There are five ingredients to meaningful staff recognition, which are captured in the acronym GREAT:

• Recognition must be inspired by a Genuine sense of appreciation for how individuals or teams have contributed and what they have achieved. After that, each additional ingredient strengthens the impact of your messages of appreciation and gratitude.
• Recognition is Relevant when it’s rooted in what the organization believes is important, often expressed in its mission statement, values and goals.
• Recognition is Explicit when it includes specific descriptions of what the recipients did.
• Recognition that is Appropriate respects the recipients’ recognition preferences and reflects their interests.
• Recognition will be Timely when it is delivered soon after the action that triggers recognition. It should also be frequent.

To be meaningful, staff recognition does have to be elaborate or expensive. Most leaders have limited resources (particularly money and time) to devote to staff recognition. Prepare to express your gratitude by building up a resource of simple, inexpensive staff recognition tips, tools and techniques.