Employee Recognition Is the Key to Their Motivation

Employee Recognition Is the Key to Their Motivation

More and more companies are starting to understand the connection between employee motivation and success. Employees want to understand their role in a company’s success, and companies can tap into that desire to increase performance in positive directions.

Studies show that a key factor in engagement is acknowledging employee performance and employee contributions with rewards that have both tangible and intangible value. Here are the ways in which you can utilize employee recognition to drive performance and productivity forward.

Play Fair with Salary at the Beginning

The hiring process can be long and difficult, only to collapse over salary offers. When a company offers wages that do not reflect the value of an employee’s expected contributions, a quality candidate rejects the offer and moves on. Alternatively, a quality candidate accepts a lower salary in the hope that the company will recognize them later.

Waiting for that recognition increases stress and even resentment. Morale and engagement go down, and so too does performance.

Offering raises and bonuses may seem like a motivating factor. However, instead of encouraging an employee to go above and beyond and to remain engaged, the company’s reward is viewed as necessary to compensate for underpayment. It is no longer viewed as a bonus for exemplary performance.

Paying employees for the value of their expected contributions from the beginning sends two signals: the company knows and understandings the value of the job, and bonus and reward programs are designed for recognition when deserved – not salary corrections.

Understand the Power of Engagement

Companies encourage teamwork among staff, but often forget that the entire company is a team. Employees and managers need to work together to achieve company goals.

Employee recognition is crucial to encouraging teamwork not only among project groups, but also the entire company. Employees thrive on having their work recognized. Acknowledging strengths, skills, and their contributions to success produces higher employee engagement and satisfaction.

Appreciation is More Than Recognition

You can easily tell someone that they are doing a good job – that’s recognition. If you reward that good job, that’s appreciation.

One profound yet simple method is to provide continual and regular employee performance reviews. When employees know you care about achievement, they begin to care more, too.

Instead of relegating feedback to an annual review, regular feedback sessions reduce stress about how they are performing with the knowledge that they will also receive guidance and support. Removing the uncertainty about performance allows creativity and engagement to increase.

Rewards Have Relevance to Performance

Raises and bonuses still have a place in the workplace. People value monetary rewards as signs of achievement. However on a daily basis, the achievement of goals and recognition of hitting those goals results in higher, ongoing satisfaction for employees.

Performance is about accomplishment, and your staff feels pride when they achieve goals. Earning a degree, completing a complicated assignment, or mastering a new skill all have intrinsic value for individuals. So, too, does this concept apply in the workplace for your employees.

As employees improve and grow, recognition for those accomplishments moves beyond monetary reward to appreciation for the skills the employee used, acquired, and mastered as valuable components to the success of the company.

For most people, satisfaction at work comes from knowing not only that they are hitting their work goals, but also their contributions have meaning for company success. Recognizing these contributions through tangible and intangible rewards increases motivation that in turns creates higher performance and creativity levels.