Glassdoor recently published the results of a survey of US employees on employee appreciation and motivation. One element I found particularly interesting is this:
Image Credit: Glassdoor/Harris Interactive
Clearly, expressing appreciation is the most effective way to encourage employees to give more discretionary effort – the very definition of employee engagement. Frankly, appreciation is also the easiest method. All that’s fundamentally required is pausing, noticing the efforts of team members, and specifically praising them for progress, contributions and results.
These results from the Glassdoor survey also mirror results of similar Gallup research from 2009, which found that employees who were ignored by their managers are far more likely to be disengaged than even those with a manager who focuses only on weaknesses.
Employees crave any feedback from managers – any indication that what they do matters – but too many managers prefer to simply ignore the most basic of managerial duties. Frequent, timely, specific recognition of employees who demonstrate core values and contribute to success goals encourages those employees to repeat those desired behaviors again and again. It’s time to stop ignoring the power of appreciation to drive business goals.
What most motivates you? Are you one of the ignored? Are you recognized for your strengths or called out for your weaknesses? How does this impact your attitude, effort and commitment at work?
As Globoforce’s Head of Strategic Consulting, Derek Irvine is an internationally minded management professional with over 20 years of experience helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition, leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. His articles on fostering and managing a culture of appreciation through strategic recognition have been published in Businessweek, Workspan and HR Management. Derek splits his time between Dublin, Montreal and Boston. Follow Derek on Twitter at @globoforce.
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