Recognition is key to employee retention

Sometimes, saying “Way to go!” can go a long way.

Employees want to be acknowledged for their hard work, but their leaders aren’t providing them with the recognition they crave, research suggests.

Some 28% of US workers say they “rarely or never” receive praise for their work from managers, and 33% say they are “only sometimes” recognized, according to recent data from TalentLMS, a learning management system. These findings are aligned with 2022 research from Gallup and Workhuman, which found that 81% of company leaders said “recognition is not a major strategic priority for their organization.”

If employers want to retain their talent, they may have to step up and offer recognition when deserved: 78% of US employees surveyed by Reward Gateway, an employee engagement platform, with Edenred, a payments firm, said recognition would make them more likely to stay at an employer, and 76% said it would motivate them to work harder.

“According to employees, the third-best way for managers to enhance well-being is to offer regular feedback and recognition,” Kaitlin Howes, HR business partner at Reward Gateway, told HR Brew. (The first- and second-best ways to improve well-being are better pay and work-life balance.) “There’s a huge correlation between giving regular feedback, recognizing their people and how that impacts well-being.”

Strong employee well-being can boost retention and make an organization a “magnet” for new talent, according to research from Gallup, which found that when employees are “thriving,” they are 32% less likely to actively look for a new job.

Not sure where to begin? No worries, your employees may have a few ideas. Some 36% of the employees surveyed by TalentLMS said their work is only recognized through formal evaluations. While 29% prefer to be recognized in a private forum, like a one-on-one, 18% said they’d like their leaders to publicly—as in, in front of their colleagues—recognize their contributions.

They’d also appreciate a few extra dollars being thrown their way: 59% said they would most value recognition in the form of a cash bonus. Perks work, too: 48% would accept more paid time-off.

When it comes to recognition, the key is consistency and frequency, and to tie it back to the business. That, Howes said, is how HR can build an organization that attracts and retains top talent.

“It’s always important to share the action that the person took, talk about the value that it’s connected to, and highlight the impact [to the business],” Howes said. “When that’s introduced across a group, you’re also reinforcing the types of behaviors that you want to see across your team. Encourage a team of high performers by recognizing them consistently.”