Employee engagement is not only about the happiness of employees. In fact happiness is almost not a key factor in engagement. Employees can be happy at work, without being productive or contributing to the bottom line.
Engagement is more about business improvement, which results from employees who deliver discretionary effort, (which can be observed or measured), and when employees are recognised for their contribution and are more motivated.
Employee engagement strategies measure the energy, effort, and passion employees bring to their work. And that’s important to bottom-line success. Hence, employee engagement is indispensable to the success of any organisation, and should be part of the corporate culture.
Studies by industry experts over the past couple of years indicate that engaged employees often contribute more, are more motivated, provide better customer service, and have fewer sick days. Organisations with high levels of engagement often benefit from lower staff turnover rates and increased talent attraction.
The bottom line is that employee engagement can have a profound effect on an organisation’s overall performance.
Studies have repeatedly shown that when employees feel truly valued and appreciated, they work harder, smarter or better, with discretionary effort the result. That’s why one of the best ways to drive engagement is to implement a Recognition (and Reward?) program in an organisation.
A report published in 2016 by Workplace Trends Report highlighted that in addition to promoting higher engagement, employee Recognition programs yielded up to 27% higher profits, 12% higher productivity, 21% higher retention rates, and 50% higher sales. Now that’s a great return on investment, and certainly worthy of note by senior management.
An excellent way to optimise a recognition program is to design one that is consistent, transparent and is in line with your organisational values. When implemented, the program should be customised to meet the unique cultural and generational needs and preferences of your employee base, so when planning your employee engagement program keep the following suggestions in mind:
- Implement uniform, company-wide reward and recognition programs that are paired with clear objectives customised to drive the most desired behaviours.
- Be aware of your employees’ cultural and generational preferences. The instant text message or an email that motivates a millennial employee could simply frustrate a Baby Boomer who prefers reward or recognition delivered in person. In other words, understand how your employees like to be recognised.
- It is also imperative to understand the laws of the country to develop a successful employee compensation plan. Organisations with multi country operations should also be mindful of differences in the types of reward that are suitable, available and within budget in each country.
- Have a good balance between monetary and non-monetary awards. A range of rewards, from e-gift cards, to events and products are ideal to satisfy today’s workforce, although products, services and experiences are still a better way to deliver long term behavioural changes, as the reward is likely to be associated with the recognised behaviour, which is often not the case with money or e-cards.
- Implement the right tools and technology to ensure that consistent company-wide rewards and recognition can be easily customised to your organisation’s need for employee recognition. A cloud based program will allow you to implement something that will meet the needs of office based and mobile or remote staff.
Companies have now realised that recognition (and reward) programs for employees can encourage desired behaviours, motivating employees to perform at their best, with beneficial results on corporate performance.
Brownie Points is rapidly becoming a platform of choice for employee engagement programs to recognise staff for their contribution to the business.
To learn more, call us today on 03 9909 7411 to arrange a free demonstration, or email us at info@browniepointscom.au for more information on how we can help your business.
