Activity 1.2 | Managing and Leading in the ECE sector
Activity 1.2 | Managing and Leading in the ECE sector
Employee Recognition
The Child Care Human Resources Sector Council (CCHRSC) created an HR toolkit for ECE practitioners, which contains useful HRM information for ECE managers and leaders.
As of 2013, the CCHRSC has been dissolved but leaves an extensive legacy of research and resources that continue to be available for access.
One aspect of the CCHRSC HR toolkitthat was developed was a dedicated section related to employee recognition.
The CCHRSC argued that the acknowledgement of an individual or team's behaviour, effort and accomplishments that support the organization's goals and values is extremely valuable and shared various reasons for its value:
- Lets employees know that their work is valued and appreciated
- Gives employees a sense of ownership and belonging in their place of work
- Improves morale
- Enhances loyalty
- Helps build a supportive work environment
- Increases employee motivation
- Improves employee retention
Staff recognition needs to be a common practice for you as a manager. Normalize recognition and a work culture that celebrates day-to-day successes to support team building and workplace satisfaction.
The CCHRSC's HR toolkit emphasizes that:
"employees can be recognized for both individual and group achievements. When recognizing a group of individuals, it is important for each person to be distinguished for their own contribution. Group recognition contributes to team building and informs the group that together, they are valuable to the organization
To be effective, employee recognition must be sincere and heartfelt. Employees will sense if their efforts are acknowledged only out of duty or if comments are lacking in sincerity. Acknowledgement of effort and accomplishments must be timely in order to be effective. Remember that each person has their own preferences for how they want to be recognized – what one employee appreciates could be a real turn-off for someone else"
Recognition can be either formal or informal. Formal initiatives could be less frequent, and informal recognition could take place whenever it is merited. If your centre is small, you may only have one or two employees, but providing recognition can have a huge impact.
Recognizing and celebrating your staff can support wellbeing, a positive work culture, and excellence in programming for your learners.