In today’s volatile job market, employers face many challenges in improving their hiring and retention practices. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, workers across the United States have made their feelings known about what it’ll take for them to stay with a company — recognition tops their list.
About 34% of American employees feel undervalued at work — this should raise red flags for employers struggling to fill positions. Employees want to work somewhere where they feel appreciated.
Here are four reasons you should reward your employees for their work and ways you might implement employee recognition at your company.
Recognizing extraordinary employees makes them feel valued. Employees who view their talents and skills as making a difference in the company tend to feel motivated and more productive.
Motivated employees continuously strive to set and meet new goals, taking it up a notch every time. Often, a little motivation improves efficiency and leads to fewer errors, ensuring tasks are completed on time and accurately.
As a business owner, you’ll also reap the benefits of a motivated employee. For instance, a motivated employee that performs well usually produces greater returns. They’re also more likely to offer their insights and feedback to enhance workflow processes.
You can show your employees that you value them by offering quarterly performance bonuses when they’ve met a particular goal. A monetary incentive is an excellent way to ensure continuous high performance and employee satisfaction.
Highlighting their performance to others is another way to make your employees feel valued. Point out special skills they used to complete a project or underscore how they demonstrated excellent customer service. A company that recognizes personal achievements and celebrates victories will motivate employees more.
Employees feel increasing pressure to avoid workplace mistakes — this often fosters perfectionist traits. Unfortunately, mishaps are a sure way to bring employees down.
Rewarding your employees when they’ve done well delivers the confidence boost they need. When employees see where their strengths lie and feel appreciated for incredible work, they have a greater sense of self-worth and are likely to tap into those skills in the future.
Sometimes employees need extra convincing that they know what they’re doing — because, typically, a lack of self-esteem leaves them uncertain about whether or not they belong on the team.
A confident employee will also be more self-sufficient, capable enough to solve problems and seek answers to questions independently.
Workplace culture is critical for a happier office environment — a significant component of workplace culture is the relationships between team members. As a business owner, it’s your job to foster a tight-knit group of hard workers.
When you improve your workplace culture, you simultaneously build teamwork and collaboration. One way you can achieve this is by recognizing and appreciating individual employees.
It’s important to note that bosses are just some of the people who can reward workers. Positive feedback from co-workers will go a long way regarding building up workplace culture.
In fact, encouraging co-workers to celebrate each other’s contributions will greatly improve the office ecosystem. Creating an online form for employees to submit nominees is suitable in this situation.
Of course, employee recognition makes workers happier and prouder to be a part of the company. As such, rewarding extraordinary employees for their efforts is a surefire way to retain top performers.
Additionally, becoming recognized as a workplace that appreciates its staff will create a larger applicant pool for open positions.
Companies that fail to recognize their hard-working employees have endured repercussions during the Great Resignation. You can avoid falling into the same trap by establishing an employee appreciation system.
Reward Employees for a Job Well Done
Everyone wants to feel appreciated by their bosses and co-workers, mainly since many associate their work with a greater sense of purpose and self-worth. Reward your employees for all they do, and you’ll find that they’ll work even harder to produce excellent results.
Eleanor is editor of Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.
