60% of employees feel their work is acknowledged by managers

More UK organisations are recognising the importance of saying thank you or well done to their employees, with 60% of employees saying they feel their work is now being acknowledged by their managers and leaders, up 4% on 2021, according to research by staff recognition and HR consultancy OC Tanner.

Its 2022 Global culture report, which carried out a combination of qualitative research through focus groups and interviews with employees and leaders and a survey of 38,177 workers globally, of which 2,527 came from the UK, also found there is still a job to do in this area as we emerge from the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, with 42% of employees saying that what recognition they do get at work too often feels like an empty gesture or not meaningful.

Only half (49%) of the UK employees surveyed felt staff recognition was an integral part of their organisation’s everyday culture, the third lowest figure among the 20 countries surveyed. Just 45% said their employer continually implemented new programmes or technologies to recognise great work.

The report also found that employees are 18 times’ more likely to produce great work when they are recognised frequently.

Robert Ordever, managing director of OC Tanner Europe, said: “It’s encouraging that growing numbers of UK leaders are showing appreciation of their people.

“However there’s still remove for improvement, with too many employees feeling that their contributions aren’t recognised and valued by business leaders. Employee recognition must become an integral part of everyday organisational culture so that the act of giving and receiving appreciation becomes second nature.”