The Value of Employee Recognition

16 Jun The Value of Employee Recognition

A Reward and Recognition Program is an Essential Aspect of your Employee Advocacy Strategy.

There are employees who have put hours of effort into the latest project at work to ensure customer satisfaction. Not only did it call for them to take important decisions, not only was it under a tight deadline, and NOT ONLY did they take work home every single night, but it also required them going above and beyond their typical job roles to get the assignment completed. Once everything was seamlessly delivered, there was:

– No follow-up from their managers
– No ‘thank-you’
– No recognition

The next time the manager requires someone to complete an assignment with a tight deadline which requires the team member to put in extra hours, will he/she be inclined to invest this much effort into the next task at hand? Probably not. 

Also see: 5 THINGS EMPLOYEES CRAVE (AND DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY APPROVAL!)

Recognition is a very simple fundamental human need – it forms a critical component of employee engagement and the underlying value throughout the entity of the employer-employee relationship. A “thank you” is means much more to an employee than a bonus – employees want to know that their work is contributing to a greater good and helping to shape their career advancement. Today’s employees want to be acknowledged for successes affecting the company and are more inclined to drive results when their work is celebrated.

Today, if someone asks me what is the value of recognition – this is what I tell them:

• Increased individual productivity – the act of recognising the desired behaviour of a team member increases the repetition of the behaviour, and therefore productivity.
• Greater employee satisfaction and enjoyment of work
• Direct performance feedback for individuals and teams is provided.
• Higher loyalty and satisfaction scores from customers.
• Teamwork between employees is enhanced.
• Retention of high performing employees increases – lower employee attrition.
• Lower negative effects such as absenteeism and stress

What will it cost you – NOTHING! Yes, you heard me right. All you need to do is put these 5 things to everyday practice:

• Thank the person by name.
• Specifically state what they did that is being recognised.
• Explain how the behaviour made you feel
• Point out the value added to the team or organisation by the behaviour.
• Thank the person again by name for their contribution.