Talent

What the modern workforce expects from employee recognition and engagement initiatives

Have you ever received a thank you note from someone, months after the event (or moment) happened? You almost forgot what you did to receive the thank you, and the note may have felt a little delayed and impersonal. The same goes for recognizing employees.

We know that employees crave recognition in the workplace, but we need to take it a step further and make recognition strategic.

And that means embracing timely, fair and consistent recognition at work. In fact, after surveying over 1,500 employees across the U.S., UK and Australia, we’ve found that generic recognition and rewards are inadequate, as employees demand to be recognized in more timely and meaningful ways.

The modern workforce is looking for consistent, continuous recognition – particularly from their managers – which is a key component to feeling motivated and appreciated every day. Discover what else survey participants had to say:

Only 20% of employees surveyed noted that they liked receiving praise at a single event or function.
Two in three (66%) of employees agreed that their managers could do more to praise and thank them in a timely, specific way, highlighting the importance of in-the-moment recognition.
75% of employees agreed that motivation and morale would improve at their company if managers simply said “thank you” more and noticed when people do good work.
45% of employees feel their manager unfairly rewards certain people over others.
35% agreed they had received a reward that didn’t reflect the work put into it.

Employers have invested $46 billion globally on employee reward and recognition initiatives, but more still needs to be done. Practicing strategic recognition is key to improving employee engagement at your organization and creating a culture of continuous recognition.

This post originally appeared on the Reward Gateway website.

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