In a recent research study on human capital management trends, it was found that best-in-class companies are 21 percent more likely to view recognition as extremely valuable for driving employee performance. They are 22 percent more likely to consider recognition programs to be extremely valuable to their success. Those that use social recognition are more likely to retain their employees than organizations without any form of recognition. Those businesses with standard processes in place to measure engagement are 24 percent more likely to have employees who rate themselves as highly engaged.
Before we proceed, let’s outline how the “best-in-class” were defined. These were the top 20 percent of aggregate performers from the industry average. The mean performance among these companies was: 87 percent of employees rated themselves as highly engaged, 30 percent year-over-year improvement in customer satisfaction rates, and 10 percent year-over-year improvements in voluntary employee turnover rates.
All this means that these organizations have relatively happy and engaged employees who stay with the organization. The key to all this seems to be that the organizations provide recognition for their employees. They support, recognize and appreciate their work and efforts. They do this by implementing employee recognition tactics.
What is recognition? Recognition happens when managers, employees and even the customers socially acknowledge employees’ great worth through online or software tools and technologies. This means publicly and privately acknowledging individual and team success.
Things like kudos at team meeting, a wall of thanks, time off programs, public announcements and even monetary rewards are valuable. Some offer after-hours celebrations, trips, outings, and office parties.
When an employee’s work efforts go unnoticed, or they are ignored or mistreated, she can easily become disengaged. Especially if she feels that she has performed beyond expectations without recognition. Disengagement is a lack of motivation in the present position which can lead to a search for other, possibly, more motivating opportunities.
With 79 percent of companies indicating a shortage of critical skills available in the labor pool, highly skilled employees have more choices than ever. If a job or role just doesn’t cut it anymore they don’t have to look very hard for a better opportunity. It is the “Age of the Employee.”
Why do people stay? They stay because they have a sense of commitment to their roles, because they are vested in their responsibilities and feel connected with the business and its goals. Salary is fifth (28 percent) on the list of reasons why workers stay with their companies.
I want to add my couple of pennies to all this. Having employee recognition programs in place will add value to the employees and the organization. However, nothing will make up for lack of quality leadership, a clear mission and vision and values. I am confident that the above best-in-class companies all have these items firmly in place.
I am a betting man and I would bet that these companies also provide their people a sense of autonomy in how they perform their duties, the ability to work toward improving themselves and their jobs, and the realization that what they do serves a purpose. I also bet that they pay their people a competitive salary to take that issue off the table.
Are the people in our industry different? I do hear a great deal of complaints that we are not appreciated and no one recognizes the value we bring. In fact, many feel outright disrespected, especially the service professionals.
The biggest complaint that I hear in our industry is: “All they care about is the bottom line. No one is concerned about patient care.” Indeed, it does appear that way, not only in our industry but everywhere. Just call most organizations and press the myriad of numbers before you get to a real person who cannot help you anyway.
So … …employers, pay attention to your people and let them know why things are the way they are. Understanding goes a long way toward acceptance. Employees, realize that we all work under organizational constraints and objectives that define our work. Good and frequent communication is key.