Employee Appreciation is Good for the Company, Too!

Each year, March brings Employee Appreciation Day. What a great time to recognize your employees and their dedication to making your business a success!

According to a recent Gallup survey, companies that offer recognition have employees that are 73% less likely to feel burned out at work. That is great news for the employee, but for the company too. Because these employees are also 56% less likely to be looking for a new job. Experts say that employees with higher morale tend to be more productive. A win-win-win!

With a competitive market and tight budgets, retaining and rewarding employees is a must for businesses who don’t just want to survive, but thrive.

So why does recognition mean so much to employees?

Appreciation is a basic human need.

Believe it or not, a baby’s tiny first steps, graduating from college, and completing a major project at work all have one thing in common — each took hard work and determination. When appreciated or rewarded, each milestone made the achiever feel valued. Simply put, the more you achieve, the better you feel, and the more you can do. Being recognized for success drives further motivation.

But isn’t employee recognition more trouble (and expense) than it’s worth?

Losing an employee has direct costs – the cost to advertise and hire, the cost for overtime while someone else does the job, and indirect cost – opportunity cost while the new person is getting up to speed, lost customer relationships. Losing an employee can cost up to 1/3 of the person’s annual salary.

Compare that with employee recognition. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, has immediate benefits, and is worth every penny to retain hardworking employees. Giving simple gestures of appreciation can mean the difference between creating an engaged and motivated workforce and losing your talent to employers who give regular recognition.

Here’s just a sampling of ideas from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) to acknowledge your employees without breaking the bank:

• Select an employee of the month complete with a certificate or plaque and a month of premier parking. Make certain the criteria for winning this recognition are known and in line with your organization’s goals.
• Formal cards or informal notes – give unexpected handwritten appreciation to employees going above and beyond. You will be pleasantly surprised to see these small tokens pinned to personal bulletin boards or taped to cubicles.
• While it may sound cheesy, use a trophy at staff meetings to call out the actions of employees who stood out. (It really does boost morale!) Even better if you can recognize a team. Have the trophy travel to the team leader’s desk until the next recognition occasion.
• Throw a pizza party after a long project is completed or hand out chocolates to reward a sweet effort.

When it comes to employee recognition, remember that it is about the employee, not the company. Recognition efforts that focus only on the organization’s success (i.e. sales achievement or company growth) may not have lasting benefit for the employee. Recognition has the most impact when it is authentic, equitable, embedded in the culture, and personalized. (Try a great fleece embroidered with the project and employee name!)

Employee recognition is easy to overlook, but has so many lasting benefits to one of your company’s greatest assets – your employees. Ask your Marco Promos Account Executive how you can set up an on-going employee recognition program. It will probably cost less than you think initially, and garner great rewards in the future!