How Important is Employee Recognition for Engagement?

The Importance of Employee Recognition In improving Employee Engagement

Wondering what are the Benefits of employee recognition? Human resources are the key to unlock success in any organization. Every organization wants to retain a competent and skilled workforce to increase growth level in an ultra-competitive environment.

The organizations keep focusing on the way to amplify employee engagement to improve overall effectiveness. Sometimes, even excellent employees fail to perform well due to a lack of motivation. That is why recognition in the working environment becomes an innate part of the work culture.

Employee appreciation is considered the best way to overcome problems related to employee engagement. Before understanding the importance of employee recognition in employee engagement, you should have proper knowledge about what recognition is.

What is employee recognition?

One of the most impactful sources of motivation in employees is appreciation from superiors and peers. The best way to ensure this is to keep performing recognition for the outstanding work efforts.

Employee recognition is the expression or acknowledgment given to the employees formally or informally for their keen efforts, hard work, appropriate behavior, and outstanding performances.

The primary purpose of employee recognition is to reinforce the specific behaviors, intentions, and efforts that result in the best performances which are compelling for the business organization. The triumphant organizations do not miss the opportunities of recognizing employees to retain the most effective ones and keep engaging them for producing powerful performances.

Most people are often confused between recognition and monetary benefits, attractive incentives, or lavish rewards. But, in reality, appreciating employees does not require such glamorous efforts.

Every organization implements a different style of recognition depending upon its culture and HR policies. An acknowledgment or appreciation at the workplace can be a genuine compliment, positive remarks, a thank you letter, or even a pat on the back.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the extent to which employees feel good, excited, and passionate about their roles.

It is also associated with employees’ commitment level to contribute to accomplishing the organizational goals.

Employees are said to be engaged if they are satisfied, have a high level of morale, and ready to make self-improvements to improve productivity. They also do not want to switch the employer if their engagement level is high in the organizations.

Every organization receives great benefits of recognizing employees aiming to improve work engagements. Recognitions ultimately contribute to making employees active in the organization and improve participation in organizational activities.

Why is employee recognition important?

Employers are more engaging when they are getting recognition at the workplace. That is why employee recognition matters.

Here is the importance of employee recognition in improving employee engagements:

Improves productivity

One of the benchmarks of evaluating the engagement of employees is measuring performances. Highly productive employees are said to be highly engaged.

Recognition improves productivity, promotes collaboration, and enhances integration. The working environment should reinforce the culture of constructive feedback. The employees should believe that the company will also appreciate their contribution to achieving organizational goals.

Thus, regularly sharing news about any organizational change or striving goals and explaining how an employee can relate these with personal goals helps in performance.

Positive feedback is a significant way of recognition which increases work enthusiasm in employees.

Develop a sense of self-improvement

One of the vital benefits of employee recognition is cultivating a sense of self-improvement within individuals.

Getting appreciated for efforts drives employees’ motivation. Several company recognition programs also enable individuals to know about where they have gone well and what they have to do more to perform well.

The best way of employee recognition is to provide the workforce great opportunities for learning and developing self-improvements in their business actions. Incentivising learning programs also catch the attention of the employees to bring self-improvements.

Make employees happy

Employees feel better and more secure when they get recognized at workplaces. Happy employees perform better and are more productive. Being appreciated at the workplace develops a feeling of expertise in employees that makes them happy.

At many workplaces, simple warm greetings at the beginning and end of the working day are not focused on by the superiors. But these gestures create a positive environment, increase employee comfort and give them a fresh start for the day. 

Happy employees are more engaged than the employees who are competent but not happy in the business environment.

Increase employee morale

The most valuable asset of an organization is its human resource. Recognition enables employees to understand their value at the workplace. The way leaders perform recognition is the most crucial factor in elevating the morale of the employees.

The employees should know that they will be appreciated and acknowledged by their leaders and superiors for hard work and great performances.

