The Importance Of Recognizing Outstanding Achievement With Awards

By Author: Steve Parrish
Total Articles: 4762
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Research has shown time and time again that positive reinforcement, through both vocal and tangible means, can encourage repeat performances and improved task results overall. This is why recognizing any type of achievement or outstanding effort is so important in the business, educational and recreational arena. No matter how big or small, every coach, employer and educator should strive to publically acknowledge an individual's or group's contributions.

No Achievement Is Too Small

Even participatory ribbons, trophies and plaques attest to an individual's effort in any subject, project or sport. Emphasis should not be placed on actually winning, but instead placed on the the effort to complete the task satisfactorily.

Without this recognition, many individuals, young and old, will fail to find the motivation to perform well in the future. This is something that employers and educators should always keep in mind when awarding behavior. Runners-up, champions, top salespersons, and even transitioning employees deserve some type of achievement award.

Completion and Participatory Awards

Completion ...
... and participatory awards are commonly used throughout educational systems and many business training programs. These types of awards and certificates give the recipient a sense of accomplishment, while motivating him or her to continue advancing their education and experiences. Even children who receive a participant award from a school track meet or academic decathlon are proud to show off their trophy or ribbon to friends and family. These can become a special reminder of their interests, and largely contribute to a child's motivation to continue developing his or her skills to acquire more of these awards.

Placement Awards

Placement awards can identify the champions, runners-up, or other places within a competitive sport or category. These types of awards are typically either ribbons or trophies, and many of the recipients collect them for display and as mementos for the future. Each placing calls for a different color or size of award, and is designed to give each recipient a sense of accomplishment to help improve their performance for the next competition or contest.

These varying levels of awards are important for every placement, and can be expanded to include as many or as few placements as you deem necessary. You may choose to give awards to every place, or merely the top four or five placements. Many times, these placement awards are referenced later in scholarship or admission applications, resumes and even job applications.

The purpose of these awards is to recognize the hard work, practice and time that directly resulted in the individual winning the award. Recognizing these efforts always makes it easier to expect and receive even better performance in future competitions.

Sponsor Awards

In addition to the actual participants in a competition, contest or race, any sponsors and partnerships should be recognized. Without your sponsors, the event would not be possible; these sponsor awards are many times certificates or plaques that the individual or business may display on their wall or in a special case.

When your sponsors agree to provide support in the form of finances or donations of goods and services, they are actively participating in creating and continuing activities that develop important skills in the participants. Their desire to be an active part of the community should be recognized with a proper "thank you" and award. This way, in the future it will be much easier to ask for repeat sponsorship when you have appropriately expressed your appreciation. In addition, the surrounding community will know who to properly thank with return business; many community residents prefer to frequent businesses which support these types of activities and reinvest in the future of the younger generation.

Business-Specific Awards

Many awards are also specific to a business, occupation or company. These types of awards are proudly displayed at the office or home, and always included on the individual's professional resume. Any type of training completion, surpassing of goals or records, or even promotions, special contributions or presentations may be awarded in the workplace.

Sales teams are often motivated by achievement-related awards. Perhaps they will aim to be the first salesperson to reach a certain threshold, or even become the top overall salesperson in their department. Other employees frequently participate in additional training that will lead to skills which can be used upon advancement or promotion at work. Many Fortune 500 companies have found that employee award programs lead to improved performance, more efficient working environments, and healthy competition that unites the vision of the corporation while motivating employees to directly contribute on a daily basis.
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