Employers are at a crossroads. Tactics that once helped organizations retain talent no longer work. The pandemic has heightened changes in employer-employee dynamics as many businesses navigate a hybrid or fully remote workplace—but the shift is much more than that.
Human resources are prominent in processes, including annual reviews, town halls, onboarding meetings, and exit interviews. Organizations stuck in these cycles have less engaged employees who may not feel like unique individuals who bring something special to the table. As you might expect, that can lead to turnover, like during the Great Resignation, when many employees asked for more from their employers after years of feeling invisible.
To fix this disengagement issue, many organizations are scrambling to create more positive work experiences through office happy hours, gym stipends, pet benefits, and other flash-forward efforts. in-the-pan that often leaves employees where they started: unemployed and looking.
Take a Cue from Childhood Norms
From the moment you’re born, you celebrate milestones and life moments, including birthdays, graduations, a good grade on a paper, and hitting a home run on your Little League team, among others. . People around you participate, making individuals winners in community celebrations.
But once you enter the workforce, these moments seem to disappear. Most organizations recognize only professional achievements, not personal ones. That shouldn’t be the case, but many professionals expect progress and achievements to be just part of the traditional process.
By accepting that this is how work works, we lose the regular recognition—the moments big and small, professional and personal—that inspire us. We are left searching for the same person and recognition of the work we have had in our lives.
This is why recognition, validation, and appreciation are essential to creating a workplace where people are interested and engaged and want to show up every day. How can organizations make celebrating milestones a higher priority?
Being Human-First
The pandemic has prompted many businesses to become more intentional about employee engagement, retention, and acquisitions. Filtering work through a screen means blurring the line between personal and professional life—and seeing the humanity of others is quickly becoming the norm in the workplace.
However, even with this shift, feeling valued and appreciated in the workplace is not the same.
Almost a new survey was revealed, and 18.2% of respondents said that they were put to more work as a result. But while employees’ fight to be noticed may result in short-term increased productivity, it’s also likely to lead to burnout, resentment, “applying anger,” “quiet quitting,” and general dysfunction. .
There is one simple way that companies that want to create a more positive and contented work environment can keep employees engaged: getting to know people. The simple act of recognition goes a long way in making employees feel valued, heard, and seen—and more motivated to contribute and actively participate in the company’s success.
Create a Culture That Lasts
One of the largest financial institutions in the US, Citizens Financial Group, has seen firsthand the power of implementing a modern recognition program to drive engagement and retention.
Citizens understand the importance of investing in team members who foster customer relationships that are paramount to the organization’s success. Leaders determined that traditional ways of showing recognition were outdated and too manual; for example, sending a gift card for strong performance is a nice gesture, but delays in delivery times often mean that employees lose sight of why they are receiving it.
With a strategic recognition program, the team creates more meaningful connections with employees in near-real time, elevating the experience from a one-time “good job” to a trackable one. timeline and celebration of professional and personal moments that are important to employees.
After the implementation of the program, citizens saw more than 168,000 moments of recognition of 96% of its employee base. And as the company continues to create more recognition opportunities, it will better understand social networking throughout the organization.
Balancing Business Goals with Human Needs
the annual cost of voluntary turnover is $1.61 million for every 1,000 employees, with more responsibilities on the rest of the team and more pressure on the bottom line. Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, the opportunity to reduce costs and avoid turnover is one that cannot be overlooked.
Why do you think the Securities and Exchange Commission started requiring businesses to report human capital metrics? Now that employee happiness is affecting the bottom line of organizations in a tight labor market, CEOs need to rethink workplace culture and invest in the people who help their businesses succeed. Especially in times of economic turmoil, your employees are your most important asset, and a recognition program is a strategic lever to help retain and develop your people.
Recognition solves a problem that work has created for itself by meeting people’s expectations of a lifetime of congratulations, celebrations, and recognitions. The success of a company depends on the experience of the employee. Building the foundation for employees to elevate their own experience and that of their colleagues through greater recognition can be a game changer.
Find out how Workhuman’s Social Recognition software can help your organization retaining talent, improving productivity, and improving culture
