Your employees don’t just enjoy recognition, they need it. According to behavioral scientists, esteem is an essential human need, ranking right after food, shelter, safety, and love. That’s why employee recognition programs can be so effective when it comes to engaging workers.
Obviously, many companies already have some kind of employee recognition program(s) in place. Some honor exceptional performance. Others celebrate employment-related milestones, like work anniversaries. And some commemorate personal life events, like birthdays and family additions.
With so many options, the question becomes: which form of employee recognition resonates most deeply with employees? At a time when many employers are prioritizing the employee experience, the subject deserves a closer look.
Despite the prevalence of employee recognition programs, company leaders often underestimate the impact of them. In a recent Gallup survey, 81% of managers said that employee recognition is not among their strategic priorities.
Yet, that same study found that from the employee viewpoint, recognition initiatives can be absolute gamechangers when it comes to how they feel about their job and employer.
Specifically, Gallup found that, when recognition efforts “hit the mark,” employees are:
Which leads to the next question: what does it take to hit the mark?
As you probably suspected, there is no single, most-impactful employee recognition program. Any number of initiatives can be effective, provided that they embody certain winning characteristics. Specifically, employee recognition is most powerful when it is:
In addition, the most effective recognition programs don’t always come from the top down. Offering employees regular opportunities to provide peer-to-peer recognition is rewarding to both givers and receivers—and reinforces a culture of appreciation.
Employers can be quite creative in the way they recognize employees: trophies, thank you cards, pizza parties, gift cards—even catalog points or weekend getaways. That said, according to Gallup’s findings, only about one-third of organizations formally fund their recognition programs.
However, when programs include monetary awards, it resonates with employees who are more likely to say that they feel they belong and call their company a great place to work. So, while it does make a difference, you can still build an effective program without a budget.
At the end of the day, there is no gold standard for how much recognition employers should give, or exactly how to provide it. But we do know that people crave recognition on a very basic human level—and that, by providing it thoughtfully and genuinely, employers can influence their employee’s attitudes and behaviors in a highly positive way.
Check out this blog for some creative ways to show employee appreciation.
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