As many businesses start to plan operations in the new world with Covid protocols high on the agenda, prestigious consulting companies such as KPMG are highlighting the vital role that an employee engagement strategy will have to ensure success. In a recent report they claimed that companies that will benefit in this new world will have engagement as their first or second priority.
Employee recognition programs are part of the total reward framework for many thought leading businesses today, and are proven to add benefits in employee engagement. When well designed, Employee Recognition programs can have a positive effect on an employee’s rationale and “emotional engagement” which can lead to discretionary effort.
The most common definition of Employee Recognition is “the action or process of recognising or being recognised”. Recognition can be delivered on behalf of the company to an individual, by a manager, customer, guest or more powerfully, by peers who witness the great contribution of their fellow employees in their everyday environment.
If recognition is given consistently and frequently, and most importantly is genuine, it can have a significant impact on employee productivity, engagement and overall behaviour, which could lead to improved customer experience, increased productivity, fewer sick days, reduced staff turnover and more.
Is it important?
The importance of employee recognition in today’s modern workplace has been proven in numerous independent studies. Employee recognition has evolved from focusing on tenure of service and recognising people who meet employment milestones (which may recognise staying power rather than contribution – probably not what you want). The impact of employee-designed and employee-led recognition programs where the recognition is frequent and authentic is getting a lot of attention because it represents a great investment.
Employees who are recognised tend to be more engaged and engaged employees equate to higher retention rates and reduced absenteeism. Great work relationships are fostered by positive environments and a ‘culture of recognition’ makes workplaces where employees want to be at work and want to do their best work.
Recognition and positive feedback reinforces the behaviours you want to see more of in your organisation to help align all your people to your goals and vision.
Recognition is a great investment. It costs nothing to say “thank you” or “great job,” and Recognition can highlight behaviours you want to see, and more importantly, want repeated.
What recognition isn’t
Recognition is not compensation, nor ‘at risk compensation’ – it is not about incentives or bonuses tied to performance goals. If your base salaries are below average and your people don’t believe they are paid fairly for their contribution, positive behaviour recognition won’t change that.
Effective Programs
Effective recognition programs can usually include peer to peer, top down, manager to team member or customer feedback recognition. They should be able to automatically generate notifications for anniversaries, length of service, or key milestone dates. They should be for individuals, teams, departments, groups or company-wide. There is also no problem with be self-nomination, especially for remote workers – such as recognition for innovation suggestions or kicking goals, as long as the right approval process is in place.
When the concept of reward is added to recognition it introduces a greater level of the feel good factor, validating that impact as something worth celebrating. Great rewards create stories within your organisation and amongst your employee’s networks, reinforcing your employer brand positively from the inside out.
Todays modern best practice online and “instant” recognition programs are different in several ways.
1. They favour frequent and small instances of recognition that reaches everyone, instead of large lavish gestures that reach only a few ‘high performers’.
2. The instances of recognition within the program are visible to everyone and ‘socialised’ just like on social media, creating conversations around great behaviours.
3. The recognition program is often designed by the employees. In our experience, employee designed programs are more creative, engaging and give employees a sense of ownership.
As a rule of thumb, the best practice for budget allocation for rewards is between .05 and 2 percent of payroll depending on the number of employees and the objectives of the program. The cost of the platform should be covered by cost savings over manual processes. For a program to succeed each person needs to know how his or her work contributes to the company’s values, goals and results. This is where we help.
Brownie Points is helping thought leading organisations around the world to engage their staff with personalised employee recognition programs that deliver a real benefit to the business.
To learn how Brownie Points could help your business, call us today on 03 9909 7411 or email us at info@browniepoints.com.au to arrange a no obligation demonstration.
