Leadership: Reward and Recognition Programs
Having a corporate reward and recognition program can benefit your company.
Everyone feels the need to be recognized and to feel a sense of achievement for work well done or efforts that go above-and-beyond. Workers crave positive feedback, recognition of extra effort, acknowledgment of leaders and peers, and the knowledge that their work has been seen, appreciated and celebrated. The old school of business management might find this attitude to be childish or whiny, yet countless studies have shown that reward and recognition is a fundamental human need.
Successful companies and corporate leaders have long known that praise and recognition are essential to an outstanding workplace. From a corporate leadership standpoint, the benefits of a comprehensive and well-executed reward and recognition program are irrefutable:
Increased Productivity
When corporate leaders recognize and reward specific behavior, it increases engagement as workers strive to attain the goal. An engaged staff is significantly more productive, working efficiently and proactively toward a singular or team achievement.
Greater Employee Satisfaction
Recognizing an employee’s efforts makes them feel they are making a difference and the company values them. A happy and fulfilled employee has positive feelings about the organization and its leadership. In today’s close-knit social media world, happy employees can be a powerful force in generating positive PR.
Loyalty
Rewarding employee achievements or milestones generates loyalty and builds an emotional bond with the organization. Employees that are engaged with their companies will promote and sell the brand far better than someone who does not care about it. Loyal employees are the organizations greatest advocates both in and out of the workplace.
Higher Customer Satisfaction
Success starts with employees, and the positivity spreads to customers. Forbes found that most publicly traded companies named as ‘Best Companies to Work For’ saw their stocks significantly increase in performance. Satisfied and loyal employees have a vested interest in making sure that customers are happy and have a good experience.
Enhanced Teamwork
Rewards that incorporate peer-to-peer recommendations encourage staff to recognize each other’s achievements and look for positive attributes in coworkers. Allowing colleagues to nominate their peers for recognition is empowering, as it bypasses any perceived favoritism by management.
Retention of Quality Employees
High staff turnover leads to poor morale that can take years to reverse. The money and time expended to recruit and train new staff can slow productivity and distract from the mission of the organization. Employees that feel fulfilled and adequately recognized are less likely to leave. Truly happy employees may even turn down outside offers of more money.
Safer Work Environment
For certain industries, creating a safe work environment is one of the highest priorities of corporate leadership. A balanced and effective safety incentive program can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line by increasing productivity and decreasing insurance rates.
Lower Absenteeism and Stress
Aside from illness, a major source of absenteeism is stress. Employee motivation or lack thereof, can contribute to a loss in productivity and can heighten stress for the other employees who have to pick up the slack from an absent employee. While everyone experiences stress to some degree, happy employees are less likely to succumb to illness or debilitating work-related stress.
Does your organization have employees or teams that deserve honor and recognition for their achievements and milestones? Visible Applause crafts custom awards that honor workers and reinforce the core values of the company. Our mission is to help corporate leaders celebrate their employees with one-of-a-kind tributes that create lasting impact.