Originally published on investmentwatchblog.com
Keeping employees productive can be complicated. However, employee recognition and celebrating performance are ways to keep your staff motivated. Leveraging the benefits of an effective employee recognition program can be challenging though because people are complicated. What may be meaningful recognition for a job well done for one employee may not have the same effect for another. Any perceived inequality or inconsistency in offering praise can backfire and negatively impact workplace morale.
If it feels like designing and implementing a meaningful recognition program for your employees is too complicated, consider these benefits detailed by Adam Ferrari, Ferrari Energy CEO, before giving up on the idea.
Employee Productivity
Paying your employees a fair wage and providing them with a clean and safe work environment will keep many of them pacified and coming to work every day. Many employers, and admittedly, some employees, view this as the basic employment transaction. The problem with that paradigm is that the basic employment transaction may not be keeping the right employees coming back for very long, and the ones that do stick around will not produce at their peak.
As an employer, you may see your employee’s happiness as something beyond your control, but it’s not. A well-crafted employee recognition program can significantly increase how your employees feel about their job. Employees who feel appreciated experience more self-worth, and their ability to contribute to your company will grow.
You have a vested interest in the happiness of your employees. Happy people are more productive than unhappy ones. Research shows that happiness increases productivity by around 12%. A 12% increase in labor force productivity is worth far more than the expense of instituting a recognition program.
Employee Longevity
Recruiting, training, and salary; onboarding new employees is expensive. The average cost-per-hire is over $4,000, and it takes around 40 days to fill an open position. If your employees are moving on to greener pastures because they don’t feel appreciated, you have an expensive problem. This problem can be mitigated by showing appreciation. Employees trust leaders that show appreciation. When employees know their work is noticed by people higher up in the organization, they feel a deeper connection to leadership.
In addition to higher productivity, employee recognition increases longevity. For the relatively small investment it takes to regularly and consistently recognize stellar performance, you increase productivity and keep the right employees around longer.
Employee Contribution and Innovation
Employees who feel appreciated and trusted are more likely to contribute innovative ways to your organization’s overall success. When employees feel their sense of self-worth is tied to their job, they will go to great lengths to protect that sense of satisfaction.
There is often a sense of risk associated with exhibiting creativity. Without adequate motivation, many people will be hesitant to engage in any activity that may result in an uncertain outcome. An employee who feels appreciated is much more likely to assume a reasonable level of risk to contribute creative and innovative solutions. Without the fear of rejection, employees are comfortable exploring new and imaginative ideas.
To grow your company, reach beyond the basic employment transaction. Capture the bottom-line benefits of productive employees, reduce hiring costs, and sponsor creative ideas by providing your workers an employee recognition program.