Manage A Fire Station? Two Reasons Why You Should Start Giving Out Award Plaques
If you're the manager of a firehouse, you likely run a team of brave individuals who give their all each time they are called on for help. To recognize particularly strong acts of heroism, you may give a team member a trophy or plaque. However, you may want to consider giving plaques out for other actions as well. Learning more about the benefits of rewarding your team with plaques can help you see why you should start this practice right away.
Plaques Help The Team Feel Seen
One of the main reasons why you should start to give out plaques on a consistent basis is because it helps your team members feel seen. There are so many things that your team does on a regular basis that they may not be recognized for. You can change this by noting these actions and rewarding your team for it.
For example, there may be one individual who always cooks or brings in food for the team. It could also be the person who runs around grabbing money from everyone so they can go to the store to pick up lunch. These are the kinds of every day things that are so needed, but that can be easily taken for granted.
Observe your team members to find out what each person does to keep the fire station running properly. Once you've made your observations, start to randomly award different individuals with plaques that note their particular contribution.
Giving Out Plaques Can Boost Morale
Because of the serious nature of the job that firehouse workers perform, it's important to keep morale high. Giving out plaques may be the key to boosting the morale of your workers so that they go the extra mile and enjoy coming to work each day.
Morale boosting takes several forms. For example, you can make comical plaques that are worded to elicit laughter from your team. You can use a saying such, "Most Likely To Get To Work Late," and give it to the person who takes jabs from the team because they can't get to the station on time. This helps to lighten the mood, and may be a kinder way to remind someone of the importance of punctuality.
Distributing awards at your firehouse may prove to be one of the best decisions you could have made. Don't wait; visit a local sign and trophy maker, such as Patch Plaques, so you can get the ball rolling on your new practice as soon as possible.