Holding an Awards Ceremony
Award ceremonies can be a fantastic way to honour people, and show how valued their work is. It can create more loyalty, increase productivity, and hopefully motivate others to strive for excellence and recognition also. Awards can be given to reward anything where anyone has shown outstanding determination, hard work or commitment- they can be annual, or just in response to an achievement. It’s a good way for awardees to celebrate the importance of what they do.
A good awards presentation will help keep your top performers and show your company goals and culture, while a bad presentation may have the opposite effect, so it’s important to plan well! Following are some tips on holding an awards ceremony…
* Deciding who gets awards can be done either by an individual, or by a committee. Make sure though that however you decide, you are fair and consistent. If for example, you reward an employee for a particular achievement, you must ensure that you also reward the next one who does the same thing.
* Honour the right people– It’s always good to reward essential people such as volunteers, without whom you could not operate
* Keep it fun and entertaining, but remember to remind everyone of the significance of the occasion. It doesn’t have to be formal, just feel important to the people getting recognised.
* Have good speeches. Keep the ceremony moving, upbeat and not boring! It’s best (particularly if combining the awards with another event) to present the awards at the start, so the awardees don’t feel like they are an afterthought.
* Form a committee or delegate to ensure everything gets done properly and on time. Things to consider are numbers (awardees and their immediate guests), who will present the awards (always good to have someone from upper management), budget and the location.
* Decide on the types of awards you would like to give. Examples are: certificates, gifts, promotions, tickets, or donations to charities.
* Your budget will help you decide such things as where you will hold the event, menu, number of guests and other details.
* Location- think about the type of event you are holding, then find a location to suit. It’s always good to get out of the office environment, but if you have somewhere you can use, it could help with the budget. When looking at venues, consider if you will be serving food and need it catered, and if that is possible in the location… Also consider AV, and ensure the room is the right size- too large and the place will look empty, if it’s too small and not everyone will fit.
* Media attention is always good if you can get it. It can bring visibility to your cause, and also provides attention to the awardee.
* Audio Visual. Use slides of the person doing their work, and include if you can testimonials from others
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