Debbie,

Many do have that.  Does it help to motivate, it does for some and is a yawn for others.  It really depends on the general personality of the agents you have.  When we had our firm, we did not have awards.  We were a small boutique firm, and we celebrated every loss and every win.  We were all committed to be the best team ever, even though we all did deals individually and together depending on the listing.  A

Yes they do.

One enlighten agent established a tradition that I celebrate every year.

During the annual awards, those who business card is drawn, those who reached a milestone, exceeded goals, found themselves at the top of some mountain or another, have been awarded significant cash prizes.

John Dietz started the tradition of returning the cash award to the designated charity CHILDREN's MIRACLE NETWORK. 

Each year it is a race to see who can give back the most money to CMN. 

I LOVE IT.

I'm inspired by it.

I am motivated.

My former company and brokerage gives out annual awards based on production. I felt it was a good motivator and encouraged competition among the agents to do better. Agents truly enjoyed the recognition, and strived to do better the next year. I know I did while I was with my former company.

Yes, it is quite a party to celebrate eachothers wins.

No, they don't.

Yes.

For some.

Debbie, Ours does, and I rarely attend.  Given the choice of being out showing homes or sitting at a table to get a plaque, I'll take the customer every time. 

I know awards CAN mean a lot.  Those little bits of ribbon and metal I got in the Navy are still special to me.  But in real estate the real reward to me is having happy clients.  That trumps paper and plaques every time.  Bill

We have had an agent of the year competition for going on 4 years. I have found that it does give some members of our company a drive to pull off the extra sale to get ahead and others not-so-much. I think it all depends on their personality style. Either way, it gives us 1 more reason to gather together!

Good question. Yes it can serve as a motivator, but too often it is only about production in fgross volume and transactions. If all it is about is quantity and not wuality, ethics, and doing business profitably, then it becomes a false goal and destructive. 

Yes we do.  I have stopped collecting plaques a long time ago.  Money not recognition pays the bills.

Yes we do have an annual awards program. I think they are nice for recognition, but I've never sensed that agents get motivated to do more because of it.

Larger company usually do have some perks. My company does not. But it does not make me any less motivated. I love what I do and I also love to be paid at closings( best reward for well done job).

Yes, Debbie Reynolds we do have that - and I strive to reach in top 10% in my office. Competition gets best out of me!

I dont think that awards motivate people , i you can motivate  your self no one can, now to be praise as a top contributor to your company you work makes you feel good but i don't believe that motivates people either.if you can consitantly be in the top 10 percent of your coworkers you probably are doing well.well just my thoughts; have a wounderful evening

Yes they have awards and it is a big motivator for some agents. For others it's neutral to annoying. The same top producers seem to be the winners each time.

Debbie - My firm has a recognition breakfast every March and I would say it is motivating to every agent that has a burning desire.  Gathering 300+ agents into a single room to review the past years results is sure to get the competitive juices flowing, which is the intent that everyone wants & acknowledges.  McEnearney isn't looking for agents that aren't commited (MY OPINION ONLY), so as the saying goes "you sharpen steel against steel"... bring it on!

My company does profit sharing and that is great. We all get the same check in December and that's for sales and helping the office to run efficiently. 

Our company will have some type of awards program, as soon as we grow a little more.

We don't have a ceremony, but I think that it's definitely motivating! When all the agents join together as a team it raises the energy level in all of us! Most of the time the awards that an agent receives helps others to strive to be better!

Only if they are motivated by awards.  Not everyone is. It depends on their personality type.

It really depends upon each agent and what motivates each person individually. One size fits all award programs just don't work for everyone. Me,  I would rather just have a higher commission split.

Wow.....I love Annette's answer and Ron and Alexandra's.  No, we celebrate each victory as it happens!