The Importance of Recognition in Workplace Culture

Most everyone has the need to feel valued and appreciated in their work life. Studies have shown time and time again that employees tend to stay longer and be more productive where they feel that their work makes a difference and they are recognized for their achievements. I have known people that refer to this as “fluff” or “feel good stuff” that offers no real ROI. I would say to them they don’t fully understand the true financial impact that a recognition culture has on an organization.  

I have known leaders that feel throwing money into a robust rewards program will fix everything, again, this is just not true. While using some type of gamification or rewards program can aid in improving performance and retention, If you are only using a financial rewards program my experience is that you see a short-term improvement, but this soon dies off and you are left with the same level of performance only now you are paying more for it. 

Recognition is about culture; it’s about valuing your employees and making sure they know how much their contribution means to you as their leader and the impact they have on the company. It is about mutual respect and working with each other to find common solutions.

I was on a site visit and remotely listening to live random customer service calls. We had recently rolled out a new program and I was wanting to get a feel for the adoption rate at the site and if our advisers were positioning the value add of the offer on their calls. The first few advisers did not mention the program at all then I listened to a call where our adviser really tried to show the benefit of this new program and how it could help our customer.  She was not very good at her positioning, and she still sounded a bit rough around the edges, but she was trying, and you could hear that in her voice. I could also tell she wanted to help our customer, you can always hear true empathy and compassion in someones voice. When the call concluded our adviser was not able to convince the customer to add the new program. I got up from my seat and went out to the production floor, I wanted to talk with her regarding the call. I found her sitting alone on her managers row, she had come in early to work some additional time and most of her co-workers had not started their shift yet. I asked her if I could talk to her for a minute. I told her I had been listening to her calls, she said “Am I in trouble, I really did try to tell them the benefit of the new program”, I paused for a moment and told her that she absolutely was NOT in trouble, as a matter of fact I wanted to thank her personally for being so kind to our customers and really trying to help them! I told her I could hear the compassion in her voice and how much I appreciated her willingness to help the customer. She started to cry; this is not something I had expected. She told me that no one had ever told her that she was doing a good job, and that she had just come from another job interview in the area and was thinking about leaving us. While the pay was lower, and the hours worse at the new job, she just didn’t think she was doing well in her current position. She told me she wasn’t going to take that other job now, and she was going to do her best on every call she took! She stayed true to her word, she had model attendance from that point forward, and her conversion rate was highest on her team in just a few weeks. About six months later I was back for another visit and saw her in the break room, she came up and thanked me for taking the time to talk with her those months back. She told me how that one conversation changed her whole attitude about the job, the site and the company! I assured her that I was the one that was thankful and how much her words meant to me and what a great job she was doing for our customers. 

Recognition doesn’t take a lot of time, and it certainly doesn’t involve a huge financial commitment. It’s amazing at the impact a few kind works can have on someone’s life. Building and maintaining the right culture is critical. If we are doing it right we will lower our attrition, increase our attendance and improve our performance, which of course has an extremely positive impact on our financials as well. The added benefit is that you create a workplace where everyone feels valued and strives to do their best. A true performance-based culture built on the cornerstone of recognition.