Employee recognition programs are a small but powerful way to create positivity in the workplace. They can help your team feel happy and secure.
Want to amp up engagement, productivity, and performance while eliminating stress? Looking to reduce turnover? Learn how boosting your employee appreciation efforts can help you achieve your goals.
What is employee recognition?
Employee recognition refers to how an employer shows care and appreciation for employees.
Recognition can be for a variety of things, including:
- Showing behaviors in line with company values
- Achieving a specific professional milestone
- Having a good attitude or going above and beyond the call of duty to achieve results
The reward can also come in many different forms, including compensation, fun activities, gifts, and written or verbal expressions. But why is employee recognition important? While employee recognition can sometimes feel like a small gesture, it can deliver huge results for the business. Employees at every level desire positive recognition in exchange for their hard work. Giving it to them can foster positive feelings. In turn, this delivers all kinds of benefits, including:
- Better teamwork 👥
- More engagement and lower employee turnover 💼
- Greater efficiency and employee productivity 🚀
- Better performance 🎉
- More innovation and creativity 🎨
Frequent recognition also has many benefits for employees. These benefits include a greater sense of satisfaction and a feeling of belonging at work. Though the act of employee recognition may be brief, the positive impacts for employees and businesses will last for a long time to come.
Understanding the power of employee recognition 🔋
Employee recognition can be a game-changer for any business. This has been proven time and again through research:
- In a Great Place to Work Trust Index survey of 1.7 million employees, 37% reported that employee recognition was the most important driver of great work
- In that same survey, people who felt recognized at work were twice as likely to say that their co-workers went above and beyond
- They were 2.2 times more likely to share new ideas that drove innovation
- A Gallup study found that public recognition made workers five times as likely to adhere to company culture; it also made them four times as likely to remain engaged when at work
There's also plenty of anecdotal evidence to show that workplace recognition is helpful. New York Presbyterian Hospital started a service award and Mobile Appreciation Station program. It was able to improve survey data and show that employees felt valued. It also significantly reduced attrition among its 47,000 hospital employees.
Employee recognition delivers the very same results across the world in India. Hindalco, the world's largest aluminum rolling company, implemented a bi-annual awards ceremony. It also empowered managers to recognize employees' daily achievements. The employee recognition program resulted in better attitudes toward work on employee surveys. It also resulted in a five-point increase in employee engagement.
Here are 5 benefits of employee recognition:
1. Increased employee engagement and motivation
Recognizing employees for their hard work and contribution to the company boosts their morale. First, it makes them feel good about themselves. It also helps them feel good about coming to work daily when co-workers and company leaders appreciate their work. Increased morale then leads to a positive work environment, where employees want to engage because they truly feel like valued team members.
It can be draining for many employees to come to work and give their all day in and day out with no outward expression of appreciation. These types of work environments often result in high levels of burnout. This is because employees feel unseen, unheard, and unappreciated. It's not uncommon for someone to carry the full weight of a project — only to have their efforts go unnoticed.
Having someone else recognize that an employee has done a good job motivates that person to continue putting their best foot forward. They want to take pride in their work because recognition communicates to them that their hard work matters.
2. Higher retention rates and less turnover
Employees want to work in environments where they feel that their work is meaningful and valued and that they belong to a team. Building a culture of recognition in the workplace fosters all of these feelings. It ensures that employees know their contribution to the team never goes unnoticed. As such, a successful employee recognition program can potentially increase employee loyalty and improve employee retention rates.
This increased loyalty and reduced turnover ultimately benefits the employee and the company. The employee benefits from deeper work relationships, a more positive work culture, and the opportunity to grow. The company then benefits from having employees who are happier and more invested in their work and can boost the company's image by sharing their positive experiences with others.
3. Better productivity and performance
Employee recognition programs do a great job of increasing loyalty. The result is a workforce that stays with the company longer. In turn, that same workforce becomes better and more efficient at their jobs as time goes on. Since they can get their work done faster, they're much more productive across the board.
Feeling appreciated can be a huge motivator that pushes employees to want to develop their professional skills. A positive feedback cycle helps employees feel more confident in their work. It also ensures a highly competent workforce, which can lead to quality products and increased customer satisfaction.
Additionally, employees who love their jobs and feel valued are more likely to be creative and innovative and spark those qualities in others. This can result in even greater performance and productivity gains across the workforce. When you have shown employees how much you care about them, it makes them want to return the favor.
4. Stronger workplace relationships and team dynamics
Employee recognition programs can also foster better workplace relationships and build team camaraderie. This is especially true for programs encouraging coworkers to say positive things about each other. Knowing the people you work next to every day see and appreciate your hard work strengthens your bond. It also makes it more likely that you'll go above and beyond to help them when things are busy or stressful.
These stronger bonds can also improve collaboration among and between departments and teams. A positive workplace culture results in a greater sense of trust between co-workers and the management team. With this trust, it's much easier to collaborate on projects and communicate effectively.
Team togetherness and trust also help employees feel more comfortable taking risks. They may also offer up new and innovative ideas during team meetings. This not only improves the collaborative process but can also lead to amazing outcomes that enhance your business. You may then find it easier to achieve your business goals.
5. Positive impact on mental health and well-being
When employees feel unworthy at work, it can foster feelings of stress, anxiety, and insecurity. It can also eventually lead to workplace burnout and a lack of employee morale. If they don't get recognized for their work, employees may wonder if their employers are thinking about replacing them. This fear then fuels a negative cycle that leads to more burnout.
Employee recognition programs can help interrupt this thought pattern. They do so by providing employees with proof that they have value at work and that what they do matters. In doing so, this reduces feelings of stress and anxiety about job security and leads to improved mental health.
Being recognized at work also leads to employees being more satisfied with their jobs. Greater job satisfaction means that employees are happy to come to work and are much less likely to find reasons to leave. This sense of happiness and belonging often means employees have decreased feelings of stress at work. They may also experience improved physical and mental well-being. As a result, employees are happier and more loyal.
Creating a culture of recognition with Confetti 🥳
Employee recognition doesn't have to be complex or expensive. But it can bring your company a massive return on investment by encouraging and motivating employees. When you reward employees, they feel appreciated and improve their performance, resulting in increased employee job satisfaction. They are also more engaged at work and are more loyal to your company. This results in a positive work environment and greater levels of creativity.
All of this means increased revenue, less time and money spent on hiring and onboarding new employees, and an enhanced company image. For your employees, feeling recognized means less stress. That leads to a better sense of well-being, more employee motivation, and a feeling of satisfaction with their professional lives. By putting in more effort toward ensuring your employees feel valued, everyone can reap plenty of benefits that make it all worth it.
Confetti specializes in creating unforgettable experiences for your employees. Prioritize employee recognition by booking one of our team-building activities today and start rewarding your team for their hard work and a job well done.
