A successful program starts from the top. Here's how to make sure your leaders are recognizing staff
Once you’ve defined your program's goals and parameters, the next element in building a great recognition program: Improving Leader & Manager Adoption. This is where it gets a little more fun!
Your employees will always look out for what those around them are doing and if leaders are leading by example. So, it’s key to drive manager and leadership adoption first, which will then trickle down. You can help your managers see recognition as a tool rather than a task and drive their participation by:
- Explaining how recognition empowers them:
- Recognition allows them to provide a tangible reward to motivate and engage employees (unlike pay and other benefits).
- It’s within their control – rewards can be sent at their discretion and empowers them to drive success.
- Showing them the practical benefits of recognition (great for those results-oriented managers):
- Retention: Statistics from Deloitte show that companies with ‘recognition-rich cultures’ have an average of 31% lower turnover rates than normal.
- Recruitment: According to a SHRM study, 56% of HR leaders have found that employee recognition can help them recruit better talent. In today’s competitive hiring market, that will be music to your managers’ ears.
- Productivity: Recognition can help improve employee engagement, which can boost productivity by up to 21% – a lot of extra time and bandwidth for everyone.
- Relationships: Most managers know how important the relationships their team members build are to success. 87% of HR leaders believe that recognition improves workplace relationships.
You can also send refreshers on when and how to use recognition and tying their recognition participation to other KPIs – employee satisfaction and engagement on their team, etc.
These are just some of the areas where recognition can help your managers. Talk to them individually and try to understand their biggest challenges. You’ll probably find that recognition can be a valuable tool for them in a lot of situations. All of these suggestions and expectations can be shared over email, or during any manager-level meetings.