A Maritz Incentives poll summarized in an article by the Society for Human Resource Management found that employee recognition efforts are effective in generating goodwill and boosting retention. When compared to those dissatisfied with their workplace’s recognition program, employees who are completely satisfied with it are:

• 11 times as likely to be satisfied with their jobs (76 vs. 7 %).
• Seven times as likely to spend their careers with the company (63 vs. 9 %).
• Seven times as likely to recommend their organization to others (80 vs. 12 %).
• Six times as likely to invest money in their company if they could (75 vs. 12 %).
• Almost five times as likely to feel highly valued at work (73 vs. 16 %).

The bad news is that only 10 per cent of the 1,000 survey respondents were completely satisfied with their company’s rewards program.

Is it time to revisit your workplace rewards program?

Here are five tips for improving your program:

1. Implement an employee rewards advisory panel and consult your employees directly
2. Offer reward options to suit different tastes & personality types
3. Send frequent reminder communications to managers to ensure they keep on top of it
4. Train managers on effective recognition techniques
5. Be consistent: offer one or two core programs supplemented with ever-changing, short-run promotions to keep it fresh and interesting

Source: Gurchiek, Kathy. Report: Workers want vastly different rewards. SHRM.com

This article first appeared in Ceridian Canada’s e-newsletter, The Specialist, July 2006 issue.