Each organization, with unique mission, vision and goals, is ultimately in search of one thing –success. Success means different things to different people, but every organization - from start-ups to the well-established - looks forward to attaining this goal. There are many tools today to assist an organization on their journey – but none are as prominently effective as happy employees.

Gallup reports that the cost of lost productivity among unhappy or ‘disengaged’ employees is approximately $300 billion a year. Employees who are not engaged in their job, team or company have higher absenteeism, produce less than their engaged peers and demonstrate poor quality of work. On the contrary, companies with high levels of employee engagement and motivation see 16% higher profitability and 18% higher productivity than other companies. Moreover, customer loyalty was 12% higher and quality jumped up by an incredible 60%, the Gallup study concluded.

Temkin Group found similar results in their Employee Engagement Benchmark Study. The report affirmed that companies with exceptionally high customer experience scores have more than twice as many highly engaged employees as those who lag in customer service.

“Employee engagement and motivation are key to an organization’s success,” states Heidi Hastings-Brien, Senior Marketing Director Sodexo Motivation Solutions. “Engaged employees set a company apart from their competition, drive future innovation and are the best workplace motivators.”

Creating a Workplace with Happy Employees

There is a myth that exists where some believe it requires a large investment to increase employee satisfaction. This is simply not true.

After an employee’s basic needs are met, such as a reasonable salary and safe workplace, employees seek trust and respect, meaningful and interesting work and opportunities to succeed and advance in their position.

“Improving engagement begins with trust,” comments Jennifer Tekin of Sodexo Motivation Solutions. “When organizations trust their employees to make the right decision, they create a positive and supportive environment where employees can perform at their best.”

Managers who demonstrate a sincere interest in the well-being of their employees also create an environment where employees are open to share ideas which can lead to improved job efficiencies and morale.

What Can the Company Do?

Employee satisfaction is a continuous cycle not a destination. It starts with recruiting top talent, providing proper training, encouraging job advancement - and creating a sustainable culture of recognition.

Recognition programs create a positive work environment which leads to improved productivity and increased employee engagement. Recent studies reports that effective programs result in nearly double the shareholder return than that of companies who do not maintain a recognition program.

Consider all the opportunities to recognize each day. And encourage the special atmosphere peer-to-peer recognition can create in the workplace. By designing effective recognition programs that sync with the company’s goals and inspire employees, it can only create one thing - Success.