Why staff recognition matters
Recognition. We all want it, some of us get it. But how often do we make a conscious effort to recognize others? What impact might it have on business outcomes if we started making one?
Research shows that recognition is one of the largest contributing factors to employee satisfaction – and employee satisfaction is directly related to the financial performance of a business.
Old-school proponents believed that if a company was performing well financially and paying staff accordingly, this would encourage staff to be more productive. But recent studies by Watson Wyatt Worldwide into cause and effect concluded that this is not necessarily the case and in fact the reverse is true – when staff are happy in their working environment, due in large part to things like recognition programs, they naturally become more productive and help CREATE better financial outcomes for the business.
Not only are big bonus bucks not the productivity carrot some thought, but new motivation research suggests that placing too much emphasis on financial rewards for performance can have a detrimental effect. In Dan Pink’s infamous TED talk ‘The Puzzle of Motivation’, he explains how financial incentives are actually known to increase anxiety in staff by giving greater weight to everyday tasks that contribute to reaching their targets, with this stress having the reverse effect of stifling their creativity and leading to less productive and insightful work.
So it makes sense all-round to start by recognizing staff for their contribution and build on the benefits that arise from employee satisfaction.
But before you pat yourself on the back for remembering staff birthdays each year, take a moment to think about the little things that add up to the big things. Small, unexpected gestures of thanks - for a job well done, for reaching a tenure milestone, for sacrificing family time to meet a deadline at work – all make a big difference to whether staff are feeling the love. After all, the driving forces behind these staff behaviours are things like care, loyalty and commitment – which deserve to be recognized, don’t they?
At Edible Blooms we truly live by this, that's why we're in this business, we love giving gifts! We love it when our teams are happy and we love surprising them and being rewarded with an excited smile! Before the crazy month of December our teams usually receive a box full of treats and health and wellbeing tips from head office, we were lucky enough to have a masseuse visit us at work after one Mother’s Day and it goes without saying, we all receive great Christmas gifts!
To see that we have made our team members feel appreciated for all that they do, well it’s just a great feeling! The unexpected gesture of thanks means so much; and within our teams, it really does increase motivation. The hardest part is choosing that special gift! This is where we can help make it easy for you; we have a great selection of gifts that are suitable for any recipient or occasion. View the range, or call our friendly team who can help you to personalize your special gift.
