Recognize This! – The only qualifier for needing recognition in the workplace is being a member of the human race.
Last week I had the pleasure of co-presenting with Thad Peterson the results of the
Globoforce Spring 2012 Mood Tracker survey (which tracks the perceptions of full-time, currently employed U.S. workers). Now
available on demand, the webinar revealed quite a few interesting results and I shared my thoughts around the trends we’re seeing over time with these surveys.
Here are just a few of the highlights from the webinar.
Recognition is a universal desire.
86% of all respondents want to have their efforts/contributions at work recognized.
46% are not satisfied with the level of recognition they receive for doing a good job.
These results are quite similar across all generations in the workplace. And guess what? It’s not GenY who is the most dissatisfied with recognition – it’s GenX (respondents aged 36-45).
This last point deserves to be more deeply examined. I’m not surprised by these generational results.
Recognition is something we all need. As I often say, the only qualifier for needing recognition in the workplace is being a member of the human race. As my colleague, Thad, commented, “So all of the companies out there that are hiring humans, this applies.”
Frequent recognition is key.
41% of all respondents to the survey have not been recognized in the last six months.
90% of people recognized within the last month feel their manager effectively acknowledges and appreciates them at work.
20% of people recognized only in the last two years agreed their manager effectively appreciates them.
This proves that so many employees function in a recognition desert in their workplaces.
Frequency of recognition is a very important topic because the frequency with which you reach out to and engage employees is critical to a successful recognition program. When people tell me their “good” recognition program only recognizes 20% of employees once or twice a year, I have to inform them that, in fact, they have merely a superficial program where you really need to be a superhero to get recognized. This type of program isn’t going to move any critical business metrics or have any real impact on
engagement or
performance.
This is also a fundamental question on engagement surveys – that your manager understands and appreciates what you do at work. Increasing positive responses to this question will increase your overall engagement results.
A few other highlights:
78% say would work harder if efforts were better recognized and appreciated.
3 out of 4 employees who are satisfied with the recognition they receive love their jobs.
2 out of 3 employees who are not satisfied with recognition received don’t love their jobs.
81% say receiving recognition makes them more satisfied with their work and position.
A full third of respondents plan to search for a new job in 2012, which means 33% of your workforce isn’t fully focused on the task at hand. Yet, out of employees who feel appreciated, 80% have no desire to leave.
Take a few minutes to
watch the webinar for more results and how this impacts your workforce and your organziation.
