While a salary can motivate your employees to show up to work every day, if you want them to feel appreciated and valued, you will need to look beyond a paycheck. Employee recognition is a huge part of employees’ jobs. Recognizing what they have done promotes their productivity, engagement, and happiness at the workplace. Employee recognition can take different forms.
It can be a special shout-out during office meetings, a pat on the back for a job well done, or a bonus for achieving a goal. Whichever approach you choose to go with, here are some good reasons why you need to recognize your employees.
Improve Employee Retention
The whole recruitment process is costly. It is estimated that large US companies spend more than $1 trillion annually on recruiting and replacing workers. Resources have to be used for advertising the position, conducting interviews, and training new staff. Employee retention can save this cost. And how does one retain employees?
By showing them that they are valued and appreciated. It is a good approach that will not cost the company much. Even if you recognize employees through a bonus or raise, the cost cannot be compared to what you could have used in the recruitment process. When your employees feel valued at work, they are likely to continue working for you.
Enhance the Well-being of Your Employees
Everyone loves being recognized and appreciated for a job well done. And while the action may not seem much, it means a lot to your employees, especially those having a hard time or feeling demotivated. Recognizing their efforts can help enhance their mood and well-being.
Promote a Happy Workplace Environment
Happy employees equate to a happy workplace. You can create a happy workplace by recognizing your employees’ achievements. Foster an environment where employee recognition does not just come from the manager or CEO but also from peers. On top of that, go beyond a simple ‘thank you for a good job.’ Recognizing your employees through significant rewards not only makes them feel happy about their achievements but the environment they are working in too.
Enhance Productivity
All employers can agree that one of the qualities they look for in employees is productivity. After all, productivity determines how much value an employee brings to a company. In the long run, this translates to the success of a business. Whenever your employees achieve something, they deserve support, recognition, and appreciation. In return, they will be more productive because they know that their hard work in the workplace is paying off. Come up with employee recognition programs that reward employees for any milestones they have achieved at work. You will notice a significant increase in productivity after doing this.
Promote a Good Company Culture
It does not matter how big your company is. If your employees feel unrecognized, they will not feel like part of the team. To them, this would be just another place to go, work, get a paycheck, and go home. But if you want to create a great company culture where employees trust their employers, recognize those that have achieved something at work.
You can also build a self-improvement culture through employee recognition. When people see that hard work is recognized, they will feel motivated to improve themselves. Ensure that you also support employees’ self-development by providing learning opportunities to those that want to improve themselves.
Motivate Your Employees
Employee motivation contributes to the success of a company. If employees feel that their achievements are not being recognized, they will not feel enthusiastic about their work. That means they will not be willing to go that extra mile for the company. But when your employees realize that they are in an environment that recognizes and rewards hard work, they will put in the effort to work hard at whatever they do.
Employee Referral
Hardly will someone who feels unrecognized at the workplace recommend that company to friends and family. Your employee will feel that there is no need because you do not recognize any extra efforts put in. When you treat your employees with respect and appreciate them, they will refer the company to other people, and this means more business for you.
Boost Customer Satisfaction
Satisfied employees make great workers. Anyone can attest from experience that happy employees go out of their way to keep customers and clients happy. And when your customers are happy, they will keep coming and even refer you to friends and families. Recognizing the good work your employees are doing directly affects customer satisfaction.
Increased Revenue
Increased revenue comes from increased productivity, better customer service, and reduced recruitment costs. At the end of the day, it is not only your employees that are benefiting from recognition but you as well.
There are many ways you can promote employee recognition at work. However, it will have to start from the top. If the CEO starts, then everyone else is likely to follow suit. Employee recognition can be a good foundation for loyalty, productivity, and self-development.