Workforce Management Featured Article

Survey Shows Recognition Programs Improve Workforce Management

Did you know that sixty-four percent of companies that have an employee recognition program say their employees are rewarded according to job performance versus just 36 percent of organizations who do not have a recognition program in place?

These statistics came from the recently unveiled SHRM/Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey by Globoforce, provider of employee recognition solutions, and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management.

The SHRM/Globoforce semi-annual survey examines the current state of HR leaders’ employee engagement and recognition practices and their impact on performance management. The survey reveals that employee engagement is still the number one priority among HR professionals, and it uncovers a connection between recognition programs and engagement and retention levels.

The survey examines employee engagement, performance management, as well as other key metrics associated with employee recognition. The survey is commissioned by Globoforce and conducted in collaboration with SHRM. There were 770 responses from organizations with 500+ employees, resulting in a margin of error of +/- 3 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. The online survey was conducted by SHRM from December 22, 2011 – January 12, 2012.

Employee engagement is the top HR challenge but underutilized. According to the survey, 94 percent of HR leaders say employee engagement is an important or very important workforce challenge they currently face. Only 42 percent of respondents currently track employee engagement levels, and miss the opportunity to address low engagement levels within the organization with proactive strategies.

Among companies that measure engagement, HR leaders say that more employees feel rewarded according to job performance (69 percent vs. 49 percent), more managers acknowledge and appreciate employees (56 percent vs. 46 percent), more employees are satisfied with their levels of recognition (37 percent vs. 23 percent).

Employee recognition fills the feedback gap for effective employee performance management. The survey finds that 45 percent of HR leaders do not think annual performance reviews are an accurate appraisal for employee’s work while 42 percent do not think employees are rewarded according to their job performance. 55 percent of companies with recognition programs say their managers acknowledge employees, while only 36 percent of companies without recognition programs feel employees are effectively acknowledged by managers.

“We’re witnessing intense competition for talent that requires new approaches for energizing, engaging, and evaluating a global workforce,” said Eric Mosley, CEO of Globoforce, in a statement. “Performance management has long been viewed as the underlying way this is done. Yet, as this latest survey shows, the lack of ongoing feedback continues to be its missing ingredient. By using a social performance management strategy powered by employee recognition, HR leaders can fill that critical gap of  feedback. The result is higher levels of employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity.”

As a result of employee recognition, more than half of survey respondents saw increases in productivity, customer/employee retention, employee engagement, return on profit margin, and return on equity.


Edited by Rich Steeves