5 Benefits of Employee Recognition Programs
Employee recognition programs are employer initiatives to reward its employees for achievement, new behaviors, anniversaries and milestones.
Employee Recognition Programs Definition
Employee recognition programs include various activities that employers take to recognize, appreciate and reward its employers for good work.
Today, there are various types and shapes of employee recognition programs: monetary, non-monetary, peer-to-peer, manager to employee and so on.
5 Reasons Why You Should Implement Employee Recognition Program
The benefits of Having Employee Recognition Programs
The reasons why recognition programs are becoming so popular are numerous. There is a lot of research that proves the true benefit of recognizing and appreciating employees.
Moreover, Gallup Poll shows that 65% of employees haven’t received any form of recognition for good work in the last year.
That needs to change!
Here are some of the main benefits of having an employee recognition program.
Employee Recognition Increases Employee Engagement
This is not the truth because employers believe so. Employees have said it themselves. According to research on employee engagement, 58% employees say that the leaders could drive more engagement with employee recognition.
In addition, employees who feel like they can trust their leaders and managers are more engaged in the workplace. Employee recognition programs are a great way for building trust between managers and employees. A research by Cicero Group has proved that 50% of employees believe being thanked by managers not only improved their relationship but also built trust.
Employee recognition boosts employee productivity
Employee recognition drives employee productivity. People want to get recognized for their contributions and achievements to stay motivated. Moreover, 69% of employees would work harder if they felt their efforts were better appreciated.
Today, companies and leaders are also aware of how recognition can drive employee productivity. In fact, according to Aberdeen Group’s research on employee recognition, 60% of of Best-in-Class organizations stated that employee recognition is extremely valuable in driving individual performance.
To add, Bersin by Deloitte states that organizations with the most sophisticated recognition practices are 12 times more likely to have strong business outcomes.
Employee recognition decreases employee turnover
We all know how expensive employee turnover is. This is the reason why companies across the world are looking for solutions to lower turnover rates. Employee recognition programs are your best bet! According to Bersin & Associates, companies with recognition programs that are highly effective at improving employee engagement have 31% lower voluntary turnover.
Not convinced?
A recent research has also proved that 21.5% of workers who don’t feel recognized for doing great work have interviewed for a job in the past three months vs. 12.4% who do feel recognized.
Employee recognition improves customer satisfaction
Employee satisfaction drives customer satisfaction. You all know, from your own experience, that employees who love their jobs and employers make much more effort to keep the customers happy as well.
Therefore, appreciating your employees for good work has a direct impact on customer satisfaction. In fact, according to WorkHuman, 41% of companies that use peer-to-peer recognition have seen positive increases in customer satisfaction.
Employee recognition improves employee health, well being and company culture
Employee recognition programs are a great way to improve employee health, satisfaction and well-being.
According to research by Hero & Mercer, when leaders recognized employees’ healthy actions and outcomes, there was 91% improvement in population health and 87% improvement in medical plan cost than in companies that didn’t recognize employees’ success.
In addition, 85% of HR Leaders say an employee recognition program has a positive effect on organizational culture and 83% say that employee recognition programs benefit organizational values.
Setting Up a Successful Employee Recognition Programs
When setting up an employee recognition program, follow these steps:
- Get your leaders on board- In order for a recognition program to work, leaders have to be on board. Define the real ROI of employee recognition and present them to your CEO.
- Define goals- Carefully define what you are trying to achieve with your new program. This can be anything from increasing employee satisfaction or engagement, increasing customer satisfaction to motivating employees to finish a project on time.
- Determine resources needed- Understand how much and which resources you need to implement and manage the program. Define the key team who will lead it.
- Define policies and procedures- Define how the program will work. What will the employees be nominated and rewarded for? Will you have monetary or non-monetary rewards? What is the maximum amount of nominations and rewards? How will the employees collect points?
- Choose the right technology- Without the right technology, implementing a successful employee rewards program is impossible. Rewards and recognition solutions like JobPts are designed to help employers implement and manage rewards programs that best fit their business strategy.
- Measure success- Measure the success of your recognition programs. Track the KPIs you have defined at the beginning of the process.
