Genuine recognition beats another engagement initiative

The success of a business, and its ability to retain top talent, continues to be defined by how seriously it takes employee engagement. Most understand this now and treat it as the priority it should be, but there are those who position it as an afterthought. It is maybe not that surprising to hear that plenty of employees still leave work wondering if anyone noticed what they achieved that day, let alone cared. In fact, research by Gallup shows that only 10% of UK employees feel engaged at work, while our data shows three-quarters admit to being complacent in the workplace. This is estimated to cost the UK economy a staggering £257bn a year in lost productivity. 

Some may point to that being an employee issue but engagement is intrinsically linked to employers making staff feel valued. This is why the gap deserves more attention than it gets. Organisations may have become increasingly sophisticated in their approaches to motivating their staff, they often overlook what’s staring them right in the face. 

Belonging isn’t built through another initiative rolled out from the top, but through interactions with the people someone actually works with day to day. That is why recognition has spent too long being dismissed as a “nice to have”, when the reality is that it’s the difference between employees who stay and employees who quietly check out. After all, you can’t expect employees to go above and beyond if they don’t feel that their effort is even noticed. 

Driving engagement strategies forward 

Fortunately, reward schemes and recognition programmes have now started to become standard practice for the majority of businesses, taking a place alongside wider wellbeing offerings. That sounds like progress and it looks great for prospective employees during a recruitment drive. It only makes a modicum of difference if they actually change how people feel in and around the workplace. Sadly, despite the rise in recognition, Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI) data shows that just 25% of employees say they feel truly appreciated at work. This is the gap many leaders fail to appreciate. 

Recognition is not something you can switch on and off, or provide employees once or twice a year when appraisal season comes around. It is a feeling people have to experience in their day to day professional lives. So, while some may immediately reach for generic vouchers or a free lunch to surprise and delight their staff, it is not quite that simple. Those things can reinforce appreciation, but they do not create it. 

Appreciation is built through regular human interaction. It is in our nature to want someone to notice what we did and understand why it mattered. Most of us have also worked somewhere with a quiet colleague that is viewed as a trusted pair of hands that always delivered, but maybe is not recognised verbally as such because they are not overtly seeking that validation. Recognition can’t just go to the loudest, most confident voices in the room. That is why even a well-funded reward programme can leave employees feeling unseen and undervalued. 

An organisation can tick every box, yet employees can still find themselves finishing the working week wondering if anyone in the company even noticed they were there. Genuine recognition AWI data revealed that weekly recognition dropped from 29% of employees to just 19% in the space of a year. Some may see this as a sign that it’s dropping in value. It is not. In fact, the same report showed that the 19% that are recognised by their employers on a weekly basis are nine times more likely to feel a genuine sense of belonging at work.