Adecco

Employee recognition is almost a proxy for how strong all the other attributes are. Tightening the purse-strings generally means that people are working harder with fewer resources, and they may not feel they’re getting the recognition they deserve for putting in the long hours and covering for their departed colleagues.

Employers need to get the right balance between outcome-driven and behavioural reward. Reward in isolation, that is outcome-driven rather than behavioural, can lead to a transactional and disengaged relationship with employees. Behavioural recognition that supports an employer’s core values or guiding principles can work successfully by itself. Everyday informal recognition such as e-cards is a great building block for developing a culture of appreciation. The objective is to be surprising and personally meaningful to create a long lasting, positive memory.

However, ideally, everyday recognition should be part of a broader strategy which forms the basis for employees to be publicly recognised and rewarded at business unit or company level. At this point, the trophy value of higher value, more personal rewards can effectively ‘close the loop’ on recognition and further reinforce outstanding work or tenure.

According to reward experts, Accumulate, when taken together, recognition and reward are the tangible versus intangible aspects of emphasising an employee’s contributions. They can create a powerful combination that meets both their emotional and rational needs.