What do you think most people have on their minds as they head into work each day? Do you suppose they're mentally preparing for how they can really blow that big presentation, miss an important deadline, forget to prepare for that big meeting or lose the company's biggest client?
Probably NOT.
But if they are thinking about work, they might be wishing they got a pat on the back from their boss or co-workers for rocking that presentation, getting the project done ahead of schedule, being one of the only people who prepared for the meeting or winning the company its newest client.
Some may be wondering how they can get management to notice the little things they do. After all, not everyone in the company is on the front lines or directly involved with the sales and marketing efforts. If they could just get others to notice, they wouldn't have to be so worried about whether or not their job is safe.
The reality is most people want to go to work each day to do a good job and help the company grow.
Leaders today, especially those who have cut staff to the bone, face a whole different challenge: getting employees re-engaged or risk losing performers at all levels. Many are looking for employees to make the commitment to ensure the job gets done and done right. What leaders fail to realize, especially in difficult times, is employees need more from each other, the company and leadership. It can be as simple as recognition for doing a good job, but must be organized in a way that illustrates what actually doing a good job looks like. And, most importantly, how it aligns with the overall business strategy.
Going Beyond Engagement
Based on recent global research workforce studies, aligning on-brand behaviors with company strategies is fast becoming a business imperative for many organizations. The Corporate Leadership Council conducted a study that shows a 50% decline in the level of discretionary effort put forth by employees; disengaged employees are 24% less likely to quit than they were three years ago. Combine these findings with a Towers Perrin study of nearly 90,000 employees worldwide which reveals nearly 40% of employees are disenchanted or disengaged.
These findings cannot be ignored by leadership or pacified with cheesy motivational posters, glass prisms and online point systems that serve up shiny toasters and toolsets. Without any substantial benefit, these type of programs do little to show the "how or why" behind the reward. That is, they do nothing to educate, train and reinforce the individual or team behavior, that gave reason for the reward in the first place and why it was so important to the company's business strategy.
An employee recognition program to drive engagement must be tied to a metric that everyone understands: ROI.
Potential Point, LLC, developers of an employee engagement program that aligns employee behaviors to company objectives, encourages leaders to answer the following questions when connecting employee recognition to the company strategy:
How is (or will) your program:
• Enhance existing employee performance programs at every employee touch point?
• Reduce operational costs of changing culture, engaging employees and servicing customers?
• Reduce people time and investment to effectively build and sustain culture?
• Streamline and improve internal communication and breaking down organizational silos?
• Improve effectiveness of training initiatives?
• Replicate high-performing employees?
• Increase employee satisfaction and loyalty?
• Increase customer satisfaction and loyalty?
• Grow revenue?
In order to be truly effective, recognition must be a strategic, leadership-driven process for acknowledging the best employees in the workplace for good work that is aligned with the overall business objectives and strategies of the company. And it must be founded in on-brand behaviors.
Relying on airline miles alone may actually be keeping your employees from going the distance.
This post was written in collaboration with Potential Point, LLC. Vocii, LLC and Potential Point, LLC continue to share ideas in an effort to recalibrate leadership thinking that connects employee behaviors to business strategy.