Unproductive Employees? Low Retention? How Recognition Reduces Turnover
In talking so much about the benefits of meaningful and effective recognition lately, it’s important to remember that this is more than just a “feel good” tool– but a strategy to ultimately retain employees.
Perhaps the greatest urgency of integrating recognition into your retention strategy is the fact that employees who report low-quality or infrequent recognition are at a much higher risk for turnover. When employees do not strongly agree that recognition in the workplace is fulfilling, authentic, equitable, or embedded in the company culture, they are twice as likely to be on the hunt for a new job. Similarly, these unappreciated employees are also at least two times more likely to state that they do not plan to be employed with the same organization in one year.
High turnover costs the organization at both a financial and cultural level
As we’ve learned in the past few tumultuous years– through the Great Resignation and all– the impact of attrition can make some serious waves throughout an organization. In all, productivity or output doesn’t always suffer, but the loss of talent comes at high financial and cultural costs to the organization when it necessitates finding a replacement.
While many companies may jump at the opportunity to offer enticing perks to mitigate employee turnover, many are forgetting the more sustainable (and cost-effective) route: integrating meaningful recognition as a staple of company culture. When workers feel as though what they do matters and that their contributions to the team and organization at large are valued equitably, they are actually 73% less likely to “always” or “very often” feel burned out; 56% less likely to be looking for a new job; and 44% more likely to be “thriving” in their life overall.
From an organizational perspective, retaining a happy and healthy workforce saves countless dollars from being allocated to replacement expenses.
In fact, a recent Gallup/Workhuman study of employees in the US, UK, and Ireland showed that the average organization with 10,000 employees can save $16.1 million in turnover costs annually when they make recognition part of the culture. Better yet, because recognition is a key component of creating an engaging culture at work, it has the capacity to also improve workers’ general well-being and productivity levels. From a financial perspective, prioritizing recognition is a no-brainer.
Recognition is a powerful tool in the workplace.
Studies show that those who feel sufficiently appreciated in the office not only makes them happier at work, but at home. According to Gallup’s report on Transforming Workplaces Through Recognition, “Awarding people for good work is crucial in any business at any time, because that falls down and cascades into people’s personal lives... and it cascades into a business, it cascades through so many different things. The old adage of ripples in the pond.”
Of course, making these ripples within teams is rather approachable when workplace leaders are well-equipped to lead this recognition effort in their organization. Thanks to the valuable resources offered through Leadology’s Activate, countless managers have honed effective communication skills in order to notice and verbalize employee strengths on a frequent and consistent basis. In all, this emotional intelligence work grants leaders the power to integrate recognition into their managerial approach, enabling their entire team to feel seen, heard, and uplifted by this practice.
Want to leverage recognition to create positive ripples throughout your organization? Schedule a call with us to join the Activate waitlist and learn more about the powerful insight it’s already offered leaders from all over.
