Boost Employee Engagement Through Recognition
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Last month, Globoforce, an online recognition company, hosted a webinar to discuss research on how companies can create a happy and productive work culture. Both Mosley and Irvine spoke about their research on employee engagement and how any company, big or small, can create a thriving work culture.
What the two emphasized were that recognition leads to more motivated workers. In fact, 86 percent of employees are motivated by recognition for their contributions, according to the Spring 2014 Mood Tracker Survey.
Mosley and Irvine explained employees often seek appreciation and feedback, and these two principles can lead to an open culture, where organizational health is improved and engagement is built.
One example of how a company is reinforcing its culture is Hershey Chocolate Company. According to Irvine, every day, the company invites all 13,000 employees to smile when they see colleagues doing great things. This positivity reaches all areas of the business and helps boost morale.
Throughout their book and in their research, the authors use the phrase social recognition, which they say is different than old-school recognition models.
Irvine adds that through social recognition, companies are able to spot great performers, which helps with succession planning and brings a social movement of voices, generating lots of useful data.
They also spoke about how more frequent recognition can help when it’s time for an employee performance review. By recording and storing the employees’ recognition throughout the year, companies can track and provide more detail and insights from management and peers when the performance review happens.
So how can you apply this to your store? Consider starting out by finding ways to encourage your managers and employees to recognize one another for doing things right.
If you already have a recognition program, whether it’s an employee of the month award or another program highlighting employees’ good work, reflect on the program and consider ways you can improve upon it. Try to find ways to get all of your employees involved and giving each other feedback.
If you don’t have a recognition program, consider creating one. If done right, it can help boost employee morale while also allowing you to create and develop the future leaders of your business. And happy employees are likely to deliver even better customer service, making social recognition a win-win for your employees, customers—and you.
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The goal of the North American Retail Hardware Association is to help independent hardware and home improvement retailers become better and more profitable merchants through a wide array of educational and training programs, financial management resources, and human resource tools that are all available online. WRLA members get unlimited access to a full range of training and management services when they join NRHA through the WRLA. Visit www.wrla.org or CLICK HERE for more information about NRHA.
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