The five trends that will impact employee recognition in 2019.

As you plan your employee recognition strategy for 2019 and finalise how the budget will be allocated, here are the trends we are predicting will impact employee recognition in 2019.

Connecting to a purpose.

Employees want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They no longer work for companies just to have the company name on their resume. Employees, particularly the younger generations, want to know why they are doing what they are doing. It is not enough to just know how, they want to know the impact of their efforts. They want to feel intimately connected to the goal and to their part in reaching that goal.

Use recognition to build meaning into the daily grind by aligning the moments of recognition with the company’s goals or values. Encourage employees and managers to describe each moment in a way that demonstrates to the person being recognised – and to everyone else who celebrates on the social wall - just how impactful the actions were. Connect actions and achievements to overall purpose by tagging recognition with the company values, bringing real meaning to them and building a connection for employees.
 

Another way to use recognition to connect to a purpose – although not a direct work outcome-oriented purpose – is to choose one or more causes that the business supports and reward employees by allowing them to be involved in those causes. Sounds counterintuitive, but research tells us that those that contribute to something bigger than themselves cite increased feelings of happiness and fulfilment. And that is a good thing when it comes to engaging your team.

Reward employees with the chance to give their time, be part of their choice of cause, raise money through company activities or volunteer during work hours. Building these personal connections with causes that are important to the business will increase employee commitment to not only the company, but what the company aspires to be.

Building a sense of purpose is not something that will happen overnight but focussing on connecting through employee recognition program will help.

Trust in leadership.

Trust in senior leadership is often top of the list in employee engagement surveys. The position has not changed but the importance of trusting leaders for your employees has increased in the last few years. Market volatility and high-profile breaches of corporate trust have helped to firmly cement trust as a powerful driver of engagement. When it comes down to it, employees want to know that those at the helm can navigate the company to success.

Poor communication, inequity and failure to listen all impact employee’s trust of leadership. Make sure your recognition program has clear communication, broadcast loudly by executives. Encourage leaders to be actively involved in the program, not just in the first month or when it is review time. Show executives why recognition is important and how it will help them and they will be more than willing to jump onboard. Set clear guidelines about how to recognise and reward. You can control elements of the program by setting budgets and reward values, but leaders need to not only participate but consciously engage with the program to build trust amongst their team.

The added benefit of leadership involvement is that it is the leaders that set the tone for any initiative. Their active participation in your employee recognition will help to build a giving culture aligned around your company values. And who doesn’t want that?

Celebrating contribution equally, not by employee type.

For recognition to be really successful and deeply embedded, is should be a whole-of-company thing. Contribution is not limited to full timers, extraordinary effort is not the domain of those who work a 40 hour week. While some industries remain more traditional, many are moving towards hiring increased percentages of contractors, part-timers, giggers, one-off experts who can deliver on a specific project or goal. In 2019, we expect to see more companies looking to incorporate these contributors into their company-wide recognition program.

The reason is simple. When you create a thank-you economy the focus is on giving, not getting. On-going employees - the team who will still be there long after the project is complete and the expert is working on their next contract - not only want to give recognition where it is due, they will benefit from handing out the high-fives. The positive psychological effects of a culture that is about recognising each other and celebrating great moments will outweigh any cost of having short-term employees involved in the program.
 

Having giggers or short-term employees involved does not mean you have to spend up big rewarding them. You can, but including them in recognition is enough. And by recognising their contribution to the business, you will quickly build a stable of short-term employees who know your business and are happy to come back for the next gig.

Recognition programs of the future will need to be flexible enough to give you the option to reward and recognise different kinds of employees in different ways, ultimately giving you the choice of how they are recognised.

The experience of recognition.

Lots of companies we talk with are now focussing on the employee experience - from application to anniversary. The average employee is now using so many systems and portals they can be left feeling a but overwhelmed. Or worse, they just stop using the tools that are not critical to their job.
 

Integrating recognition deeply into your HR and communication processes will be increasingly important. Whether your employees log into an internal intranet or you use a tool like Sharepoint, recognition will be more broadly adopted if your employees can access it through a Single Sign On (SSO). This allows them to have a single point of access for multiple systems, rather than yet another user name and password to forget - I mean, remember.

If you use Slack, Yammer, Chatter, Workplace or Teams – or other collaboration tools – recognition moments should be posted automatically to these channels. This streamlines content for your employees and allows each moment of recognition to be celebrated with the volume turned up.

The more you can embed your recognition program and improve the employee experience, from access to recognition messaging, the more your employees will contribute to your recognition culture.

More ‘life’ in the work-life equation.

Employees are looking for a better way for work and life to co-exist. We all know the balance is hard to attain but there is growing expectation that employers will support employees in their quest to get somewhere near a happy equilibrium. They are not saying they won’t check emails after 6pm, but if they happen to be offline for a few hours while they eat and do a yoga class, this will make them more productive and committed when they are ‘on’.

Whether it is coaching employees to take more time off, a focus on their health or encouraging them to take a few deep breaths while still on the clock, finding ways to support the work life co-existence will impact recognition in 2019.

As you plan your recognition strategy for 2019 and look at how to adapt your program to suit your goals, or indeed, look for a whole new program altogether, consider how to incorporate each of these trends. And if you can’t incorporate them with the technology you have today, consider looking for a more comprehensive solution that can deliver on your goals.