The first step in knowing how to recognise your employees is understanding what motivates them.

From our extensive work within the sector - and engagement with employees from a large range of Arts, Culture and Visitor Attraction organisations - we have gained key insights into common motivations.

We have found that there are three categories that are particularly important to most:

So, using what we now know about what motivates employees, how can we build this into how we recognise their contribution?

1. Status

To reinforce being part of an admirable organisation, outward facing recognition can be the way forward. A staff recognition page on the main website can make employees feel valued – this could be in the form of credits on a specific programme/exhibitions page thanking those involved (not just focusing on the high profile roles).

Additionally, organisations could encourage the artists, historians, scientists etc. whose work is celebrated to produce a short video thanking employees for their effort and dedication. Similarly, experts could host a workshop or Q&A session for employees involved with the programme. This would provide a personalised and unique experience that would not be available to individuals working elsewhere.

COVID-19 has created an intrusion of work into personal lives, but why not turn this into a positive opportunity? Invite families to come into work for an out of hours private tour – after all, it is a cool place to work and you could even offer a voucher to spend in the gift shop!

2. Colleagues

To recognise the importance of every team member’s contribution to a project, organise a team activity to thank them e.g. a dinner, a day out or an invite to the exhibition launch.

Employees may take comfort in being able to celebrate their achievement with those they worked late (or rushed in early) with to finish the final touches. In addition, these celebrations help to reinforce the strong bonds within the team.

Take it back to basics, don’t ignore the power of simply saying thank you – both between peers (e.g. cards, badges, tokens or just verbally) and from senior management.

Senior management may need some active encouragement as they don’t have eyes everywhere and they are busy, so remove the barriers – a quick note on pre-made cards, personalised voice notes or emails. It doesn’t have to be fancy – just timely!

3. Impact

Who ultimately benefits from employees hard work? The customers. So, why not get them involved?

Similarly to senior management, it’s about removing the barriers. Create a message board (virtually or actually) where customers can write or record testimonials to employees explaining what they learnt or how they felt.

Again, you don’t want to recognise the work of the most obvious candidates but all those that worked behind the scenes – many of the less visible roles are unknown to the public e.g. art handlers. Therefore, organisations could task teams to create videos of ‘a day in the life’ of different roles which can be showcased on screens or exhibition programmes highlighting the important work they do to get programmes ready for the public.

So, what now?

Ask yourself – when was the last time you did something to recognise someone in your team?

COVID-19 has hit the Arts, Culture and Visitor Attraction sector hard, with many employees either firefighting or furloughed - so it’s not surprising if recognition hasn’t been at the centre of your mind.

However, with the recently announced roadmap out of lockdown (and the looming date of May 17th when visitor attractions can reopen), now is the time to get recognition right to engage your workforce - and it doesn’t have to cost a lot!

Get in contact if you wish to discuss this further.

Beth Willrich, Junior Consultant at QCG - March 2021