One thing we’re not lacking in this world is awards.

• You can win a Peabody Award for a powerful story.
• You can win a Nobel Peace Prize for strengthening international diplomacy.
• You can win an Oscar for the best movie of the year.
• You can win a Razzie for the worst movie of the year.

Heck, your dog can even win a Golden Collar Award, which recognizes the best canine actors out there.

It seems that for nearly any category imaginable, someone (or some animal) can earn recognition for an achievement. I’m speaking from experience here, as the most recent award I won was “Loudest Solitary Hiccup” (I clearly have skills).

This all got me thinking about how silly yet important awards can be — even in the workplace.

Celebrate Success with Your Employees

The purpose of winning an award is not to gain a medal or trophy (even though that aforementioned hiccup trophy is proudly displayed at my desk).

Instead, an award recognizes an individual by signaling their excellence.

At 9 Clouds, we take pride in recognizing our teammates with “wins” big or small. We have even dedicated a Slack channel (titled #winning) to share wins and provide praise.

We often find ourselves cheering on employees who achieve personal and professional development goals. Our CEO, Sarah Carnes, helps us set these goals at quarterly reviews while we discuss our individual progress at the company.

Quarterly reviews are a great way for us to show appreciation for our teammates’ hard work if we’re too busy to say it on a case-by-case basis. We also place monetary incentives around goals that connect to our overarching company-wide goals.

No win gets left behind. We recognize every achievement at our weekly team meeting on Monday mornings. It’s a great way for us to look back on the prior week and start the new week on a high note.

Boost Morale at Your Workplace

Who doesn’t love recognition? Celebrating successes with your staff keeps them happy.

It isn’t just a nice thing to do, either. If an employee is displaying behaviors that you want them to repeat, you need to recognize that, so they understand how you would like them to contribute to the company overall.

Honestly, a general “keep up the good work” doesn’t really cut it. So when you’re praising employees for a job well done, make it meaningful and specific.

Employees want to positively contribute to your business. Be sure to let them know you’re noticing the good things they do!

Make Awarding Employees Your Goal

Goals should inspire outcomes, not impede progress. They keep us focused, improve our output, and inspire us to be better people.

In typical Midwest fashion, our team tends to be a little too humble. It’s easy to go about our day without noticing how great we all are. But thanks to our #winning Slack channel, our weekly team meetings, and our quarterly goals, we’re getting pretty good at encouraging each other — and ourselves.