As a leader, you probably know that it is important to recognize your team members. However, research
One reason that recognition can be more powerful than compensation or incentives for motivating and engaging your team is that recognition taps into our internal and social motivations. Letting your team know they are valued leads to higher engagement, a greater impact on the organization, and to the team members feeling more energized and happier about what they do on a daily basis. Recognition can ignite employees’ passion and motivate them. Building a culture of recognition makes financial sense for the company as well; Byram said that it takes 8% of a person’s salary to effectively motivate him or her with cash incentives. But, you can invest less cash and get the same performance improvement with a tangible award.
Byram gave the example of professional football players. While they make millions of dollars, most of them are far more motivated by something like winning a Super Bowl. While most of them could easily purchase as many rings as their hearts desire with the money they make, being recognized and differentiated as part of an elite group is far more motivating to most than the money. The money gets spent and forgotten about, but that Super Bowl ring will represent their achievement for the rest of their lives; everyday when they put it on, they can re-experience that proud moment. The same is true for your team; they will appreciate the financial incentive, but other forms of recognition can be more long-lasting, effective, and less expensive for your company.
So, how do you build recognition systems that connect with your employees and actually motivate them and increase organizational performance?
You do need to have an intentional strategy for calling attention to the behaviors and attitudes that you want to cultivate in your organization, and having all three of these elements in your strategy is key. You can use some of the ideas above or anything else that works for you. Different strategies will work best depending on what kind of culture you work in and what kind of manager you are. The key is to communicate in some way that people are valuable to you, and you can do that with anything from a handwritten note to a football as long as you are presenting it properly and creating an emotional experience that is memorable for the person. To give meaningful recognition, do it right then, be specific about what you are recognizing them for, and be positive.
Hopefully, adding a recognition strategy to your existing compensation and financial incentive programs will improve your employee engagement and help you build a culture where people feel valued and love to come to work!
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