A recent SHRM survey revealed some surprising results. It seems the biggest challenges facing HR managers these days is talent retention. Managers are very concerned that once they’ve recruited top performers, they won’t be able to keep them in the fold.
Economic growth, demographic shifts, and globalization are all contributing to a new generation of workers that believes they can have it all: meaningful work, career growth, leaders they trust, equitable pay and appreciation for their efforts.
In other words, they want to be fully engaged in their jobs. And we know that employee recognition is one of the key drivers of employee engagement.
Employee Recognition and Organizational Values
According to the survey, tying employee recognition to organizational values is the best formula for successful employee retention.
The data is showing that building employee programs and leadership behaviors on foundations of a values-based culture are not only winning the war for talent; they are winning the competitive wars for revenue and growth, innovation, collaboration, and profitability.
The survey concluded that “companies that not only have a recognition program in place, but one that incorporates their core values, are more likely to report greater benefits overall.”
What is the Secret to Success?
The key is to create an employee recognition program that reflects the cultural values of your organization. Over 87% of recognition and reward programs are still based on service or tenure awards.
This form of employee recognition is simply not going to produce long-term improvements in retention, engagement, and productivity levels. In order to stay competitive, companies need to place more importance in how they recognize their people. They will need to recognize workers anytime, anywhere, and anyplace for behaviors and actions that embody the organization’s values, mission, and goals.
An approach that regularly reinforces critical employee behaviors, attitudes and actions will deliver higher levels of employee engagement and significantly reduced turnover.
Learn more about our employee recognition solutions >>
Charting Your Values-Based Course
There is no one blueprint for crafting a values-based recognition program. Every organization is a discrete entity with its own makeup, market, and growth curve. You will have to genuinely reflect on what attitudes, talents and behaviors essentially drive your business.
These are the qualities you want to instill into your workforce by directly linking these attributes to your recognition and rewards program. This approach will not only give you the criteria for success, it will give you realistic benchmarks to monitor and measure the factors needed for ongoing success.
Why Values-Based Recognition Really Works
There are a number of reasons this approach improves employee engagement and reduces turnover. Here are just a few:
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Values-based recognition generates multiple success stories which serve to reinforce these positive attributes with your workforce.
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Values-based recognition directly impacts your employees’ higher motivational drivers of belonging, esteem, and respect.
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Value-based recognition can be a powerful communications tool. Research shows that employees who know and understand company values are 30 times more likely to be fully engaged than those who don’t.
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Values-based recognition can reduce voluntary turnover by 31%.
Help from Incentra
If you want to win the talent war, have you taken a hard look at a values-based recognition program? At Incentra, we’d love to help you steer in the right direction.
Learn more about our employee recognition solutions.
