Recognize the importance of your employees

Priming the pump is about putting something in to get something out. There is no escaping investing in employees if managers want to enjoy greater profit, enjoy high staff retention, and have engaged and motivated employees. I have been preaching the same sermon for years; employees can either make the business or break the business, and the ones that have the most to lose are the owners and shareholders.

In this era, any manager who thinks that he has to wait until sales increase to reward employees, or wait until employees take ownership of the business to start recognizing their contribution, have a lot to learn about the concept of motivation, understanding motivation theories, and the impact of effective performance management on their bottom line.

Workhuman Institute (erstwhile Globoforce) conducted a study that revealed that although organizations are aware of the importance of employee recognition, only 14% of organizations have reward and recognition programmes. Furthermore, in a survey conducted by Psychometric, 58% of participants revealed that if their leaders were to give them recognition, it will improve their emotional commitment to the organization.

The best way to describe some organizations’ efforts to improve their bottom line is that they are “spinning top in mud.” Any initiative undertaken by an organization to drive sales and improve profit but neglect to consider the human element of the business will fail. Employee engagement relates to an employee’s emotional commitment to an organization. To expect a disengaged employee to take ownership of the business and to provide consistently high quality service or produce high quality products is insane. To treat employees like robots and expect them to be loyal to the organization, is also insane. To acquire and maintain a competitive advantage, organizations must prioritize employees. Managers must recognize that employees cannot be forced into being loyal, productive or efficient. Those features are resultant of organizations’ investment in employees. When employees feel valued; when they know that decisions are made in consideration of how they are impacted; when they believe that the management team can be trusted, they are inclined to operate in the interest of the organization.

In a Hifive article titled “Can lack of employee recognition program hurt an organization? The author argues that rewards and recognition are considered the most effective employee engagement strategies. Timely rewards and recognitions contribute significantly to employee engagement and motivation and drive workforce productivity and efficiency. Furthermore, when employees receive reward and recognition, it strengthens their commitment and loyalty to the organization and they experience a sense of belonging and purpose. Also, a good rewards policy not only promote better cooperation and coordination between workforce members, but it impacts workplace culture. https://www.hifives.in/can-lack-of-employee-recognition-program-hurt-an-organization.

You may have heard the saying “to reward them when we are not meeting our target is like rewarding them for poor performance”. However, let us examine the parent-child relationship, do you withhold love and affection from your child when he fails? A good parent seeks to understand what is contributing to the poor performance. A good father affirms his belief in his son and uses his son’s love language to motivate him into working harder to achieve better grades. He sets measurable goals for his son to achieve with the promise of reward when he does well.

The employer – employee relationship is no different. To beat employees down when profit is down will not contribute to highly motivated employees and improved profit. A rewards and recognitions programme is an initiative that benefits the organization more than it benefits the employee. Therefore, the idea that it

should only be used when business is good is false. Rewards and recognitions should be for all seasons. The absence of consistent reward and recognition results in the loss of dedicated and loyal employees and lower profit. Prioritize rewards and recognitions within your organization and it will yield dividends.

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