HR teams and managers have a lot on their plates. Sometimes in pursuit of the complex (a sustainable hybrid strategy?!) the fundamentals can be overlooked. Humans are dopamine driven beings, and getting recognised for our efforts is crucial. In fact, a recent Gallup survey found that employees who receive recognition at work are 10 times more likely to feel like they belong at the company. And employees who lack a sense of belonging are 12 times more likely to be disengaged, and be on the hunt for another job.
So how can you build recognition into your HR strategy?
Align teams with company values
Before recognition comes into play, make sure that your company values are clear and communicated to employees. Recognition is all about connecting employees to the bigger picture, and illuminating how what they do contributes to those values that the company holds.
Consider employee preferences
Some people might love to have their achievements shouted out at a company or team meetings, and for some this may be their very worst nightmare. The key is to gather information from people, in order to work out what type of recognition they actually want. This may be more successful on a team-by-team basis, but one thing that is clear is that praise is always best when it is timely, remains sincere and highlights specific contributions.
Build recognition into remote work
If you work in either a hybrid or completely remote company, you’ll know that working remotely can sometimes lead to feelings of isolation. Consider setting up communication channels (Slack, Teams, Emails) where achievements are regularly shared, and peers can commend each other on their achievements.
Consider less ‘visible’ efforts
In certain business functions (e.g. Sales), success is easy to measure, and lends itself to commendation. It’s really important that your recognition strategy also takes into account people whose work stays behind the scenes!
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