Did you know that by simply recognizing the contributions of your employees, you can greatly improve retention? What’s more, you could see a productivity boost as well: Some 40 percent of employees would put more energy into their work if they were recognized more often.

We explored what it takes to build a recognition program that gets results in our November 17 webinar, “The Value of Appreciation: How to Build a Recognition Program that Works.”

Here are some of the key takeaways from the webinar.

What does it actually mean to recognize people?

There are five levels of recognition:

• Awareness: Being aware of who is on the team — knowing names and roles.
• Acknowledgement: Recognizing the value each member brings to the team.
• Engagement: Interacting on a deeper level with team members to accomplish goals.
• Outreach: Recognizing team members as experts for the value they bring.
• Celebration: Openly and publicly acknowledging team members and their accomplishments.

Too often, however, companies build recognition programs around milestones (the “celebration”) — work anniversaries, etc. — when building a culture of recognition around smaller, more frequent achievements is often more effective.

Why appreciation and recognition deserve renewed attention in today’s workplaces

Of those looking for a new job today, fully 74 percent are disengaged, while 63 percent of employees who are recognized for their work are unlikely to leave their jobs.

However, in companies with a culture of recognition, employee engagement, productivity and performance are 14 percent higher.

These numbers are important to point out if you’re trying to point to ROI with decision makers when budgeting for a recognition program.

Practical tips for building a strategic recognition program

Some important questions to consider:

• What are your business objectives?
• What are the metrics that matter most?
• Whose job is recognition?
• What does recognition mean to your team members?

It’s critical to build a culture of recognition. Be cognizant of how your team members like to be recognized: some prefer to be called out by name, while others might not.

Each and every team member should be empowered to recognize the work of others. This can take the form of ad hoc recognition through tools or programs such as SoGoMatic to make it easy. More structured forms of recognition can occur through newsletters, performance reviews, and so on.

Regardless of the form it takes, recognition should be specific, measurable, relevant, and timely.

3 ways to measure the success of your recognition program

• Measure ROI: Know your baseline and track the impact. Some of the areas you can track include impact of recognition initiatives on employee engagement, productivity, turnover, or even customer satisfaction.
• Measure employee satisfaction: Through employee surveys, pulse checks, or polls, directly ask employees questions, like whether they feel valued for their contributions, or how they would like to be recognized for their work.
• Measure participation: Keep tabs on things like active users or budget utilization across employee groups, locations, or departments.

Most importantly—don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things in order to get a recognition program off the ground.

Visit our webinar page to view this and many other presentations at your convenience.

Want to speak with someone about how Sogolytics can help you build a culture of recognition at your organization? Connect with us today!