With low unemployment rates and a younger workforce who focus on more than salary and job prospects when it comes to choosing their next jobs, retaining and also attracting the best industry talent into an organisation can be a challenge.
 
Research from CBRE found that 70% of millennials they asked said they would trade in their current job for one with a better workplace. A combined 15% even went so far as to say they’d consider cutting pay or potential promotional opportunities to secure a great job with a far better working environment. 

And challenges for companies looking to retain their best workers don’t just stop with the office layout and abundance of pot plants. 

A deeper issue for employees lies in how they feel their work is appreciated by peers and management, or lack thereof. 
Key findings from a piece of research by Office Team found that 66% of the employees they quizzed would likely leave a job if they didn’t feel appreciated. 

This is a huge leap on results recorded on the same question in 2012 where just over half reported that sentiment. 
But the danger of dissatisfaction for recruitment budgets lies on the millennial worker cohort, where a staggering 76% said they’d leave if their work wasn’t recognised. 

And managers also acknowledge the recognition gap, with 54% saying they understand that a lack of recognition is a common reason for staff quitting. 

So the case for boosting focus on how organisations recognise their employee achievements is a strong one, but many businesses still struggle to make recognition part of their day-to-day people strategy and overall culture. 

This can be for a variety of reasons. Long-established organisations with tall hierarchal management structures may be more accustomed to dishing out service rewards than spreading appreciation through a workplace. 

And for upstart SMEs with tasks to burn but lack of real internal people management structure and protocols, recognition will likely be far down the list of priorities for an embattled founder and CEO. 

So what’s the solution?

Well, for organisations where management lacks the people skills to make recognition happen, or for businesses where a stretched head team simply don’t have time to set-up, push and police a recognition strategy, peer-to-peer recognition could be the way to go. 

Peer-to-peer recognition works by creating a space (real or digital) or a culture that enables employees to recognise and appreciate each other's efforts. 

There are a number of benefits of this form of recognition strategy. First, managers don’t need to continually push the program - employees will happily and readily recognise each other's achievements, but the top teams can track usage, analyse top performers and uncover undercover high-achievers, too. 

And second, it will deliver that much-needed dose of recognition - that feel-good factor - that employees so highly value. 
Earlier this year, my company Fanclub Recognition released a brand new employee recognition platform called Fanmail that creates a space and structure for peer-to-peer recognition to take place, with recognitions sent linking back to key company values to help reinforce and grow the sort of working culture businesses want to curate and millennials want to work in. 

Delivering instant good vibes to otherwise uninspiring inboxes!

Send a free FanMail to someone who’s work you appreciate here.