Why employee recognition is so powerful.

Belonging.

All people are driven by wanting to belong. They want to feel connected to a common focus and belong to team.

When your vision is shared with employees and there is plan to collaboratively achieve, employee engagement increases. Recognition allows employees to be part of something bigger that everyone can contribute to. They can share who they are, what is important to them and find that sense of belonging.

Brand authenticity.

Employees are attracted to brands they believe in. They want to work for a company that is aligned with their personal ethics, values and actions. They need to fundamentally trust the company is who it says it is.

Actions speak louder than words. Employee recognition shows employees what is actually important to the company through the actions and achievements that are highlighted. It creates a space where employees know the company shows up authentically as who they are, not who they profess to be.

Culture.

Culture is the connective tissue on which success is built. It is the daily interactions, shared beliefs and behaviours that determine how employees and customers experience a brand.

Social recognition creates a positive culture that all employees can believe in. It allows them to contribute to who the company is, bringing their own unique perspectives and ideas to the culture.

Determinism.

People want to know what will happen as a result of their actions. This creates an opportunity to foster desired behaviours by outlining expectations and how employees will be rewarded when they take action – do this, get that.

Employee recognition allows managers to demonstrate what is important to them and how they will express appreciation. It builds trust for employees that the desired actions will be celebrated.

The Dopamine effect.

People feel a ‘rush’ after they do something good or something good happens. This is known as The Dopamine Effect.

Recognition creates a dopamine rush or emotional charge helping employees feel good about what they have accomplished. Seeking this feeling leads them to repeat the behaviours so that they can feel that rush again.

While some people believe recognising small actions is not important, we disagree. Recognising small actions results in those actions becoming habits. Once they are habitual, employees will do them without thinking, leaving more energy for more challenging tasks.

Embedded values.

Embedding your values across the business is fundamental to employee engagement.

The words on the wall need to have everyday application, underpin your people and customer experience and be the true pillars that drive your success.

Social recognition brings your values to life. Recognition helps to demonstrate what the values mean and allows employees to contribute to their meaning organically.

Idiosyncratic fit.

People like to think their situation is unique and assess this by comparison.

Recognition allows employees to feel appreciated for their personal actions, within a defined framework and with equitability. While individual recognition feels personalised and unique - creating idiosyncratic fit for the individual - it is given within an acceptable framework. When compared to others, it feels fair.

Company-wide employee recognition limits employees feeling disgruntled as everyone can give and receive within that same framework.

Intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsically motivated employees will perform their best, no matter the rewards on offer. They get a spark from the personal satisfaction - the ‘feel good factor’ - of doing brilliant work.

Social recognition boosts these feel good feelings. It endorses and amplifies their internal motivation, helping to keep them engaged and delivering at their best.

Manager relationship.

Engagement improves when employees have an authentic relationship with their manager. The quality of manager relationships affect not only the individual, but teams and productivity as well.

Recognition builds authenticity as employees feel seen and understood. The transparent nature of social recognition the perception of ‘manager obligation’ when it comes to recognition, building a more authentic and collaborative culture.

Memory bias.

Positive and negative memories of past events influence how people feel about current or future events.

When an employee works hard on a project and is disappointed to receive no recognition for it, the negative experience impacts how they will approach projects in the future. When the employee is not only recognised by their manager but called out by the CEO, the positive experience will influence how they approach future projects.

Opportunities.

Most employees, especially the younger generations, are forward-thinking and want to know there are opportunities to grow.

If they can’t grow with you, they will go where they can. The transparency social recognition creates satisfies employees in knowing they are seen – not just by their peers and managers, but by higher-ups. They know when opportunities arise, they have visibility to hiring managers and won’t be overlooked.

Sociability.

Gone are the days of a call into the manager’s office for a secretive pat on the back.

Employees want to be recognised in public and doing so amplifies the effect. The employee being recognised gets more social kudos for their actions and those around them feel the halo effect from engaging with the moment. Social recognition allows more people to participate in each moment, for greater good.

Trust.

Trust creates a space where employees can bring their best selves to work. It empowers them to speak up, call out things that don’t align with the company culture and to feel emotionally secure at work.

Social recognition creates trust between employees and managers. Recognition builds deeply trusting relationships and increases psychological safety.

Wellbeing.

Caring for employees as whole beings is good for business.

The future of employee wellbeing is increasingly focused on mental wellbeing - heightened by the pandemic. Studies show that giving is good for our overall health. Gratitude helps those that give increase their level of happiness, decrease stress factors and create meaningful connections at work.