Even With Lay-offs in This Down Economy, Employee Recognition is Up
Hi All,
Did you know that when a company executes a round of lay-offs, they see a drastic increase in employees who survived the lay off leave for new jobs?? The surviving employees get “paranoid” that they will be next so they start looking for new employment.
So, if you think your multigenerational workforce will stay “no matter what” because of the current job climate, you could be very wrong. Employee recognition is still critical for retaining your top talent and improving morale at work. Even in a down job market, good people still get recruited.
I came across this recent blog post that addresses this, written by an employee recognition expert whom I know, Cindy Ventrice. And, btw, for those of you who are managers and executives seeking ways to provide your employees with recognition strategies that work, I strongly recommend following Cindy’s blog and/or picking up her book, Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works.
Okay, back to the topic. According to Cindy’s blog post, even in this down economy, employee recognition is up. Here’s what she has to say about this:
A recent CareerBuilderSurvey found that while companies are cutting down on perks, benefits, travel and incentives, employee recognition is actually up!
It seems that the benefits of sound recognition programs are understood in most organizations. They know that the returns of good recognition far outweigh the costs.
Want to reap some of those returns? Forget about expensive appreciation events and awards for now. Focus on recognition between individuals.
Manager-driven programs produce the best results so teach managers how to build meaningful recognition into their overburdened schedules without causing additional hardship.
Second to manager-driven recognition is peer-driven recognition. Set up simple peer awards with little or no monetary component so that they don’t require a lot of oversight.
Create programs that drive your most important business initiatives. This helps morale and produces the results you really need right now.
Pay attention to Cindy’s valuable advice. Your employees are your most valuable asset…so let them know!!
Oh, and did you know Boomers require and desire as much recognition as Millennials at work? It’s true…so spread your recognition around to employees of ALL ages!
Bye for now,
Lisa
Lisa Orrell is The Generation Relations Expert, and has appeared on ABC, MSNBC and NPR (to name a few). She is a speaker, consultant, and author of the book "Millennials Incorporated" (on Amazon). Based on her expertise, Lisa is an in-demand expert who educates well-known companies (such as Cisco Systems, Paul Mitchell, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield) about effectively attracting, recruiting, managing and retaining Millennials (Generation Y). She also conducts popular seminars on how to improve generation relations within the workforce – thus improving communication, productivity and revenue. MEDIA: Contact Lisa for an interesting interview!
March 30th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I came across an article the other day claiming that some employees are spending hours at work worrying about their job security, leading to decreased productivity rates. Many managers are blaming this perpetuating low employee morale and motivation on a phenomenon known as recessionary disengagement.
As many of my long term accounts have experienced, providing public employee recognition is a powerful way to retain and engage employees during any economy. To read my related blog post on battling recessionary disengagement with employee recognition, please visit http://www.awardsnetwork.com/blog/2009/03/employee-recognition-is-a-powe.html.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:25 am
You are right, Lisa. I’ve blogged extensively on the topic of the psychological impact of layoffs on employees and what to do to retain your talent. Simple, sincere and meaningful recognition of effort is, as you note, the best way to do that. Doing so helps employees see the bigger picture and opportunity in your organization today and when the economy turns. More on this topic specifically here: http://globoforce.blogspot.com/2009/03/layoff-exodus-conundrum-investing-now.html.
You may also be interested in what I’ve written on how strategic recognition targets the multigenerational and multicultural needs most companies see in their organizations today. More on that is available here: http://globoforce.blogspot.com/2008/10/engaging-multigenerational-and.html