Recognition

Student employee work satisfaction partly comes from being genuinely appreciated for what they do. It's known that employee appreciation and recognition improves commitment, retention, and productivity. A year round employee recognition program will be very effective.

Recognition programs don't have to be expensive. A simple spoken phrase like, "thank you for your hard work," can go a long way.

An effective recognition program should be

• Fair - everyone should be appreciated equally
• Consistent
• Timely with recognition

How Supervisors Can Recognize Good Work

• Give employees reasonable control of their work process, environment, and decisions
• Allow fun in the workplace
• Periodically ask your employees how they are doing
• Give timely performance evaluations and performance expectations
• Don't treat some employees more favorably than others
• Don't allow "troublemakers" or substandard behavior to destroy morale
• Don't erase positive feedback with negative comments. Example, "You did a great job with that customer, but..."
• Assign a mentor to each new employee so that they feel connected right away

Washington State Association of Student Employment Administrators is an excellent resource for additional ideas on how to recognize student employees.