SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | MOST POPULAR |  RSS | | REPRINT
|
Recognition @ Work: Why 40 Percent of
Employees Leave
May 05, 2008
By Christi L. Gibson
If your turnover ratios are through the roof, then it is time to review your appreciation policies. Recognizing your employees is imperative in order to retain your top performers to help lead and grow a strong organization. It will ultimately increase your bottom line.
A recent survey of 10,000 employees from Fortune 1000 organizations found 40 percent identified lack of recognition as a major reason in leaving a job. And since 65 percent of Americans said they received no recognition in the workplace (according to Gallup), clearly, organizations are not listening to their employees. Further, data on exit surveys continuously reinforces that employees don't leave companies, they leave managers. Side by side, these findings scream trouble. Solvable trouble that can be a force in profitability.
To be sure your employees will share their "it came to me in the middle of the night" bright-light idea, and not hand-carry it to your competitor, the goal is retention. In order to insure you hold on to the top workers in productivity and innovation, you must respond positively and appreciatively to their efforts. Times and cultures are changing, and getting paid isn't enough anymore for a job well done. Employees are motivated by empowerment, and that happens when their opinions and ideas are heard and assessed. This type of recognition clearly plays a large part in helping to engage each individual employee as well as in creating high-performance teams. When people are positively and actively engaged, they will give you all they have to give, and then some. Listen, watch and train all of your employees on how to deliver recognition in a meaningful and motivational way.
Take a look at some basics. According to Gallup Organization, regular recognition and praise of employees leads to:
• Lower turnover
• Higher overall productivity
• Increased engagement among coworkers
• Higher customer loyalty and satisfaction
• Better safety records and fewer on-the-job accidents
Recognition Professionals International (RPI) 2008 Recognition Trends Survey found the primary objective for a recognition program is to create a recognition culture. Cargill Inc., the 2008 RPI Best Practice—Best Overall Recognition Award recipient, is a global company consisting of 70 businesses, operating in 66 countries with 158,000 employees. Cargill named a Chief Recognition Officer (CRO) in 2004, Bill Buckner, who is also one of the eight senior executives of the company. In addition, Cargill has a Global Recognition Steering Team, which provides guidance in the overall recognition strategy and execution. Cargill's financial results are a good indication that their recognition strategy is working. Their sales and other revenues (measured in millions) in 2003 were $54,390 and have risen to $88,266 in 2007. That is a 62 percent increase in revenues. Senior leaders believe these financial results have been affected positively by the increasing engagement of their employees.
This example of recognition success should be enough measurement to get company buy-in from your executives to launch at your organization. Recognition isn't just important, it is critically important for companies in early growth and leadership stages. As noted above, recognition is a key impact factor in Cargill employee engagement. Cargill uses a four-dimensional pyramid diagram to illustrate the levels of recognition. The pyramid's foundation is common courtesy and respect, the next tier is day-to-day recognition, above this is informal, and the pyramid peaks at formal recognition. Cargill believes the greatest percentage of time and attention should be spent on the bottom two tiers of the pyramid in order to make the biggest impact on recognition.
Recognition is key to Cargill's success and is reflected not only in executive involvement, but also in attention across the world to Cargill employees, diversity and long-term cultural changes. Cargill is continuously working toward creating and sustaining an innovation culture. An innovation culture is woven from interlacing strands of values, beliefs and practices that together create a strong and enduring organizational fabric. The organization's values, beliefs and practices include training, recognition, leadership, behavior, collaboration and environment. Together, this makes an extremely strong combination.
Why bother recognizing employees? Is it really important? Cargill Inc. knows the answer, and it shows in their bottom line.
Christi L. Gibson is the executive director of Recognition Professionals International, formerly known as National Association for Employee Recognition (NAER). She has been with RPI since 2001, and has been published in newspapers and periodicals, and interviewed on both ABC and FOX News. She can be reached via e-mail at Christi@recognition.org.
|
SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | MOST POPULAR | RSS |
|
|
| Back to Incentive Index |
|
|
