The low cost, high impact employee strategy you can’t afford to ignore.

Many leaders are looking for ways to engage their people, as we navigate through the ongoing impact of the pandemic. Many in HR are tasked with looking for strategies to not only engage, but increase productivity and attract and retain key players in the team.

Nothing like the re-thinking of the design of our lives we’ve all done in lockdown to drive movement of employees from one company to the next, one industry to another. If you follow the data around employees, stats tell us one in two people are considering moving jobs – a trend that has aptly been named the ‘turnover tsunami’.

For leaders re-design how we work together to achieve company goals in these circumstances, many are offering new perks, dynamic models of working, far more flexibility and even encouraging employee-led schedules so work fits into life, rather than the tradition ‘life fitting into work’ model we have been used to.

Some companies are using already ingrained recognition programs to deliver new perks and adapt to this new way of doing business. Others are overlooking this tactic completely, writing it off as ‘too hard’, ‘we already give enough’, ‘recognition is too expensive’ or one of many other reasons.

But could ignoring the power of an employee recognition program be a big mistake?

Globally, employees frequently cite recognition as being lacking in their workplace. And while things are on the improve for some, the pandemic has hampered progress if appreciate was not already well embedded into the culture. Whether it’s that managers just don’t do it, or it’s completely ad-hoc, studies tell us that employees would be more engaged and productive if they felt more highly valued - and critically, would stick around longer. According to Gallup, those who feel under-valued and under-recognised are twice as likely to leave in the next twelve months (gulp!).

Company-wide recognition is not (or should not be) difficult but it does take a bit of effort. If delivered using well designed SaaS software, a recognition program is simple to set-up and manage, integrating with many of the tools you use today. While any new initiative is never ‘set and forget’, features like automated data management and integration to your communication and collaboration channels, take away the pain points – perceived hard parts - of a program and allow you to focus on actually improving your culture of recognition.

For managers, recognition can simplify the employee-manager relationship by highlighting great actions and achievements as they happen. A program that encourages peer-to-peer recognition allows employees to amplify each other’s achievements. Managers can jump in and publicly endorse the moment without having to be the instigator on each occasion. As we sit solo in the home office, employees are often doing great work that managers are not immediately aware of so would not recognise. By encouraging employees to appreciate each other, moments that may otherwise have gone unnoticed can be suitable celebrated. Rather than complicating things for leaders, a comprehensive recognition program can take the onus off top down appreciation only, allowing your culture to organically thrive.

Many companies do already give a lot in terms of employee experience. If, however, you are looking to attract and retain the best in the business, personalised, authentic appreciation is a must have. Benefits that everyone gets just for being employed, do not demonstrate genuine, personalised appreciation for what an employees puts in. When it comes to benefits, the guy in the back corner who does the bare minimum and hides behind his triple screens get the same benefits as the over-achiever who always shows up at 110% to keep a client happy. A benefit? Sure. Motivating and rewarding for the top performer? Not at all.

Overarching messages of appreciation and value from the CEO, delivered to all employees, are meaningful to a degree. Achieving something together and knowing it’s impact is powerful, but somewhat impersonal when broadcast to all. A direct and personalised recognition from the CEO, for a specific action or achievement? Now that is profoundly motivating and exactly why recognition is so high impact when delivered well.

So yes, the broadcast-to-many thanks need to continue, as should the perks and benefits, but not at the expense of personalised, meaningful appreciation for a job well done.

Recognition also does not have to cost a lot but the overall impact is significant. For less than the cost of a coffee per employee, you can install a company-wide program that celebrates great moments across the business, giving employees a deep sense of value and connection. At a time when most of us are working in some hybrid model of workplace and home, geographically disconnected for many of our work hours, connection is something that we not only crave, but will power productivity and employee happiness.

So is there a cost to recognising? Yes of course. But what is the real cost of failing to recognise? And when you look at cost to implement vs the return, the benefits far outweigh the monthly fees to run a program well.



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