The human need for recognition in the workplace
In today's fast-paced and competitive workplace, employees crave recognition and validation for their efforts. A “thank you” still goes a long way, but today's employees want more. They want to feel a sense of belonging, and they want to feel pride and meaning in their work. This means that creating more human recognition moments at the office is critical, as they not only impact employees' happiness and well-being, but also productivity, retention and a company's overall bottom line.
We have found that a human workplace is founded on three main principles: a culture of respect, focused on treating employees as human beings; care and attention to employee well-being; and constant and reinforced recognition of employees' work.
A new survey from our WorkHuman Research Institute indicates that employee recognition is the strongest foundational element of building a human workplace. Ninety-two percent of employees said being consistently recognized at work made them feel more appreciated, and 85 percent said it made them feel more satisfied with their job. Yet despite the proven benefits, recognition is still not happening nearly enough. Our survey revealed that 40 percent of employees had not been recognized by their respective company leaders in the past year. That number is far too high. Even though employees may seem happy at work, more frequent and consistent recognition is needed to better engage them and produce a sense of well-being, trust, optimism and confidence that can propel a company and its culture forward.
The benefits of recognition are exemplified through our work with JetBlue. Using a personalized recognition program, JetBlue employees can nominate their co-workers for everyday contributions, as well as exemplary work or effort. The recipient of the recognition receives points they can then decide how to spend. As a result, JetBlue found that for every 10-percentage point increase in employees being recognized, the company saw a 3-percentage point increase in retention and a 2-percentage point increase in engagement. Candy maker Hershey saw similar great results. Through its Hershey SMILES program, which we designed to unite Hershey's more than 22,000 employees in 17 different countries, they awarded 50,000 smiles to employees in just one year, and employee satisfaction with rewards and recognition increased by 11 percent in the first seven months.
Recognition in the workplace is constantly evolving, but it always goes back to the power of humanity. Our survey found when employees believe leaders are actively trying to create a more human workplace, overall culture metrics improve, including 89 percent of employees who said they felt their company cares about them as a person. This is compared to only 31 percent of employees who did not feel their leaders were creating a more human workplace.
Although we have yet to achieve a universal human workplace, companies that use recognition as the first step toward infusing humanity into their culture stand to reap significant return on investment, particularly when it comes to people metrics and business results. Recognition continues to be the fundamental solution needed to assure employees that their workplace contributions are vital to their company's success, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
Eric Mosley is the CEO of Southborough-based Globoforce, a social recognition firm.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments