How to start an Employee of the Month reward program
Publicly recognizing employees for their hard work is a great way to cultivate a positive company culture. That’s why thousands of businesses around the world have created employee of the month award programs. They’re a simple yet powerful way to show appreciation for your employees’ dedication to your organization.
Whether you give employees gift cards, public recognition, a certificate, or all three, a well-built program can supercharge your team’s engagement. But these types of programs aren’t without their pitfalls.
In this article, we’ll explore the key steps to creating a successful employee of the month program.
Employee recognition’s impact on company culture
Employees want to do well at work. Sure, folks may moan and groan about Mondays and celebrate Fridays like they’ve crossed the finish line of a marathon. But deep down, most people take pride in doing good work and contributing to something meaningful.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey of 5,188 adults explored how Americans perceive their jobs. According to the survey results, most people find their work enjoyable at least some of the time — and many find it enjoyable all or most of the time.
Companies — particularly HR and people teams — play a big role in helping team members feel fulfilled at work. Employee recognition is one of the factors that contributes to a healthy, engaged workplace.
According to Alan M. Saks, Professor of Organizational Behavior and HR Management at the University of Toronto, a fulfilling workplace has several key characteristics, including:
Skill variety. Employees get plenty of opportunities to use a range of skills.
Social support, rewards, and recognition. Recognition should strengthen team bonds rather than create unhealthy competition.
Fairness in processes and rewards. Policies and procedures outline fair and transparent guidelines for rewards, raises, and promotions.
Learning and development opportunities. Employees have opportunities to keep learning, growing, and advancing their skill sets.
An employee recognition program that rewards skill development and is clear and fair can do a ton of good for your company culture.
Steps to build an employee of the month program
Follow this step-by-step guide to creating an employee of the month program that recognizes outstanding team members in a fair and balanced way.
Define clear objectives
Before launching an Employee of the Month program, figure out what you want the program to achieve. This will make it easier to evaluate whether your program is driving your goals forward.
Are you hoping to boost morale? Improve productivity? Increase your retention rates? Keep your list of objectives to a manageable number. Three to five goals is an ideal range for:
Focusing your program
Setting clear criteria
Choosing meaningful rewards
Measuring success accurately
Form a selection committee
The best way to keep your Employee of the Month program fair and credible is to create a dedicated selection committee.
This committee will be responsible for evaluating employees based on your Employee of the Month award criteria.
Unlike manager-selected employee of the month awards, a selection committee is more likely to get employee buy-in — which means more motivation for employees to want to be selected.
Here are five quick steps for forming a solid selection committee:
1. Decide on committee size. Three to seven members is usually ideal, depending on the size of your company. You want to keep it small enough for efficient decision-making but diverse enough to represent different perspectives.
2. Choose a diverse group of members. Pick committee members from multiple departments and levels to avoid bias. Consider including folks from each of the following categories:
Managers or team leads
HR representatives
Peer representatives
Senior leadership
3. Establish roles and responsibilities. Give every committee member a clear set of responsibilities to avoid confusion and duplicate effort. For example, a couple of people could nominate employees and review submitted nominations based on set criteria. Another group could lead evaluation discussions and make sure everything's fair. To choose a winner, the entire group could vote or reach a consensus.
4. Define the selection process. Figure out how often the committee will meet and choose a record-keeping system for transparency.
5. Rotate membership on a set schedule. Rotate committee members every six to 12 months. Allow employees to volunteer or nominate peers for committee roles, or use a voting system.
Once you’ve chosen your selection committee, you’re ready to create your Employee of the Month award criteria.
Develop specific criteria
Set clear, measurable, and transparent selection criteria so employees know what it takes to earn an award.
Your selection committee will use the criteria to choose nominees and award recipients. Think about factors like:
Job performance
Teamwork
Customer service
Leadership
Innovation
Commitment to growth and learning
Not sure where to start? Use this Employee of the Month program template to get started.
Employee of the Month program template
| Category | Description | Evaluation questions | Points (1-5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job performance | Consistently meets or exceeds job expectations, delivers high-quality work, and demonstrates a strong work ethic. | Does the employee consistently complete tasks on time and with accuracy? Have they gone above and beyond their standard duties? | [ ] |
| Teamwork and collaboration | Works well with colleagues, helps contribute to a positive work environment, and plays an active role in team success. | Does the employee support their teammates and contribute to a positive work culture? Have they demonstrated exceptional cooperation or mentorship? | [ ] |
| Customer service | Provides outstanding customer service to clients or internal teams. | Does the employee consistently deliver excellent customer service? Have they received positive feedback from customers or colleagues? | [ ] |
| Leadership and innovation | Takes initiative, introduces new ideas, and contributes to company growth. | Has the employee stepped up to lead projects or solve challenges? Have they proposed innovative solutions? Have their ideas led to measurable improvements? | [ ] |
| Commitment to growth | Takes advantage of education and skill-building opportunities. | Has the employee taken courses to grow their industry expertise? Has the employee completed any new licenses or certifications? | [ ] |
Scoring system
Rate each category on a scale of 1 to 5.
Make sure employees have had no disciplinary actions within the evaluation period.
Consider weighting categories differently if some criteria are more important than others.
Average the final scores to determine a winner or support a discussion-based selection.
Choose meaningful rewards
While certificates are nice — especially if they’re publicly shared along with a photo of the employee — the most effective employee incentives are a mix of non-monetary and monetary rewards.
The reward needs to motivate employees to meet your selection committee’s agreed-upon criteria. Consider things like:
Small retention bonuses
Extra PTO day
Continuing education reimbursement
Prime parking spot for 1 month
Company donation to a charity of choice
Travel voucher for a weekend getaway
Choice of next project or assignment
Choose incentives that will effectively motivate your employees. If you aren’t sure what types of incentives they’ll actually like, send out a survey to gather intel.
Employee of the Month award dos and don’ts
Setting up an impactful Employee of the Month program takes careful planning — and a good understanding of what works and doesn’t. Our research uncovered the following common best practices and things to avoid.
Dos
Set clear, measurable criteria. Make sure employees understand what it takes to win. Post the criteria somewhere everyone can see it any time.
Make the selection process transparent. Use a fair, unbiased system to choose Employee of the Month awardees.
Offer meaningful rewards. Choose prizes that employees care about and drive genuine motivation.
Recognize a variety of contributions. To keep things balanced, rotate the committee’s focus between performance, teamwork, and innovation.
Celebrate winners publicly. Acknowledge achievements in monthly all-hands meetings, emails, or company channels — or during dedicated award ceremonies.
Don’ts
Allow favoritism to sway selections. This is the single biggest no-go for building a meaningful Employee of the Month program. Make the program as objective and fair as possible so everyone has a fair chance to win.
Using vague criteria. Employees should know exactly what factors are being evaluated and how the scoring system works.
Neglecting peer input. Allow colleagues to participate in nominations. These folks often have the most granular insight into who’s going the extra mile for your organization.
Giving the same person the award repeatedly. If you have a smaller team, you may want to set a concrete guideline that prevents the same employee from earning the award more than once a quarter or year.
Forgetting to track program impact. Each quarter, set aside time to analyze the program and see if it’s meeting the goals you outlined in Step 1.
Following these dos and don’ts will help ensure your program is fair, motivating, and beneficial to your company culture.
