Coordinating the signing & distribution of birthday cards
- Coordinating compliment/positivity jars to share positive feedback with peers
- Creating start of the semester wellness kits
- Selecting a monthly puzzle for your break room
- Organizing monthly catered breakfasts/lunches
- Hosting after work socials & happy hours
- Summer Outings: bbq/picnic, ice cream social, off-campus retreat, or even a Boston Harbor cruise!