Top Tips to Improve a Misfiring Recognition Strategy

Whether you’re a professional footballer, engineer or care worker, happiness at work relies on feeling valued, appreciated and respected. Being paid the right amount is an obvious and important factor for professionals but increasingly the ‘softer’ benefits are enticing and keeping workers, especially among a younger generation.

Recognition: Why invest the time and money?

OC Tanner’s decade-long research project involving 200,000 employees found that 94.5% of workers reporting the highest levels of morale also rated their managers ‘highly effective’ at recognition. 

Those who do invest in it often cite employee engagement as a key reason, but there are multiple benefits.

• Motivation and morale - According to research by Korn Ferry, the UK lags behind other countries in workplace motivation, with only 60% motivated to work ‘above and beyond’ their role - 11% lower than the global average. Recognition validates employees' efforts and achievements, making them feel valued and motivated, increasing happiness and job satisfaction. 
• Productivity – in 2019 an Oxford University study found a causal link between happiness and productivity: happy employees are 13% more productive. And some further research MIT highlighted the pivotal role happiness plays in influencing decisions to join, stay or leave a company.
• Retention – Reward and recognition can improve employee retention by fostering loyalty and commitment. Reduced turnover means less cost on recruitment and training.
• Culture - Recognition is a tangible way to reward the kind of positive and contagious behaviours a company needs to establish and strengthen its culture. 

Measuring effectiveness and ROI

• Measuring the effectiveness of recognition programmes can be challenging, but there are several indicators that can help determine if they are having a positive impact.
• Employee feedback – asking employees, either directly or through anonymous surveys, can help assess satisfaction and engagement. Compare results over time to gauge improvement or decline after making any key changes. 
• Productivity Metrics - tracking productivity metrics like project completion rates, sales figures and performance reviews can measure motivation.
• Frequency of rewards - analyse the frequency and consistency of your recognition, and who is getting the awards. Make sure it’s regular and not only happening during specific events or periods. Consistent recognition shows that it is an integral part of the company culture.
• A culture of recognition - question whether your business culture is allowing for recognition to be a regular part of work life. Remember, it will not come naturally to everyone so train managers and leaders on the importance and practicality of recognising and appreciating team members. Try to have a physical or virtual ‘Wall of Fame’ where employees can see all the recognition being given. 

Tips to improve a misfiring recognition strategy 

While strong recognition can be rocket-fuel for your business, poor recognition can have the opposite effect, leading to demotivation and dissatisfaction. Here are some actions to sense-check your activities.

• Be consistent and fair - people will get behind a scheme that works regularly and across the board. By contrast, if awards are only given sporadically, or to certain employees or departments, it can create feelings of favouritism and resentment. Every employee should have an equal opportunity to be recognised, including people working in teams. Recognising teams as well as individuals is important and encourages collaboration.
• Get personal - generic awards are okay if they’re consistent (and valued) but can lack meaning and can become boring. Try tailoring awards to individuals. Video calls from home can give fresh insight: a dog or baby in the background can be the perfect clue as to which voucher might land best. 
• Make rewards timely - delay can be the death knell of recognition. Timeliness can be the difference between an award feeling relevant and heartfelt, or more like an tick-in-a-box afterthought.
• Be creative and diverse - Vary the types of recognition you use, from public shout-outs and peer-led weekly ‘Thankyous’ to quarterly physical or financial rewards. The more creative the better. Monetary rewards can work but don’t always tug on the heart strings.
• Involve your workforce - recognition works best when employees are engaged from the start. Involve workers in naming your scheme or in deciding how, when and why rewards will be made. The more they own it, the more they will use it. Think about building recognition awareness into onboarding and training.
• Avoid complacency: communicate - never assume your recognition scheme will run on autopilot. Ideally you need dedicated resource and a regular and effective calendar of communication to keep hammering home the message. And don’t be afraid to freshen things up throughout the year to keep people excited and engaged.
• Embrace available technology - a common frustration among workers is having no easy way to recognise colleagues. The best HR smartphone apps help by providing an always-on channel that works like a news feed, reminding peers and managers to nominate, and announcing when people are recognised. Everyone with a smartphone can be included, which means everyone. 

Leadership guru Dale Carnegie sums things up perfectly: "People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards."