While 2013 is quickly drawing to a close, it’s not too late to recognize your employees for all of their hard work and dedication before the year ends. Companies should use these last few weeks to show thanks to their employees before getting a ‘fresh’ start on the New Year. For some helpful year-end employee recognition tips and ideas, keep reading.

Why Year-End Recognition Is Important

Whether it’s a verbal “Thank you, keep up the good work,” or an extravagant holiday party where employees are rewarded with various gifts, year-end recognition is important for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s also something that’s frequently overlooked and/or undervalued in the professional world, forcing some workers to look for jobs elsewhere. Several studies have found that employees are more likely to quit their job if they aren’t recognized by their boss/employer.

Year-end recognition allows companies to look back at the past 11-12 months, identifying both professional hurdles and triumphs. If there was a particular month or time frame during the year when sales slumped, you could talk about the problems leading up to it and what employees did to get back on track. Talking about success stories will inspire employees to work hard with a boost of self-confidence.

It only takes a couple of hours to throw a year-end employee recognition party or event, but the benefit it has on workers will continue well into 2014 and beyond. Showing employees that all of their hard work didn’t go unnoticed will spark a newfound drive to push themselves on the job. And that’s what recognition is all about.

Combining Your Holiday and Year-End Recognition Parties Into One

Have you thought about combining your company’s holiday incentives and year-end employee recognition party into one? Mid-December is when most companies throw their annual holiday-themed parties and recognition events, but you can consolidate them into one big event. Depending on the size of your company, perhaps you could rent out a banquet hall for a holiday feast. After the dinner is over, you could hand out personalized trophies or plaques to some (or all) of your employees.

The Crystal Revolving Globe is an excellent year-end recognition award that employees are sure to appreciate. It features a solid etched crystal globe resting on an authentic mahogany wood base.