14,200,000. That’s how many results come up when you search for “employee engagement” on Google.
As of late, there has been an explosion of interest when it comes to employee engagement. And, that’s with good reason. Reduced turnover rates, increased productivity, decreased safety incidents -- these are just a few of the benefits companies experience by focusing on employee engagement.
Statistics like these are why we have so many HR managers racing to create a Culture of Engagement at their organization, and it’s also why we have so many companies offering “engagement solutions.” In fact, over a third of the results on Google’s first page are ads from organizations looking to sell you just that. But, sadly, not all of these services are created equal. To efficiently work, these plans need to be custom-tailored to your organization and focus on instant values-based recognition.
The Importance of Recognizing Your Employees
In recent years, we have seen a surge of studies that report values-based recognition programs are the key to employee engagement, especially when team members are recognized instantly and publicly for their contributions. Although these surveys were conducted from numerous companies across a variety of industries, their findings were the same:
- Employees who participate in values-based recognition programs report that their work has meaning and purpose
- Employees report that they have a positive work experience because their recognition program is connected with the company’s core values
- Employees say work performance is more likely to improve when feedback comes from both managers and peers
- Employers report their highest return on investment (ROI) is when they create an employee recognition system where team members are rewarded for exhibiting their organization's values in the workplace
Why Recognition Should Occur Instantly
Yes, recognition plays a tremendous role in engaging your employees, but it must be done correctly. For this to occur, employees need to be recognized on the spot. The workforce is changing, and yearly bonuses just won’t cut it. If you’re trying to encourage employees to reflect the values of their organization, it doesn’t make sense to reward them in December for actions they exhibited in March.
By then, your employee will have likely forgotten what it was they did to be rewarded for in the first place. In fact, nearly 60% of respondents revealed that rewards for recognition were more motivating when they were given instantly verses in the form of a once-a-year bonus.
Choosing a Solution that Works
As we stated earlier, there is no shortage of employee engagement solutions on the market, just keep in mind they aren’t all created equal. At C.A. Short Company, we’ve spent nearly a century in the employee engagement and recognition industry. And over the course of those 80 years, we have worked with thousands of companies to engage their employees, create safer work environments, and increase their bottom line.
How did we achieve this? It all comes down to creating an employee engagement and recognition strategy that’s custom-tailored to your organization and industry. And since every plan we design is 100% OSHA®-compliant, you can rest assured that it will actually work. If you’d like to know more about how C.A. Short Company can help your company recognize your employees, reach out. We’d love to help!
C.A. Short Company partners with companies to manage, drive and facilitate increased employee engagement to increase financial performance, productivity, quality, and core performance outcomes. Our process and research-based platform enables executives and managers to engage their teams to increase the bottom line, motivate staff, and incentivize positive behavior. To Request a Complimentary Consultation, click here.