According to a recent study, more than 70% of employees with good recognition experiences at work rate their lives more positively overall and are more likely to be “thriving” in their everyday lives than those who aren’t fully recognized.
You’ve probably come across many similar surveys indicating that employee recognition is pivotal, and that’s why you want to create an employee spotlight program. But it can quickly feel like a heavy task when you don’t have processes in place for it.
This is where an employee spotlight template comes to the rescue. It’ll make your employee recognition efforts simple and fast without compromising other important operations!
In this article, we'll break down what an employee spotlight template is, talk about why it's so great, and hook you up with 10 template websites so you don’t have to trawl the internet for hours!
What is an employee spotlight template?
An employee spotlight template is a guide used for creating an employee spotlight.
But wait, what exactly is an employee spotlight? It’s a piece of content that a company creates to celebrate the achievements of one of its employees. Basically, it’s a way for companies to recognize talent and say thank you for all they’ve contributed. This content can be via internal communication channels and in public, like social media posts.
What does an employee spotlight template contain? Usually, it contains spaces for details regarding an employee’s work anniversaries, personal interests, success in the company, education, and history within the company.
Here’s an example of a typical employee spotlight template:
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Why use an employee spotlight template?
Here are some reasons you can’t do without a template for employee spotlights:
- An employee spotlight template can have company branding, fonts, color scheme, and so on pre-applied and ready to go, saving time and effort and keeping the spotlights looking professional.
- A template provides consistency and uniformity, so employees won’t feel unequal — for example, if you forget the “other awards” section you put on everyone else’s spotlights. The uniformity also reduces the number of content errors.
- The employee spotlight-creating process shouldn’t have to take away valuable hours that can boost business. Using employee spotlight templates can help streamline the process, making it a quick and efficient job. In other words, busy HR teams at rapidly growing firms will swear by them!
How do you use an employee spotlight template?
Templates make your work easy. Ready to use this beautiful innovation? Let’s begin.
First, send the deserving superstar your spotlight interview questions and ask them to fill in their answers. Quick and easy. But if you like, you can turn it into a fun in-person chat and fill in the template together.
Second, include additional features. For example, employee photographs, whether a professional headshot or pictures taken at work. Who doesn’t love a visual feast?
Third, stick a call to action to your template, like an invitation for other employees to reach out and connect with the featured employee or post to the comment section to congratulate and share their thoughts, etc. This is important to create connections between your employees.
Lastly, make sure your spotlight template can be converted into a format you desire, like social media posts, emails, blogs, hard copies, and so on.
10 employee spotlight template websites to explore
Here are ten websites offering numerous templates to shine the spotlight on your outstanding employees. Get ready to be spoiled for choice:
1. Microsoft 365
Does Microsoft even need an introduction? We’ve all used it at least once in our lives. But did you know it offers employee spotlight templates?
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Microsoft 365 provides customizable templates for Excel, PowerPoint, Designer, Forms, and more. All you need to do is click on the template of your choice and then download it. Once you open the file, it’ll open directly in your Microsoft Office app — Excel, MS Word, etc. depending on the template’s format. Then, customize as you like.
There’s also an option to create a template from scratch if you’re creative or can’t find exactly what you need.
2. Pinterest
Another website that doesn’t need an introduction. Pinterest, unlike Microsoft 365, doesn’t have its own library of templates. Instead, people from across the internet upload the templates or links to the same, just waiting for you to stumble upon them.
You can either download the templates or follow the link to download them from the original website. Then jazz it up (or customize) however you like.
Since Pinterest is a social media platform, you’ll typically find employee spotlight templates that are best suited for social media sharing.
3. Etsy
Yes, Etsy sells employee spotlight templates. The keyword here is “sells.” So, if you’re comfortable spending a few bucks to purchase a quality template, Etsy is a great place for it.
First, you buy the template. It can be a digital download or a hard copy. The digital download is a highly preferred option (and a much more common offering) as you can always customize it. The seller will specify the platform you can use to do so, such as Canva, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.
4. SketchBubble
This one’s a go-to for all things templates! SketchBubble offers a large collection of free and paid, pre-prepared, professionally designed, and completely editable Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and Google Slides templates.
Ready to make your team members shine? Just go to the SketchBubble website, sign up so you’ll be able to download your selections, and search for employee spotlight templates. Download and edit the option you like.
5. Canva
Canva has been a creative savior forever, so of course it was going to make the list. The platform offers way too many template options, both paid and free. Be prepared to be overwhelmed (in a good way).
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The Canva template designs for employee spotlights are visually attractive and easy to customize right in the app. It also offers the option to download your completed template in various formats including PNG, PDF, JPG, and more, so you can celebrate employees no matter what file type you need.
6. PosterMyWall
PosterMyWall is a cloud-based graphic design software that can turn your creative ideas into an eye-popping reality in the form of videos, posters, flyers, social media posts, or even fancy menus! They also offer templates for all sorts of needs, including employee spotlights.
