Earlier this year GallupÒ released a report entitled Transforming Workplaces Through Recognition.

 The report contains the results of a 2022 survey of over 13,000 adults employed full time or parttime aged 18 years or older in US, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

 The study recognised that employers cannot just offer people jobs any more. They must create an environment where employees want to work and can be their best. This starts with showing employees that they are valued. This is achieved through recognition or what I call positive reinforcement.

 Globally, only one in four employees strongly agree they feel connected to their culture, and only one in three strongly agree they belong at their company. This is damning. If organisations truly want to retain and attract talent for survival, they must demonstrate to employees that they are valued by recognising their contributions.

 There is also a return-on-investment. Gallup reports that creating a culture of recognition can save a 10,000-employee company up to $16.1 million in turnover costs annually.

 Whatever, leaders and managers think they are doing is clearly not hitting the mark.

 76% of leaders and 61% of managers say they give recognition a few times a week or more.

 40% of employees report receiving recognition only a few times a year or less from a leader, manager, or supervisor.

When organisations do hit the mark, employees are:

·       73% less likely to “always” or “very often” feel burned out

·       56% less likely to be looking or watching for job opportunities

·       44% more likely to be “thriving” in their life overall

·       5X as likely to feel connected to their culture

·       4X as likely to be engaged

·       5X as likely to see a path to grow at their organisation

·       4X as likely to recommend the organisation to friends or family

I will leave it to you to read the rest of the Gallup report and the data on the benefits of employees feeling connected, what recognition is and when, how it should be given, and who should give it.

What I wanted to focus on in this newsletter is the five pillars of recognition that Gallup says are critical to driving its impact and add my perspective to those.

FULFILLING

If you ask me how often you should giver employee feedback, there is no right answer. Every employee is different, and their needs vary. The objective should be a consistent and reliable experience of being appreciated that makes employees feel valued, and their efforts validated.

The study revealed that most employees want to be recognised a few times a month (28%), but this should be considered the bare minimum. The study concluded that “providing recognition at least a few times a month is the minimum necessary to see positive effects on engagement, culture, wellbeing, turnover intentions, and other key outcomes.” 

More than 40% of the employees in the study viewed the right amount as a few times a week or more.

FINDINGS
Only 23% strongly agree they get the right amount of recognition for the work they do.
Nearly three quarters of employees are missing the steady reinforcement and appreciation they need to help them be their best.

In addition to the right amount of recognition, it must be recognising the right behaviours, be timely and specific.

Positive reinforcement

I see recognition as the same as positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is a concept from behavioural psychology that can be used to both teach and strengthen behaviors.

When you use positive reinforcement, you add a reinforcing stimulus when a particular behavior is exhibited, making it more likely that the same behavior will happen again in the future. When a favourable outcome, event or reward takes place after an action, the particular response or behavior is strengthened.

As a leader you can apply positive reinforcement when you observe or hear a member of your team displaying a behavior you would like to see more of. The behavior might be supporting a team member, innovating, problem solving, using initiative, providing great customer service, or showing leadership capabilities.

Positive reinforcement will both acknowledge a desired behavior and encourage that behavior.

You can provide positive reinforcement in many ways, including:

• Public recognition and praise

• Private recognition and praise

• Saying thank you

• Gift cards

• Concert or movie tickets

• Celebration breakfast/lunch/dinner

• Monetary rewards

• A physical or virtual pat on the back

Timely

Positive reinforcement should be given at the time the behavior is exhibited or as soon as possible after the behavior has taken place. Timely reinforcement results in more of the same behavior. The longer the gap, the less effective the reinforcement.

When reinforcement is delayed, it can reinforce the behavior exhibited at the time the reinforcement takes place, rather than the behavior it was intended to reinforce. An employee, who has earned a reward but receives it only after they have complained about not being recognized, is reinforced for complaining and not for what they did to earn it
The reinforcement also loses value if it is delayed so long that employees find it difficult to remember the exact behavior they exhibited to earn the reward.

Specific

It’s imperative to be clear about the behavior that is being recognized so the reinforcement is effective. A passing comment such as “good job” provides the employee with no indication of what action or behavior is being praised.

An employee can only repeat a behavior when you make it clear what that desired behavior is. When you tell an employee, “That was a great proposal you presented to the board, and I really appreciate the extra effort you put in to deliver it on time,” the employee knows that it was the quality of the proposal, the presentation preparation and the effort expended that is being recognized.

Make it special. Positive reinforcement must be earned. There must be a direct link between the behavior exhibited and the reinforcer. We are all aware that many of the benefits, rewards and even compensation that employees receive often aren’t for an accomplishment but for being in the right place at the right time. For example, a pay raise may be something everyone gets every year.

The reinforcer must be something above and beyond what comes with the job. It must be special and restricted to something that has been “earned.”

AUTHENTIC

In addition to the right amount of recognition, the timing and being specific, recognition must be authentic. Authenticity is critical. Empty words, gestures, and lack of authenticity just undermines the experience and makes it worthless 

Whether recognition is delivered impersonally or unceremoniously as a matter of routine or obligation, or delivered in a way that is personalised, genuine, and authentic, will make or break organisations reaping the benefits listed earlier in this newsletter.

