Understanding the value of recognition in the workplace
Leveraging our proprietary framework, the Categories of Inclusion, Aleria measures inclusion at organizations by looking at the unique experiences of exclusion of employees. The data we collect tells a powerful story. This post is part of a series where we touch on each of the Categories of Inclusion, sharing the trends we see in the data and how to enact change.
Being recognized for one’s work is a key component of a sense of inclusion. Recognition can take many forms but in general this means acknowledgement of unique contributions, having input taken seriously and actually considered. While it’s important for managers to recognize their team members, it is also important to feel recognized by those you don’t directly work with — executive leaders, people on other teams, external stakeholders and more.
Multiple studies and research have shown the strong link between recognition and inclusion. One report found that in companies with a strong culture of recognition, 87% of employees feel included. Recognition is also closely tied to a sense of DEI commitment. The same study found that in strong recognition cultures, HR leaders and employees were more likely to say their company is committed to DEI. A study from Gallup found that increasing the frequency of recognition rituals led to a 31% decrease in absenteeism and a 27% increase in performance. This further demonstrates the clear importance of recognition to organizational performance.
In our work, measuring inclusion within the workplace, we often find experiences related to recognition that are causing people to feel excluded, dissatisfied and generally unhappy in their role. In fact, when looking at the collective data from our entire range of client organizations, 32% of participating employees shared at least one experience tied to recognition. Additionally, nearly 20% of all experiences of exclusion were linked to recognition.
Some of the common trends we hear include:
- having others take credit for your work
- introverted or quieter folks not getting recognized
- having ideas ignored only to have someone else suggest it with success
- not being asked for one’s input in group discussions
- people in support and other back-end roles not receiving acknowledgment (as opposed to sales and client-facing roles)
Additionally when looking at who is causing experiences of exclusion that relate to recognition, we see the following:
Ensuring recognition is a core part of the culture at your organization is vital to an inclusive environment. And it doesn’t have to take a big budget to make a positive impact on the day to day lives of your team. Below are a few tips you can start implementing today.
Give credit where it’s due
Ensure that credit goes to the originator of a good point and not just to the person who talks the longest, loudest or simply repeats someone else’s idea. Sometimes it’s asking who contributed to a project when a final deliverable is being shared. Or having team members take turns when sharing wins and updates.
Meetings can be particularly tricky when it comes to this issue. Sometimes in the flow of a meeting it can be easy to unintentionally gloss over who contributed an idea as the pace of discussion picks up. It’s important to pay close attention and always divert back to the person who originally made a point. Acknowledge them out loud. Consider appointing one person to pay attention to who is saying what at each meeting. This can help with keeping track of who provided an original idea even if it’s built on by others later on.
Make recognition ongoing and personal
Establish regular recognition rituals beyond performance reviews such as peer-to-peer acknowledgments, person of the week or month and more. Ongoing and personal recognition goes a long way to making people feel appreciated and as if their work is valued. Additionally don’t keep recognition to one-on-one spaces. Allow for people across the organization to see what folks in different departments are doing and achieving. There are plenty of automated bots that work within communication platforms like Slack to prompt a moment of gratitude or recognition from team members. These are useful and simple to implement but can have a big impact.
Tie each role to the mission
Not everyone is going to be in highly visible roles such as those that are customer-facing, on stage speaking, or directly attached to revenue generation. And often those that aren’t in those roles report feeling undervalued. But the fact is that every person’s work contributes to the overall success of the company and its ability to achieve its mission. Make sure that everyone understands how their day to day work is tied to the mission of the company and that it’s clear to them how they contribute to the success. This can help them feel empowered and engaged each day at work.
Flip the status quo
Consider reverse mentorships — an opportunity for someone in a lower level than you (or even someone in a completely different department than you) to demonstrate how they do their job functions and responsibilities. This can be a powerful tool to give managers, executive leaders and others insight into what it’s really like day to day in the work experience of their reports or those in other departments. In this flipped situation, the mentor has agency to demonstrate their expertise in their role and be a leader, something they don’t necessarily get to do often. Reverse mentorships can provide an additional benefit of clarifying potential challenges and opportunities in a function that some wouldn’t normally have insight into. This can lead to better problem-solving and discussion where the team member’s input is invaluable and their expertise is centered.
The desire to feel recognized, appreciated and valued is a natural human need. Leaders that create systems to do this for their team and foster environments that clearly prioritize recognition can drive a greater sense of inclusion and improved business performance.
Wondering where your team members may be looking for more recognition? Get in touch to learn about Aleria’s Inclusion Assessments.
