Guidance to Recognize & Reward
Creating a Recognition and Appreciation Culture
Appreciating others in the workplace for a myriad of reasons is at the heart of a great workplace culture. Be sure to recognize:
- Ongoing contributions that play a meaningful part in your group’s effectiveness or overall success
- "Above and beyond" performance, such as a project leadership or project completion
- Competencies and behaviors—the “how” work gets done with others
- Demonstrating university values related to collaboration, diversity, inclusion, respect and trust
- Results or behaviors that align to the university’s mission to help humanity
Creating a culture of appreciation is not just a manager’s responsibility; employees value peer-to-peer recognition just as much as the praise from their manager. Consult with your local human resources manager to ensure you follow school/unit practices when ramping up your culture of appreciation.
Recognition best practices
- Tie recognition to your school/unit goals or team objectives
- Make recognition easy, timely and fun
- At a team meeting, have a brainstorming session: ask your team members how they prefer to be appreciated and recognized, and then implement feasible options
- Get everyone on the team involved and provide the mechanisms for team members to appreciate and recognize each other, such as cards, a fun award that gets passed from one person to another when being recognized, Thankful Thursdays, etc.
- Consult with your local human resources manager for more ideas and guidance on local practices
Staff Bonuses & Incentives
Work with your local human resources manager to discuss and make decisions related to base pay and any bonuses or incentives. Review the Base Pay Administration guidelines, information about pay events and the Bonus & Incentive Guidelines Matrix in the Staff Base Pay Administration section.
University-wide Recognition Programs
Stanford Celebrates You: Recognizing Staff Careers
Recognition of staff service milestones communicates the university’s value of service. University Human Resources manages Stanford Celebrates You: Recognizing Staff Careers, which recognizes service at the first service anniversary, and then in five-year increments starting at five years.
Learn more about Stanford Celebrates You: Recognizing Staff Careers
Special Awards for Faculty and Staff
Stanford recognizes faculty and staff with dozens of institutional awards.