Showing appreciation and recognition for a job well done is critical for employee engagement in an organization. Having engaged employees in an organization builds trust, boosts productivity, decreases turnover, and our favorite- increases the likelihood of your team member recommending your organization as a great place to work to their network. In honor of National Employee Appreciation Day, we’re sharing our favorite tips for showing appreciation in the workplace.

Understanding how your team likes to be recognized is crucial. You may have one employee who likes public praise, and another who would much prefer a personal kudos over phone/e-mail. If you don’t know how your employees like to be praised, just ask them! Or better yet, present them with options. Extra time off, free lunch and choosing their own schedule are all great thought starters.

How often you show recognition can play a role in how your praise is received. Kudos for fulfilling job expectations isn’t necessarily cause for anything more than a genuine “thank you.” Recognition should feel as special to give as it is to receive.

Who you share the recognition with can have a big impact. Depending on the structure of your organization, consider passing along the recognition to the employees supervisor. Just like you’d call or e-mail customer service for receiving awesome service from a place of business, employees in your organization should also be recognized from

Be specific. “Good job” just doesn’t hit the same as “the way you followed up with the client after our call to clearly articulate action items was awesome, and they will absolutely appreciate the thought and time you put into it. I also appreciate it. Thank you for being such a great asset to our organization.” Being specific allows you re-enforce positive behavior and shows that you are engaged in your teams’ work.

Make it LinkedIn official. Sharing praise for your team member or peer is a good reflection for everyone, including your organization. It shows that you recognize valuable contribution and appreciate an employee enough to take the time to tell your professional network about the great work this person is doing.

Organize an employee recognition program where anyone in the organization can recognize each other for their contribution. This can be as simple as putting a “praise” box in a common area where employees can drop off a personal note to later be shared with that individual or as savvy as an IT solution such as Vantage Circle, Motivosity, or Teamo.

Host an event for your department or organization on a monthly or quarterly basis that allows your team to come together to share wins. This can feel as formal or informal as you’d like. No wrong way to celebrate here.

In closing, what’s important is that all levels of an organization feel appreciated. Recognition helps an employee to understand the impact of their contribution and allows you (as a supervisor) to get more of the behaviors that move your organization in the direction you want to be headed in. And in case you haven’t heard it recently, you’re doing great. By reading this article, you are clearly invested in your team and the culture of your organization. That’s huge.