FINDINGS
Only one-third of survey respondents strongly agree the recognition they get is authentic.       

The research stated that “providing recognition at least a few times a month is the minimum necessary to see positive effects on engagement, culture, wellbeing, turnover intentions, and other key outcomes.”

This does not mean that the organisation sets a target for managers to deliver recognition each month. This is not a bar of a KPI to be achieved. This must be authentic. It must be recognition for achievements and contributions, that make employees feel valued. Recognition must be genuine and appropriately given.

EQUITABLE

Recognition not only has an impact on the recipient but also on the perception of others. When employees perceive recognition to be out of balance – particularly when they feel that are being overlooked – it triggers emotions of unfairness, exclusion, and adversely damages their employee experience.

FINDINGS
Only 26% of employees strongly agree they receive similar amounts of recognition as other team members at their company with similar performance levels.   

When there is a lack of equity, it sends messages about who is valued in the organisation and who is not. Recognition must give credit where credit is due, and a lack of perceived equity signals a serious failure.

There are two things at play here – definition of what warrants recognition and the removal of bias.

What warrants recognition

If an employee is recognised for doing something that is expected of them such as turning up to meetings on time, this destroys the validity of recognition. The organisation must provide guidelines around what constitutes recognition. Note that I say guidelines and not policy. There is a myriad of reasons for giving recognition and it must be a decision that the bestower makes. Where it is noted that recognition is not being delivered in an equitable manner, the existence of guidelines provides a crux around which to have a corrective conversation with the bestower.

Recognition should be something given when an employee goes above and beyond their main job responsibilities which could include behaviours such as:

·       Initiative and innovation

·       Creative thinking

·       Tenacity

·       Supporting a colleague

·       Resourcefulness

·       Exemplifying organisational values

·       Exceptional service to a customer or colleague

·       Milestones such as tenure

·       Specific achievement

·       Exception

·       Raising team morale

These are just some ideas but collate your list based on the behaviours you wish to see more of. When you recognise a particular behavior or achievement you are using positive reinforcement which encourages not only the recipient, but those around them, to do more of the same.

Removal of bias

Recognition must be fair and equitable and therefore these is no place for bias. Our life experiences affect how we see the world, and that lens can create an unconscious bias that you are not even aware of when it manifests itself.

Something that has occurred in your life can trigger you to make quick judgement of others. This could be a protective patterning against danger.

 

However, unconscious bias can be extremely dangerous when another person is judged on personal characteristics, they cannot change such as their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, etc.

There is another bias that has entered the workplace as remote and hybrid working has become more commonplace and that is proximity bias.

Academics call this phenomenon ‘proximity bias’, which is an unconscious – and unwise – tendency to give preferential treatment to those in our immediate vicinity. Whilst initially this was a matter of location within an office it is now about those working in the office and those working remotely.

Much has been written about how to overcome unconscious bias and more than I have capacity for within this newsletter. However key steps are increasing awareness; self-assessment; feedback from others; look at the data; encourage conversation; hold everyone accountable; take action. The most important step is the first one. Everyone must be aware of unconscious bias, recognise that everyone possesses them and how to identify their own.

EMBEDDED IN THE CULTURE

Recognition must be a way of life within the organisation. This is not about having a recognition program. It is about a culture in which everyone can provide gratitude, praise, and appreciation freely to other.

FINDINGS
36% of employees report having a recognition program in their organisation – nearly twice the number who strongly agree recognition is fully embedded in their organisation’s culture (19%).

When organisations embed recognition into their culture, they can more than double the impact of their recognition initiatives.

When recognition is made public it is a culture booster. The survey found that those who received mostly public recognition were the most likely to report having a solid culture of recognition. This is the organisation prepared to demonstrate its culture of recognition – its walking the talk.

Recognition should be everyone’s business. Everyone should be empowered to provide recognition of anyone else in the organisation. The recognition guidelines indicate the sort of behaviours that constitute recognition. Provide a process by which to process the recognition. 

PERSONALISED

Recognition must be personalised. It must meet the needs of the recipient. Ask them how they would like to be recognised.

FINDINGS
Only 10 % of employees strongly agree they have been asked by someone at their current workplace how they like to be recognised.

Some people like being in the spotlight, but not everyone does. Some employees value a monetary component to recognition but not everyone does. There must be flexibility to personalise recognition and ensure it creates the intended impact.

This means knowing the recipient and asking their preferences. Do not give a Muslim a drink voucher. Do not give a vegetarian a coupon for a free meal at a steak house. Do not give the introvert centre stage at the next all-of organisation without checking in with them first.

SUMMARY

Wrapping up. Recognition is so powerful when done right and can be so devastating to the organisation when it misses the mark. This research shows that most organisations fall into the latter camp. Invest in it, make if fulfilling, make it authentic and ensure equity, embed it in your culture, and personalise it for impact.