The Positive Impact of Employee Recognition: What Does the Data from Deloitte, Gallup, & Others Say?

If your organization does not have an employee recognition program in place, you are already way behind the curve. With Deloitte reporting that over 80% of organizations are already running some form of recognition program, it is apparent that recognition has become the norm in today’s businesses.

Does this mean that every company is running the right recognition program? Not necessarily. Many companies are still relying on archaic strategies that fail to deliver meaningful recognition. Well-thought-out strategy is fundamental to the success of any employee recognition endeavor. Recognition needs to be closely aligned with your company culture, which takes planning, execution, and professional insight. 

With this in mind, what are some of the results you can expect from a well-executed employee recognition program?

1. Organizations with employee recognition programs report 22% higher profit margins

Source: Cornell University

This one is straightforward: Recognize your employees effectively, and they will produce better work, which in turn, will improve the financial outcomes of your business. Performance-based recognition is key here. Recognizing your employees for quality work vs. just showing up is a vital step in achieving results like this.

2. In a recent survey, employees stated that the most memorable recognition comes most often from their direct manager (28%), followed by a high-level leader or CEO (24%)

Source: Gallup Poll

With these statistics in mind, it is critical for your business to enable and train management on how to properly recognize employees. Strategic methods for achieving this include introducing dashboards and communication tools to help managers monitor employee performance and goals. This data and communication enables managers to provide deserved recognition in a timely manner.

3. Employee turnover is 25% lower for organizations with high turnover rates and 66% lower for organizations with low turnover rates (when recognition programs are in place)

Source: Cornell University

Why do employees leave? It has been well-documented that employees often report “lack of recognition” as a major influence on their choice to quit. Recognition programs help to solve this problem by 1) enabling managers to recognize employees in a public manner and 2) enabling co-workers to recognize colleagues through peer-to-peer recognition.

4. When strategic recognition is in place, companies score 10% higher in customer satisfaction ratings

Source: Cornell University

Employees who feel recognized and appreciated will pass that good will on to customers. Publicly displaying positive customer feedback in various forums for your employees can also help to further reinforce positive customer support behavior.

5. Recognition can help diminish negative safety incidents by 49%

Source: Cornell University

When considering employee recognition, safety might not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, designing an employee recognition program that incorporates safety training can be a major step towards cultivating a culture of employee safety.

These are just a few of the many KPIs by which employee recognition can be measured. What are the HR statistics that are important to your organization? Let us know! 

Online Rewards consults with clients in every industry to design employee recognition programs that create unique employee experiences aligned to culture, philosophy, and goals.

Sources:

Cornell University

Deloitte

Gallup