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9+ Achievement Certificate Templates
Recognition in different fields-the academe, music, sports and business seems a given when an individual’s, a group or a team’s contribution warrants it but you’d be surprised how it gets put in the back burner by many organizations and their managing team, which gives an impression that receiving one would come across as something beyond normal expectations or something that’s too much to ask.
To be really effective, a leader needs to understand the impact and psychology of acknowledging others for a job well done and to establish the practice of recognition in yourself so that in turn, you can motivate others to do the same in different types of working relationships.
Elements of a Great Achievement Certificate
Appreciation and praise are two of the most fundamental human needs. Individuals and groups at work, in school and in the playing field respond to appreciation through the recognition of their work or contribution crucial to the success of their team or organization. Oftentimes recognition comes in the form of achievement certificates with these elements during awarding ceremonies, which is the best testament to one’s work or achievement being valued by people around them:
1. Title: Often located at the top of the document, the title serves as the certificate’s main headline indicating something that may be as simple such as “award” or “certificate of achievement” or something altogether longer incorporating the award giving body or organization’s name.
2. Presentation Line: This is a short line of text usually following the title and could be written in various ways such as “hereby presented to” or a line of the same sort, followed by the award’s recipient.
3. Recipient: Obviously, the recipient would be the name of the individual or group for which the award is meant to be given. There are cases where the recipient’s name is in a different font if not enlarged to a size which would emphasize it even more than the type of achievement received or the certificate’s title.
4. Description: The type of award or achievement is described in this part of the certificate. It could be a statement as simple as the high score garnered in a tournament. In an employee’s case perhaps, this would be a figure or the key performance metric achieved in that month, period or quarter.
9+ Achievement Certificate Templates
Academic Achievement Certificate Template
Music Achievement Certificate Template
Student Achievement Certificate
Art Achievement Certificate Template
Certificate of Recognition
Certificate of Excellence Template
Kindergarten Certificate Template
Appreciation Certificate Template
Sample Certificate of Achievement
Steps to Design a Good Achievement Certificate
When employees and their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rise, and they are motivated to maintain or improve their good work. Same is true with other individuals when they contribute to what makes a team successful.
Designing a professional certificate especially for the workplace is a great way to let people know they are appreciated without having to spend so much on costly prizes. Use the following steps that will make your people receive a certificate of appreciation with great pride:
- Use professional tools: Design and layout software and applications can be intimidating to use and learning to use them to your advantage as professional tools may take some time, however they would not only make your certificates look unique and allow you to personalize them, they can also offer a new skill which would help you with other design-related work tasks such as creating new logos, business flyers or templates.
- Choose the correct color scheme: There are no hard and fast rules in designing certificates for employee recognition but you should never take color for granted. Pastels or a neon color palette may look attractive but they’re also a tad informal to be used in business awarding ceremonies if what you need is an official workplace certificate. You’ll do better using simple, laid back, conservative colors such as black, white, blues and greys on white paper which is what you would more likely use.
- Pick the right paper stock: The kind of paper you use would have a big impact on an achievement certificate at the workplace. Sure, you may want to be a bit more stylish with flimsy, glossy papers and can make the recipient of the award feel that you’re not taking this recognition seriously. On the other hand, heavier paper would give a feeling that you really have thought of the person receiving the certificate since it’s obviously more substantial and can give off a better psychological effect.
Tips in Designing Achievement Certificates
For anyone who takes their job seriously, a certificate would always be a great reminder and sign of appreciation for recognition earned and rightfully given. For employees and students, certificates of achievement can be very helpful in scholarship applications, college admission, and job promotions. Here are some steps in creating a simple but professional certificate:
- Make It Unique: No matter how classic you think they may be, certificates with black, old English fonts on a parchment paper belongs to the past and shouldn’t be an option anymore. They’re dull and can sometimes lack the sophisticated style that an official workplace certificate needs. You can still be creative even with a simple layout and create a unique design.
- Make It Accurate and Concise: A certificate is a professional, formal document, signed by people authorized to issue it and should, therefore, have text which is grammatically correct with the names of the individuals spelled correctly. Title or designation of the person also matters, otherwise, the certificate is void of value.
- Print with quality: Certificates are oftentimes printed with border art paper, parchment or A4 paper, all of which can be purchased in retail or supplies stores. Whether you choose a heavy stock or a lighter type, it’s very important that you save and store them in 300 dpi (dots per inch) which is the standard quality for printing certificates. You may download the file by making use of different templates for certificates all over the internet and this website or you can use the Print-PDF option.
Types of Achievement Certificates
When an organization is enjoying success, it’s quite easy to forget the people who made it possible. With the awarding of certificates, employees or members are much more motivated to do better. Certificates of achievement can vary according to a type of achievement or award but in general, it’s a certificate given as a sign of recognition for a job well done:
- Academic Achievement Certificate: When you’re a diligent student at any grade or academic level, at the end of the year, this is what you receive on top of medals. This is usually given to the students finishing the school year or graduating at the top of their class based on grades or top marks achieved.
- Sports Achievement Certificate: This is what a professional athlete in any type of sports receives, which can be further specified and vary from “player of the season” to “most valuable player,” depending on the competition or club and team achievement for the whole season.
- Employee Achievement Certificate: An employee certificate can be given during monthly, quarterly or annual recognition ceremonies in an organization or company. This could also differ and may specifically indicate the employee’s achievement such as “employee of the month, year, etc.”
Achievement Certificate Sizes
Choose a paper that could emphasize the design an at the same time give a certificate the touch of authority and elegance it needs, most of which come in 8.5 x 11 inches, size since it’s the standard size for certificates. However, you can choose to increase the certificate paper sizes if your printer or your budget for printing can allow it.
Achievement Certificate FAQs
What is a certificate of achievement?
In academic, business, sports, and other field’s language and context, a certificate of achievement can vary and can mean many different things to those giving and receiving it. Generally, it’s a paper or document given to an individual or a team for their notable contribution academically or professionally, as a sign of appreciation or recognition.
What’s the difference between a certificate of achievement and an award?
An award is usually a short, concise qualification completed by an individual. A certificate on the other hams is given for providing or contributing a broad base of skills, knowledge or a remarkable contribution to a group or organization.
A certificate of achievement may just pass as a piece of paper to a regular person, but for people who work hard to achieve their individual goals or that of the team in which they belong, receiving one is a great testament for what they do. It shouldn’t be difficult to understand. We all appreciate a pat on the back for doing more than our share of work but making the recognition official is much, much better.
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