The Business case for robust, technology-enabled Rewards and Recognition programmes

Next to physical survival, the greatest need of a human being is psychological survival, to be understood, to be affirmed, to be validated, to be appreciated.

                                          – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Appreciation is a fundamental human need. Employees respond to appreciation expressed through recognition of their good work because it confirms their work is valued. When employees and their work are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises, and they are motivated to maintain and improve their good work. While it is quite obvious that recognition has a positive impact on individuals and teams, a formal, institutionalised process of rewarding and recognizing individuals and teams has never got the attention it deserved in the workplace.

One of the key reasons is the lack of research based evidence on its quantifiable benefits and impact on the bottom-line. Fortunately, the last few years have seen a renewed focus on the topic of Rewards and Recognition and a lot of global studies have been undertaken to understand the business impact of rewards and recognition programmes. The following are a few important findings from global studies:

• “The number-one reason people leave their jobs is that they don’t feel appreciated. In fact, 65% of people surveyed said they got no recognition for good work last year” (Gallup, Tom Rath and Donald Clifton, How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life,  )
• “Organizations with recognition programs which are highly effective at enabling employee engagement had 31% lower voluntary turnover than organizations with ineffective recognition programs.” (Bersin by Deloitte, The State of Employee Recognition )
• “60% of Best-in-Class organizations stated that employee recognition is extremely valuable in driving individual performance.” (Aberdeen Group, The Power of Employee Recognition)
• “Being able to track the effectiveness of engagement and recognition efforts can help organizations better align engagement with business objectives and improve performance.” “43% of Best-in-Class organizations have access to metrics on recognition efforts, compared to 18% of All Others.” (Aberdeen Group, The Power of Employee Recognition)
• In these environments, [where opportunity and well-being are part of the culture) strong manager performance in recognizing employee performance increases engagement by almost 60%. (Towers Watson, Turbocharging Employee Engagement: The Power of Recognition From Managers)
• Organizations with the most sophisticated recognition practices are 12 times more likely to have strong business outcomes. (Bersin by Deloitte, The State of Employee Recognition)
• Praise and commendation from managers was rated the top motivator for performance, beating out other noncash and financial incentives, by a majority of workers (67%) (McKinsey Motivating People, Getting Beyond Money)

However the defining statistic that sets the agenda for the way forward is that “Only 14% of organizations provide managers with the necessary tools for rewards and recognition.” (Aberdeen Group, The Power of Employee Recognition)

The stage is set for disruptive new technologies and processes that help managers and senior stakeholders connect continually with their employees and reward and recognize them for their hard work and innovation

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