It will ultimately increase their morale to put more effort into getting better results. They also become active in facing the work complexities and actively participate in organizational betterment.

Improves retention

One of the crucial benefits of employee recognition is retaining human resources in the organization.

Acquiring employees is only the beginning step of the employee cycle.

Next, the companies need to provide training, development opportunities, and motivation to perform well and ultimately keep them.

The question that arises is how these companies succeeded in retaining valuable assets. The answer is “Employee Recognition.”

Various types of rewards and recognition for employees help to win their trust in the organization. They get satisfied that their work will be appreciated and measured.

Knowing the importance of employee recognition is not enough; human resource managers should also understand how they can develop a recognition culture at the workplace.

culture of recognition

How to develop a meaningful culture of recognition in the workplace?

As competition is regularly escalating for hiring experts, “how to recognize employees” has become the most trending issue.

When an organization grows, it becomes complex for managers and leaders to rethink the strategies for recognizing employees and designing rewards for employees to motivate performances and add value to employee experiences.

Developing employee recognition programs is only a first step in designing a recognition culture.

It is not a one-time action. Great companies constantly restructure the ways to improve employee recognition activities to reap out several benefits.

Below are few powerful ways to create a culture of employee recognition:

·         Designing incentives and bonus system

·         Distributing non-monetary rewards

·         Developing employee rewards program

·         Plan a lunch or dinner

·         Simply saying thanks personally

·         Appreciation announcements

·         Acknowledge employees’ achievements

·         Offering fun projects

·         Development opportunities

·         Throwing party and competition

·         Creating celebration calendar

·         Encourage peer to peer recognition

Organizations need to focus on the below points to create a recognition culture:

Choosing the best ways of recognitions

Research shows that people are not motivated with extra salary bumps for the long term.

Employee rewards programs should include gifts, award-giving, lunch and dinner parties, sponsored learning programs, development opportunities, and skill training sessions.

Managers should not forget to give a vote of thanks for everyday accomplishments to keep motivating staff for the next working days.

The shout-outs and thank you should not only come from superiors. Appreciation from peers is even more motivating for young and fresh talents.

At times of recognition, tell employees how they can retain the same behavior to encourage strong performances.

Improving attributes of recognition

The Value of recognition increases when it blends with business objectives and individual achievements. Acknowledging employees for their personal developments keeps them motivated.

Timeliness is most vital to incorporate recognition culture. The longer time superiors take to acknowledge employees, the employees see fewer affirmations. Thus, employees should appreciate timely improvements in their efforts.

The aim of employee recognition should not just appreciate employees but also impart knowledge about making further improvements to enhance productivity.

Employee recognition examples

The successful organization believes employees are their heart. Without them, a business cannot even reach a single milestone.

A software giant like Infosys recognizes employees through public appreciation letters and psychological rewards for financial benefits. It is a significant way of acknowledging an employee’s efforts.

One of the vital approaches of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is to recognize its employees are acknowledging the individual achievement to add values in employee experiences in the working environment.

These keys assist companies in building a recognition culture in the internal environment to cultivate engagement benefits for the growing level of outcomes.

Final thoughts

Most employees struggle with low morale, disconnections, and burnout. The most epic way to overcome this is employee recognition. Appreciating employees is a direct way to provide accurate feedback and promote scalable growth and individual development. Organizations can adopt plenty of ways to recognize deserving employees.

Using an employee recognition tool within your organization is a great way to achieve a healthy, productive workplace culture. But the confusion lies in: Which one to choose? Here’s a comparison chart of all employee recognition tools to find out which one’s the best-suited for your organization: Comparing Bonusly Pricing and Features: Here are the Top 4 Alternatives

Organizations need to keep in mind that recognizing employees only once will not serve the purpose. Incorporating employee recognition into your organization’s culture develops an active environment that will boost engagement levels.

Springworks Team

Building products and tools to simplify the life of an org's HR function in terms of recruiting, onboarding & retention!

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