More than three-quarters of employees who responded to a recent World of Work study published by Randstad, an Atlanta-based employment services firm, said feeling valued was the most important factor for happiness at work. And that was out of more than a dozen options!
If you’re an employee, do you feel like you’re filling a key role? Or a chair?
If you’re in HR, does employee acknowledgment come only in the form of raises and reviews? Or do you have a formal, well-communicated recognition program in place?
People crave appreciation. Whether it’s a few extra seconds that a manager looks someone in the eye and says, “Hey, that was a really great job. Thanks for being someone I can always rely on…” or a gift given for achieving results or adhering to the organization’s mission, showing people that they’re valued goes a long way.
A 2012 SHRM/Globoforce survey revealed the growing impact of recognition programs on performance management — showing that more than half of companies with recognition programs also observe higher levels of employee engagement, retention, and productivity.
What’s not to love, right?!
Well, be prepared to do some work getting the program rolling.
From determining the types and levels of recognition, deciding when awards happen (all the time? once a quarter? once a year?), who does the awarding (CEO? HR? management?) and finding budget dollars and space on your Careers webpage for compelling and understandable program information, you’ll soon recognize (haha) that showing your love means investing time, energy and money. And if the program is your idea — something new that you’re looking to start — there’s also the job of convincing organizational leaders that employee recognition is about more than a smile and a hello near the water cooler.
Best Practices for employee recognition include making it:
- timely
- specific
- sincere
- individual
- personal
- proportional
But in most cases, as this video proves, interpretative dance probably isn’t going to cut it.
Though Alstin Communications is about as far from a corporate environment as you can get, the agency has always made saying thanks part of our culture. There’s the much-loved (and in some cases, when you’re trying to resist chocolate — DREADED) candy jar, Bagel Fridays (just because it was Friday) and my favorite: monthly employee chair massages. Though some niceties go by the wayside when the economy does, it’s often little things that matter the most. One day, when some members of our team were looking to get together for a blow-off-some-steam happy hour, the president of the agency got wind of the email planning and gave us his credit card to use at our discretion. More recently, an AE heard about Sundae Wednesdays — an employee favorite from the mid-90′s — asked about it, and it’s being brought back.
Just like neon, good things are meant to return.
But by far, the best recognition at Alstin costs absolutely nothing and comes from direct supervisors. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten an extra email from our VP of Operations and our VP of Creative Services saying, “Hey, thanks. I really appreciate you turning that around so quickly.” In terms of really making my day, my favorite — besides chocolate — is when an AE or a manager coming back from a creative presentation passes along client kudos about our work.
So the next time people you work with do something that makes you want to give a fist-bump, be sure to bump the love right back. Just please…no dancing.
Hi Christy,
If you were about to choose your own recognition prize for showing superb performance as an employee what would it be?
Hi Emily! Recognizing performance is important, but recognizing that each performer is an individual — with personal tastes/preferences/beliefs — speaks volumes about the employer and the way the organization respects its team members. In a perfect world, the organization I worked for/was being recognized by would have an online store that allowed me to pick MY favorite gift from the selection available. Another option is to send the employee a link to an online promotional products company — such as yourhrstore.com — and give them a dollar amount to shop with. Another employee-centric idea? Send the employee a short email survey asking what his/her favorite restaurants, stores, brands, sports teams or charities are. My kids’ school does this for each teacher at the beginning of the year, and instead of getting 25 ceramic apples on teacher appreciation day, they get their favorite food/perfume/clothes/tickets. When you recognize individuality at the same time you recognize performance, it’s a win-win!