How to recognise employee achievement

Celebrating the good work employees do for your business is integral to retaining staff and increasing productivity.

Workers can be recognised in a number of ways ensuring they are aware their contributions have value. But first, you need to ensure that you are keeping track of those excelling within your business.

Are you doing the best you can to highlight exceptional performances? Research indicates that perception and reality don't always line up.

Review your methods

Surveys have found that there is often a disconnect between what managers believe they are doing and how it is actually affecting employees. This was further exemplified in a recent study by recruitment specialist Robert Half. 

The survey questioned over 600 managers working at a senior level, and found that 89 per cent of them believed they were effectively recognising employee performance within their respective companies. 

These results contrast sharply with what employees indicated however, with only three in every ten agreeing with the above assertion. 

Acknowledge the outcomes

Dissonance between managers and employees like this can create significant problems within a workplace, putting a strain on staff and requiring extensive productivity solutions to solve. 

Robert Half found that staff are likely to leave companies if they don't they do not feel like staff are acknowledged for their efforts. This does not impact just one or two employees either, with the firm reporting that more than half of employees surveyed would leave their jobs if they felt under-appreciated. 

Find a solution

There are plenty of incentive solutions that businesses can employ to keep staff feeling appreciated within the workplace. From rewards to health programs there is a retention program to meet your needs. 

Health and wellbeing programs are becoming increasingly popular, and serve two purposes for employers. Not only do they get a happy workforce, they get a healthy one as well with results proving their effectiveness in the past. 

A study from Texas A&M University reported overwhelmingly large returns on investment for companies who took a chance with these programs, with some reaching as high as a six to one ratio. 

These are not as simple as leaving out a bowl of fruit out or offering gym memberships to staff, however. The results reported by this survey were recorded by businesses that had invested heavily in the program. This involved aligning it with their company values and leadership objectives.

More tangible rewards should be offered as well. Gift cards can be used to reward smaller achievements, or to promote competition between employees to encourage productivity.