Are you struggling with employee turnover? We know that finding good candidates has been a challenge for many businesses and organizations like yours. It certainly doesn’t help when your existing employees are leaving, including some of your best players.

Not only is it a challenge to replace employees but also a major cost as well. When every departing employee costs your business thousands of dollars in lost productivity and employee replacement costs, training, paperwork and so much more that employee turnover isn’t just an HR problem anymore. It’s a serious business problem.

Fortunately, a key factor driving nearly 80% of employees to quit their job is totally fixable. Yes, that’s right! Once you know the major cause for their quitting, you can come up with a secret weapon to conquer it.  The fact is — 4 out of 5 departing employees cite a lack of appreciation as a factor in their decision.

When employees feel recognized and appreciated for their contributions, they’re happier, more productive, and highly unlikely to look for a new job. But when they don’t feel recognized, they often feel apathetic and disconnected — leaving the door wide open for other businesses and companies  who do have a reputation of recognition, to win them over. So, how can you become one of those “want to work for” businesses?

Do you have an effective employee recognition program in place?

The numbers don’t lie — recognition is the employee engagement power tool. Recognition has an undeniable effect on a business’s performance, profitability and employee retention. A few stats that prove it:

  • The #1 reason people leave jobs is limited recognition and praise.
  • 50% of employees said they’d stay at their job if they felt appreciated.
  • 81% of employees say they’re motivated to work harder when their boss shows appreciation.
  • Companies with effective recognition programs see 31% lower turnover.
  • 41% of companies that use peer-to-peer recognition reported seeing increases in customer satisfaction.

How to structure an effective employee recognition program

Recognition isn’t rocket science. However, most businesses just aren’t getting it right. Showing the type of gratitude that binds teams together, improves retention and boosts business should be in my belief, social, timely, specific, and tied to something concrete.

  1. Make employee recognition peer-to-peer

Many times, we think of recognition in terms of top-down or manager’s responsibility (meaning, manager-to-worker) — and nothing wrong with that as we know our employees do value that. But a multitude of studies also reveal that employees equally appreciate, or even prefer, recognition from their fellow teammates. Why? Colleagues see each other’s daily contributions, giving them more opportunities to get a simple thank you or pat on the back from someone who truly understands their work. We know that sometimes, managers are too busy with running the business to notice.

Benefits of Peer to Peer Recognition:
  • Encourages a positive workplace culture where everyone can recognize individuals
  • Peer-to-peer recognition conveys to each and every person within an organization that they have a voice. And don’t we all want that?
  • Peer recognition builds camaraderie & connection
  • When more people are empowered to recognize each other, recognition happens more frequently

2. Give employee recognition in real time

When it comes to giving those kudos, high-fives, or gold stars, the sooner the better. Feedback in general is better given while the subject is still fresh—and recognition is no different. Giving timely recognition ensures:

  • Appreciation happens rather than getting lost on a to-do list or forgotten
  • Makes a clear connection in the recipient’s mind between the outcome and their behavior.

3. Make employee recognition clear & specific

Many studies revealed that people most appreciate being recognized in four categories: success, knowledge or expertise, effort, and living core values. To have the highest impact, narrow recognition to the exact behavior where someone excelled. If their knowledge led to a quality decision in a meeting, cheer for that! If they’ve lived out the values of the company in an interaction with a customer, let them know you noticed.

Try this formula: “When you contributed X, it enabled us to achieve Y.” By tying praise to specific actions, it becomes more meaningful and longer lasting.

How to create a culture of recognition

Recognition creates an environment where people consistently know their work matters — that they matter. Here are some tips for getting started:

  • Make recognition easy to give and share. So why aren’t managers already sharing more recognition? One reason often cited by managers is that it takes too much time or hard to do. Keep it simple.
  • Make recognition a year-round practice, not a quarterly or annual event. A simple, sincere “thank you” is the single thing employees crave most (beyond even gifts or celebrations). They just want to be acknowledged for their contributions on a daily basis. This builds a strong culture of gratitude, where workers know their efforts are seen and appreciated. Once you’ve built that foundation, big celebrations can feel even more meaningful.
  • Share recognitions publicly across your business. Many employees thrive when their accolades are shared publicly on a shared company recognition feeds such as Facebook or Twitter
  • Attach recognition to meaningful rewards. Recognition alone is a game-changer. But paired with meaningful employee rewards, adds more magic. Again, keep it simple. No need spend money on any lavishing gifts.

So whether you’re building a culture of recognition from scratch, or trying to change existing patterns, it can take some momentum to get started. The key is to talk to your employees and ask for their feedback on what will work best for them. The results will be MAGICAL!

Need help with creating a recognition program that will work best in your business or more tips on how to reduce employee turnover? Contact Coach John today! info@johnformica.com or (704) 965-4090.