A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the importance of maintaining praise in the pandemic and ensuring employees feel valued at work, especially after so many months of having very limited in-person contact with colleagues and consequently fewer opportunities to receive face to face feedback.
This week, the findings of a study seemed to support my view. Research by employee experience platform Achievers showed that 29% of workers felt undervalued, rising to a third among those aged 16 to 24. It further found that 19% of younger workers believe recognition from senior leaders would make them feel more appreciated.
However, around 15% of 16 to 24-year-olds wanted both company recognition and financial rewards to make them feel more valued at work, highlighting that words alone may not be enough.
Indeed, engaging and rewarding those who’ve been working from home for long periods may now require more thought, and other new research has found nearly half of organisations may need to review their current benefits provisions in light of the move towards more remote and home working.
Howden Employee Benefits and Wellbeing discovered that the majority of employers doubt whether their employee benefits package fully supports those who work from home, with only 44% saying that it does.
Steve Herbert, head of benefits strategy at Howden, explained that the pandemic represented “a watershed moment in employment” and urged employers to review their initiatives to ensure all staff are “supported, empowered and engaged by their benefits offering”.
Of course, I couldn’t discuss employee engagement and recognition without highlighting an outstanding achievement within the Employee Benefits editorial team. I would like to publicly congratulate our features editor, Tynan Barton, who this week won Employee Benefits Journalist of the Year at Willis Towers Watson’s 16th annual Media Awards. Personally I can think of no better example of hard work being rewarded.
Kavitha SivasubramaniamEditorTweet: @kavithasiva_EB
