The Great Resignation of 2021 and the shift toward digital-first workplaces have made employee recognition more crucial. Human resource management in small and large businesses prioritizes modern employee recognition programs for talent acquisition, retainment, and showing employees they are valued.
Your top talent is your elite employees or workforce, and they need to share common values with your business.
How can you create a company culture that not only values employees but demonstrates that value to your employees in a modern way?
In this article, we’ll look at some modern employee recognition programs and how rewards and recognition have changed in the twenty-first century.
Why Is Recognition Important?
The first step in creating a culture of recognition is understanding why recognition is essential. In today’s competitive job market, talent talks. So you need to understand what makes your employees tick to retain and attract the top talent.
Recognition Drives Great Work
People who feel seen at work are more likely to do good work. According to a study by O.C. Tanner, recognition is the biggest driver of great work. Almost 40% of employees said personal recognition would drive them to perform better, compared with just 4% who said the promotion would do the same.
The study also showed that people who feel recognized are more likely to think that promotions are fair, are more likely to go above and beyond what is asked of them, and are more likely to believe that their company embraces innovative thinking.
Recognition Builds Culture
Company culture can feel like an elusive thing to build and maintain. Many businesses struggle to understand what makes a company a great place to work. Perks like unlimited time off, foosball in the breakroom, on-site yoga, and free coffee are great, but they do not build a strong company culture.
Rather, modern employee recognition programs build a strong culture. Employees who feel recognized consistently report that they “enjoy hanging” with the people at their company, that they “feel lucky” to work there, and that they love the “uplifting environment.”
Conversely, employees who report not feeling recognized use phrases like “rampant favoritism,” “unfair treatment,” and “manipulative work environment” to describe the culture at their companies.
How to Build a Culture of Recognition
Modern practices dictate that employee rewards and recognition must change to keep up with the times.
For example, it’s no longer sufficient to simply give someone a gift card to Chili’s at the end of the quarter (although that’s usually appreciated too!) The good news is that it’s easy to incorporate modern recognition practices into your workplace.
Peer-to-Peer
Promoting both top-down and peer-to-peer acknowledgment is a key factor in creating a culture of recognition. By allotting time for it or praising it when it naturally occurs, you may encourage workers to call one other out on their behavior.
At the top, depict peer-to-peer recognition. Call out your coworkers regularly and openly to model the conduct you want to see. Encourage your coworkers to criticize their peers and reports as well.
Specificity
The most crucial considerations are identification, timing, specificity, and relevance. A pat on the back is nothing without understanding what they are being commended.
Recognize employee contributions when they are made, if at all possible. When someone makes a valuable contribution during a meeting, call it out.
If you’re pressed for time, keep tabs on the projects your staff is working on and the things they are excelling in. When you see someone being proactive, make a brief note. Try to make time later that day or that week to express your gratitude to them.
Consistency
Practice is usually more effective when done incrementally and often. Five minutes of yoga in the morning is preferable to two hours once every two weeks. Two minutes twice a day is more efficient than twenty-four hours once a month while brushing your teeth.
The same is true for encouraging a recognition culture. Small but frequent moments are preferable to frequent, grand shows. Consider incorporating frequent occasions for acknowledgment into your daily routine.
For instance, include a “Friday Shout-Outs” section in your daily standup so staff members may recognize little accomplishments from the previous week.
Manage Human Resources
To make sure that workers feel valued and appreciated and that they are receiving what they need from your company, including:
- Choices for hybrid work
- Behavioral Health
- Work-life harmony
- inclusion, diversity, and equality
Securing your premium staff requires flexibility regarding work hours and location. Working remotely for a portion of the week has become the new standard.
Also, your dedication to DEI is required by your personnel. Your company’s dedication to diversity, equality, and inclusion are shown through programs like employee resource groups, sharing staff success stories, employee training, and a code of conduct.
Conclusion
It need not be difficult to promote a culture of employee appreciation. As with everything, it’s important to start small. Build on a foundation of sincere compassion while taking baby measures to organize fleeting moments into something more.
Make use of your peers and subordinates; they probably have excellent suggestions for how to go about fostering culture. Nothing communicates “I see you” more effectively than asking someone for their opinion and then acting on that opinion (with due credit given, of course.)