Medals & Trophies & the Role They Serve

Medals and trophies are used in many different fields and serve many different functions. This article goes over some of the more common fields and functions they serve.

Every now and then an individual goes beyond the limits to try and achieve something. You can see such performances everywhere. You get to see it in sports more often than in any other field, but there are a number of other fields where such a performance is rewarded as well, such as in school for a student who studies and excels in the exams and even at the workplace where you will find that there are a number of different kinds of employee recognition programs in place to reward an employee who works diligently, such as the employee of the month reward, as well as awards for those who come to work every day for a month, etc.

However, how are such people usually recognized? Most often you will find that there is a ceremony which officially recognizes the valiant efforts of the individual. In sports it happens right after the victor has been declared, at the workplace there might be a formal occasion where all the employees are invited and everyone gets to see who has been selected and is to be felicitated.

However, these methods in and of themselves are actually rather temporary. They pass by in a flash and are hardly remembered much, unless there are photos and videos which are shared on Facebook or other social networking sites. There are other, more permanent methods of recognition. Some of these methods include the ever popular trophies and medals.

In sports every single athlete is striving to get the gold medal. In the Olympics, regardless of whether the sport is a high-impact one such as boxing or which involves showmanship and finesse such as the equestrian dressage event, each and every single athlete is there to get the gold medal. Winning the gold medal is not only seen as a testament to the skill of the athlete, but is also seen as a huge victory for the home nation the athlete represents. Such gigantic level of fanfare, all for a single medal which weighs less than five hundred grams!

At the workplace, while you may not exactly see any trophies or any medals being rewarded, you will find that there are plaques which are given out. As mentioned above, in many offices these rewards are given out in a bit of a formal ceremony, but this is not always true, and which depends entirely on the work culture of the office. But regardless of where the employee is working, it does fill their hearts with pride to see that their efforts to improve the quality of work has been recognized, and when the plaque is sitting on the employee’s desk it makes them want to continue their efforts to be recognized once again the following months. This has a direct effect on the rest of the employees and they also want to get into the competition and thereby the quality of work in the office itself improves substantially, and all of this with just a simple recognition award!

In this article, the author has shared his knowledge about trophies, medals, and plaques and the kinds of materials that are used for making the awards.