From profitability and revenues to client experience and talent acquisition, employee engagement affects your entire organization. Offering competitive pay and benefits are essential to attracting and retaining quality employees. Still, employers often struggle to find additional low-cost, creative ways to appeal to employees throughout the year.
According to the 2019 Media Sales Report, 40% of salespeople don’t feel as though they’re always being supported by their sales manager, and 46% of salespeople don’t feel as though they’re always valued.
While there are several simple and inexpensive ways to increase employee engagement, there’s one way that will also address these critical issues.
Employee Engagement Activities
If you’ve ever felt underappreciated at work, then you know how important recognition is in the workplace. At Up Your Culture, team members are consistently recognized for their hard work regularly through:
- Email shout-outs
- Social media recognition
- Friendly competitions
- Feedback
- Monthly culture calls
- Peer-nominated awards
A peer recognition program known as High Five Friday, is an appreciated activity. Each Friday, we have the opportunity to give a shout out to a colleague for a job well done and for demonstrating our company’s core values. This activity also leads to things such as Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year.
Surprisingly, research shows this kind of regular recognition is not the norm. A survey conducted for a newer company, OGO (Oh Great One!), shows 82% of employed Americans don’t feel that their supervisors recognize them enough for their contributions.
Recognition Increases Employee Engagement
Because recognition has been tied to increased productivity and employee engagement, it’s important make sure direct reports receive it regularly. Here are a few tips on how to recognize your team to keep them happy, engaged, and productive.
Be Specific
“Good job!” is nice, but it isn’t as helpful as telling someone specifically what they did well. Letting them know exactly what you liked helps them to focus on specific behaviors and repeat these in the future.
Be Consistent
Employees need recognition often. Once a week is a goal to aim for, so create a system for yourself to ensure you are praising people frequently. Keep a tally of how often you recognize employees each week or schedule recurring calendar reminders, so it’s always top of mind.
Make it Meaningful
An ink pen for a 5-year work anniversary is not particularly meaningful. A manager should recognize milestones and accomplishments with notes or gifts that are tailored to the employee’s interests and motivators. These mean so much more than one-size-fits-all gifts.
To do this well, you really need to know your people and the type of recognition that is most meaningful to them. The same survey conducted for OGO shows 76% of people save handwritten thank you notes, so this is a thoughtful way to make a big impact on many people.
Your employee engagement efforts don’t have to break the bank, and since it helps to grow people and improve employee engagement, the return on investment is immense.
What are you doing to improve such a crucial part of your organization's success?
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