People Analytics

Measuring the Impact of Employee Recognition

George Dickson
May 27, 2015
0min
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How would you rate the impact of your employee recognition program? 🤔

Most organizations would rate theirs "great!" without having any objective measurement in place. That's a dangerous assumption to hold.

A dangerous assumption? Yes. Really.

Josh Bersin of Bersin & Associates, explains why:

87% of companies have some type of tenure-based reward program. That means you get rewarded for "sticking around." Our research found that these programs drive very little value at all, and in fact only 58% of the employees we surveyed even know that their company has such a program.

With such a large investment at stake, it requires everyone in the organization, from new hires to the CEO, to have an effective employee recognition program in place. Many leaders believe that the programs they have in place are effective, but sadly, employees voice the opposite opinion in most objective studies.

Despite recent advances in the approach companies take on culture and recognition, there is still a massive discrepancy in many companies between management's perspective on the effectiveness of employee recognition initiatives, and that of the employees.

We recently launched a survey that uncovered some stark statistics—it turns out nearly half of Americans quit their jobs because they felt underappreciated by their boss. Almost half. How are those recognition programs really working? 

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Recognition effectiveness

Most organizations wouldn't want their employees to voluntarily leave, so why accept the status quo? 

As the modern workforce evolves, the importance of building a strong employer brand increases.

Just like any brand catering to customers, an effective employer brand needs a solid value proposition. This can help attract and retain great employees, and provide the environment they need to stay engaged and produce their best work.

In a recent publication, Towers Watson did an excellent job of summing up this Employee Value Proposition, or EVP, in one sentence:

"The employee value proposition (EVP) defines the 'give and get' between the organization and the employee"

An effective employee recognition program is part of a strong, diverse EVP. How do you know if yours is effective?

Measuring the success of employee recognition

There are tools and techniques you can use to measure the effectiveness of your employee recognition program and make sure the things you're putting in place are helping to improve the value proposition you're offering your employees.

One of the easiest ways is to simply ask.

Soliciting employee feedback through regular surveys is an excellent way to keep yourself apprised of your employees' thoughts on the programs you're providing in your office environment. There are several ways to accomplish this.

Psst, check out Signals, the easiest way to gather, understand, and act on employee feedback.

There are also tools that can provide that information directly.

For instance, Bonusly's analytics platform provides a comprehensive view of the effectiveness of your employee recognition program. It allows you to easily see your team's level of engagement to see which of your employees are standing out as champions of recognition and engagement.

You can gain valuable insights into who is being recognized most frequently, and what they're being recognized for. It's also easy to see the relationships between the money you're spending on employee recognition and its direct results. 🏆

The information provided by Bonusly can tell you a lot about the effectiveness of your employee recognition program and help you to make proactive decisions to improve it. Take a tour to see for yourself!

Want to learn more about employee recognition and company culture? Check out this resource:

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