'Done well, recognition strengthens the culture of the entire workforce'
Strategic employee recognition is when appreciation is shown for an action that has helped improve the employee or customer experience in a way that supports the organisation’s values, purpose or objectives.
Essentially, it’s a deeper way of saying ‘thank you’, by showing people that they’re valued for what they do and how they contribute to the company’s success, according to Joy Adan, Content Journalist at Reward Gateway.
Adan told HRD that the power of strategic recognition is second to none.
“Done well, recognition strengthens the culture of the entire workforce and also strengthens their ability to connect, collaborate and serve their customers,” she said.
Adan cited a 2018 AON study which reported that of all the factors that drive employee engagement, recognition and reward is the leading one globally.
She also referenced a recent report by Josh Bersin which outlined how companies with a strong recognition outperform their competitors – from higher engagement and productivity scores and retention rates, to better customer service scores, fewer workplace safety incidents and even easier and faster hiring.
Adan will be speaking at the upcoming webinar The Proof is in the Praise: How to implement impactful recognition and reward that delivers ROI.
She will argue that at best, traditional recognition programs celebrate “employees of the month” or success stories that cover a very small proportion of the entire company at the end of each year.
On the other hand, strategic recognition is designed to enable employees to recognise each other anytime and anywhere. It’s peer-to-peer, and it matches values with concrete, observable behaviours, according to Adan.
“This provides anyone in the business – from a board member to an employee – thousands of examples of what great looks like for your people,” she said.
“By highlighting what is being accomplished in real-time, across the entire business, it can be a driving force for improvement and can also provide incredible insight into what’s working in your organisation.”
For Adan, one of the big advantages of having a strategic recognition program is that it allows people from different departments to recognise the work of peers they don’t normally sit or collaborate with on a regular basis.
“This is often a big challenge for growing organisations, and ones that are geographically dispersed,” she said.
“If it’s delivered digitally and includes a social component where recognition moments are visible across the business, strategic R&R programs communicate the variety of things people across the company are achieving on a daily basis, which improves transparency and understanding across multiple levels.”
Adan added that having access to information about team interactions and performance empowers employees and leaders to make better and faster decisions.
“Strategic recognition also shines the light on who your involved and potential leaders are, while even the absence of recognition activity amongst certain teams or leaders shines a light on the areas of the business that are disengaged and need support,” she said.
“It’s powerful because it can provide a 360-degree view of your business even when you aren’t physically visiting or working in every team or every site.”
Joy Adan will be speaking on the upcoming webinar The Proof is in the Praise: How to implement impactful recognition and reward that delivers ROI on Tuesday 4 February at 11am.To register, click here.