Best part? PosterMyWall goes all out. If a static post isn’t engaging enough for you, it lets you create gifs and even video spotlights.
Just search for employee spotlight templates on their website, click on the one you want, and then click on edit. You’ll be directed to a customization page where you can change the text, add media, change the background, and more. Once done, download the employee spotlight, and you’re good to go.
7. Freepik
Freepik is another template library that offers over 150 pages of employee spotlight templates. Talk about options!
Ready to use Freepik templates? The process is quite similar to the other template websites. In this case, you start by choosing the template you’d like to use and then download it. The downloaded file is ready for you to customize.
Pro tip: Check the kind of platform your selected template requires. If the template is a PSD file, for example, you’ll need to have and know how to use Adobe Photoshop.
8. VistaCreate
VistaCreate, like Canva, is an online graphic design platform.
It doesn’t have pre-designed employee spotlight templates, exactly. But you can always customize and edit the existing templates (15,000+) they have to offer, to turn them into employee spotlights. All you need to do is maybe change the image or text.
They have templates designed for specific platforms, too, like LinkedIn, Instagram, and more, so you don’t have to worry about the dimensions or formatting requirements.
9. PicMonkey
PicMonkey is an online photo editing and design platform that has numerous template varieties, including banners, branding, YouTube, business cards, email, resumes, postcards, logos… the list is endless.
Endless, except that, like VistaCreate, it doesn’t offer templates specifically for employee spotlights. But there’s an easy fix: Use their announcement, presentation, or certificate templates to edit and create your custom employee spotlights. For help, you have an editor with a large selection of design tools to work with and millions of stock videos and photos.
Sign up (so you’ll have access to editing), select the template you want, and click on customize. You’ll be directed to the editor page, where you can get your creative juices flowing!
10. Fotor
Last on this list, meet Fotor. A simple photo editing tool that can double as a template supplier! The library is rich, consisting of certificates, ID cards, resumes, memos, and other types of templates.
Just go onto the templates tab on their website and search for employee spotlight templates. Make your selection and click on ‘use this template’ to get started. You’ll arrive at an editor page that looks a lot like Canva, so, if you’re familiar with the tool, it won’t take long to get accustomed.
Pleased with your edits? Download the spotlight and share it to appreciate your star employee right away.
3 FAQs regarding employee spotlight
Here are answers to some FAQs to help you better understand an employee spotlight:
1. What can I ask in an Employee Spotlight?
Here’s a quick list of employee spotlight ideas for inspiration:
- What about this company is most unique to you?
- Do you connect with any of our company’s missions?
- What’s your team like?
- What motivates you most about your job?
- What does your day-to-day look like at work?
- Which company benefits are you a fan of?
- What have been your biggest accomplishments on our team?
- Do you have any inspirers within the company?
- Have you taken advantage of any resources while on our team?
- How have you grown professionally while on our team?
- What has been your employee experience with our company?
- What are your goals for the next few months/years?
- What’s one thing that you wish people knew about your job?
You can also ask fun employee spotlight questions like:
- What's a fun fact about you that not many people know?
- Are you currently binge-watching any shows?
- What was the first concert you ever attended?
- What's the last book you got lost in?
- What’s your favorite hobby?
- What's the next travel destination you’re itching to explore?
2. Why is an employee spotlight important?
A lot of us love attention. And when the attention received is for good work and behavior, it boosts employee morale and motivates people to keep doing better and better.
Here are the benefits of an employee spotlight:
- Builds a positive company culture of recognition, appreciation, and celebration.
- A killer employee spotlight also works as a brand-building material for your company. It’ll attract future employees as it gives them a peek into the company’s culture and benefits.
- Helps develop connections among employees.
3. How do you write employee spotlights?
It’s quite straightforward if you follow these simple tips:
- Make sure you pick the right person to do the job of creating employee spotlights — someone with people skills who contributes to creating a positive work environment.
- Pick an employee spotlight template to make the job easy.
- Pick the candidate you want to shine the spotlight on and interview them.
- Once you have the employee details, make the spotlight a visual experience with images and media. The attention and care will make the employee spotlight engaging.
- Paint a vivid picture of your employee's professional journey. People appreciate a good behind-the-scenes scoop!
- Lastly, don’t forget to promote the spotlight.
Engage your workforce with employee spotlight templates
In conclusion, the employee spotlight serves as a powerful tool for recognizing and celebrating the exceptional contributions of individuals within an organization. Basing your efforts on a template does all of this while saving time, money, and effort.
And speaking of keeping tabs, you’ll also need a project management tool like Motion to track employees’ work, growth, and achievements. Wanna know who's acing those priority tasks or owning their work hours? Motion's got your back.
Try Motion today to track employee work like a pro and find potential candidates for spotlights.
