Employee recognition programs that have not kept pace with the needs and expectations of employees are fast becoming irrelevant and ineffective for their organizations. However, there are ways that an organization can look to revive a dying employee recognition program.
Today, employees prefer to work for organizations where their skills are properly utilized, they feel engaged and appreciated, and they see growth in their careers.
Hence, it is a must for organizations to have well-designed and effective employee recognition programs in place for their workforce.
Recognizing employees for their efforts and achievements significantly impacts business growth and success. Numerous studies have shown this:
94% of HR professionals believe that an effective rewards and recognition program helps drive business results besides enhancing employee retention, according to an HR study,
Having well-designed rewards and recognition programs helps to enhance average employee performance and efficiency by around 11%, according to research from Gunther
69% of employees are likely to work harder if their organization focuses on appreciating their efforts better and it also helps decrease the voluntary turnover rate by 31%, based on a report from Cicero.
Another study has revealed that nearly 47% of the employees surveyed stated that receiving personalized, performance-related, and spontaneous recognition helps them stay motivated.
A study from Gallup highlighted the fact that 83% of HR leaders believe that employee rewards and recognition programs go a long way in reinforcing organizational values and improving engagement.
Most organizations adopt a launch-and-forget approach toward their recognition programs.
Hence, they tend to ignore the various signs that might indicate that the recognition program is losing its effectiveness.
This might hurt the organizations in the long run as the programs significantly lose their impact over time.
Here are vital signs organizations should look for to assess if their recognition program is fading.
1. Steady Decline In Key Program Metrics
2. Poor Program Performance Against Industry Benchmarks
3. Growing Dissatisfaction About The Program
4. Gradual Decline In Employee Engagement Levels
It is the time for them to start looking for ways to revive the dying program:
Employees who are not rewarded regularly for their efforts and contributions feel dissatisfied and undervalued.
Hence, a consistent decline in the recognition program’s key metrics should start alarming the organization.
A steady drop in key metrics such as the number of employees recognized, percentage of employees being recognized, or number of managers recognizing their team members.
Or managers are repeatedly recognizing only specific employees.
One of the leading indicators of problems in the program is that recognition is offered to employees even when they do not meet the predefined criteria, etc.
Additionally, organizations need to constantly analyze the performance of their recognition programs against industry benchmarking data.
The program’s underperformance on various key metrics vis-à-vis its industry peers is a good indication that it might not be doing as well.
Hence, it needs to be acted upon without further delay.
An increasing mismatch between what employees expect from the recognition program and what the program has to offer is detrimental.
It can lead to poor employee satisfaction levels and, eventually, poor participation rates.
Such dissatisfaction often comes out in employee pulse surveys, team meetings, exit interviews, etc.
It is critical to heed such signs and take immediate action toward reviving the dying program.
Though there are multiple reasons for a drop in employee engagement levels, a fading employee recognition program could be one of the fundamental causes.
Poor employee engagement might manifest itself in multiple ways.
Hence, a gradual dip in employee engagement might be a warning sign of a dying recognition program.
Low engagement might result in a lack of excitement about new projects and initiatives and discord with supervisors and co-workers.
They are reporting late to work, absenteeism, and increasing attrition rates.
Once an organization has observed the above signs that its employee recognition program is fading, it needs to take corrective action to revive the dying program.
Here are seven effective hacks to bring a dying employee recognition program back to life:
1. Redesign The Recognition Policy
2. Add Gamification Elements
3. Celebrate Key Employee Milestones
4. Use An Effective Recognition Platform
5. Promote The Recognition Program
6. Create Social Visibility Of Recognition
7. Involve The Top Management
Organizations should establish a process of regularly updating the recognition categories, the criteria, and the monetary rewards.
This helps keep the program in sync with the changing employee expectations, business needs, and industry trends.
Importantly, introducing new criteria and categories regularly ensures that every employee gets a fair chance of being recognized for their unique skills and contribution to the organization.
This helps increase the program’s relevance for the workforce and its impact on their motivation levels.
Increasingly, incorporating gamification elements in the recognition program can revive employees’ interest levels.
This can be achieved by introducing concepts such as reward points, a variety of redemption options, leaderboards, wall of fame, contests, and challenges to keep the recognition program exciting and engaging for the employees.
Gamification builds a healthy competitive environment within the workplace and boosts employee performance and productivity.
It also helps make the recognition program more connected with the business outcomes.
Recognizing employees and celebrating the key milestones such as birthdays, work anniversaries, weddings, and parenthood as a part of the recognition policy is another strategy that can help to revive a dying employee recognition program.
Such initiatives help assure the employees that the organization acknowledges the critical moments in their personal lives and is keen to share their happiness.
It helps strengthen the sense of belongingness among employees.
An organization that uses a manual process for employee recognition or even an outdated digital platform should consider replacing it with a modern system.
An effective employee recognition software comes with various advanced features. These include instant recognition, gamification, social media integration, and much more.
A good recognition platform can help incorporate various industry best practices into the program and align it with employees’ changing recognition needs and expectations.
Such a platform can help the organization increase the program’s effectiveness in the short term and maintain it in the long run.
Regular communication and promotion of the employee recognition program at all levels and forums is critical to its success.
Organizations should also consider organizing employee appreciation days or weeks. Such events can create good visibility and excitement around the program and increase the participation of employees.
Moreover, these employee appreciation events can be aligned with relevant calendar events such as World Thank You Day, Employee Appreciation Day, or World Gratitude Day.
Supervisors should be encouraged to recognize their team members’ achievements and co-workers to express their gratitude towards each other.
Additionally, the social buzz around the employee recognition program can go a long way in reversing its decline.
Award ceremonies, integration with internal collaboration platforms, publishing recognition on company social media handles, and other methods can achieve the program’s social visibility.
One of the leading causes of the poor performance of an employee recognition program is the lack of involvement of the top management.
The active involvement of the top management lends significant credibility to the program and enhances its importance and interest in the eyes of the employees.
The top management should recognize and reward employees directly and congratulate award winners on digital platforms.
Also, they should participate actively in award ceremonies, whether online or offline.
It is well known that effective and timely employee recognition motivates the workforce and helps boost business growth and productivity. Hence, an organization needs to understand the warning signs and act quickly to revive a dying employee recognition program.
Lead author: Sagar Chaudhuri, the Co-Founder and CEO of HiFives. He is an HR Tech Evangelist with over 25 years of corporate and entrepreneurship experience. In the past, Sagar has worked in leadership roles with companies such as Genpact, Infosys, and ICICI Bank. He has an engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. Connect on LinkedIn
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