Staff Recognition: Why It Works

The best trained staff take all the prizes in today’s ultra-competitive work environment. One thing that all top-notch teams share is motivation. They all are motivated to outperform and go beyond expectations. But do you know what it takes to build the best teams with high motivation levels? Staff or employee recognition!

What’s Staff Recognition?

Staff or employee recognition is highlighting or recognizing the company members’ exemplary performance. As a matter of fact, it can also be acknowledging the small efforts and steps the team is taking towards something more significant.

Staff recognition is used by organizations to express appreciation, motivate employees, and set up desired behaviors. According to research by Quantum Workplace, staff recognition is one of the five most important elements in employee management.

According to a recent survey by SHRM, 80% of organizations reported having an employee/staff recognition program. So? What’s the big deal behind staff recognition, and why most of the companies have a staff recognition program? To put it simply, staff recognition works, and it produces excellent results.

Do you guys still want more convincing? In the following section, we’ll tell you why staff recognition works.

Why Does Staff Recognition Work?

Recognition = Happy Employees = Productivity

When you recognize and appreciate your staff, they feel happy, and as a result, they are more productive. Here’s a research study that proves that happy employees are, on average, 12 percent more productive.
Acknowledgment and public appreciation make your staff feel that they have an important role in your company. And as a result, they feel happy and work hard to make the company’s dream come true.

When employees feel that the boss or their co-workers value their work, they feel happy and motivated to maintain or improve their work.

Improves Team Culture

Staff recognition helps and encourages everyone on the team to see and embrace each other’s positive attributes. When one employee nominates another, it builds a positive trust that their contributions are being valued by their peers and supervisors.

When contributions and efforts are acknowledged and appreciated, it improves the team culture. Everyone on the team feels more connected since their actions are being valued and pointed out.

According to research, 86 percent of employees feel happier and secure at work when they are being appreciated and recognized. When everyone feels valued, it improves the overall team culture and boosts teams’ productivity.

Fosters Relationships

Trust is one of the essential factors in any relationship. And with appreciation and acknowledgment comes trust. Nearly 90% of employees who received appreciation and recognition from their bosses indicated a high level of trust in that relationship.

Staff recognition fosters relationships and builds a high degree of trust between employees, managers, and bosses. Simply thanking your employees or highlighting their participation in anything valuable to the company can create great trust.

When an employee is recognized by their higher officials, they feel a deeper connection with the leadership. And great connections build honest relationships.

Help Employees Eliminate Their Stress Levels

When employees receive recognition, acknowledgment, and appreciation, it makes them feel that they are putting good work. And that decreases and eliminates their stress levels, which equals more productivity.

Recognition reaffirms the efforts they are putting in to help the organization. It reminds them that they are unique, special, and important to the company, just like other co-workers. And this feeling makes them more engaging and productive.

Staff recognition greatly decreases the stress levels and helps your team level up their game and bring more to the table.

Improve Employee Retention

According to an article by UndercoverRecruiter, welcoming a new employee can cost as much as $4,129. Well, that’s some money to spend on a newcomer. And that’s why big companies invest in staff recognition, so their employees stick around and don’t leave.
When an employee receives a fair amount of recognition and appreciation from their co-workers, managers, and bosses, it’s hard for them to leave. Employees who are recognized more often feel like home at their respective companies.

Appreciation is one of the essential needs of human begins. And when a person receives it from its superiors, everything feels like home. And why would anyone want to leave?

Even today, when a majority of companies have reported using staff recognition, many aren’t making the most of it. Plenty of managers and bosses aren’t giving staff recognition the priority it deserves. Maybe they are too busy with their jobs or haven’t realized the true potential of staff recognition. Either way, it’s hurting the company and the employees that are working for it.

But you don’t have to follow the mainstream! Start implementing staff recognition in your company, and the results will shock you.