EXCLUSIVE: Almost half (49%) of Australia, UK and US-based employee respondents would leave an organisation if they do not receive regular recognition, according to research by employee engagement organisation Reward Gateway.
Its research, which surveyed 1,500 employees and 1,500 senior decision makers across Australia, the UK, and the USA, also found that more than half (59%) of employee respondents would rather work for an organisation that has a culture of recognition than for an organisation that pays more but does not recognise staff.
The research also found:
- More than a third (34%) of senior decision maker respondents do not believe that regular recognition and thanking employees has a significant impact on staff retention.
- 82% of senior decision maker respondents report that they prioritise showing appreciation and thanks to employees in a regular and timely manner.
- 54% of employee respondents believe that their boss could do more to show that they appreciate them, and 62% of employee respondents feel that their colleagues could be thanked more regularly by managers and senior leaders when they do good work.
- 85% of employee respondents feel that managers and leaders should recognise good work and praise and thank employees whenever it happens.
- 81% of employee respondents believe that leaders and managers should recognise employees on a year-round, continuous basis.
- More than two-thirds (70%) of employee respondents feel that motivation and morale would improve if managers recognised good work and thanked employees more often.
- Less than one-fifth (13%) of senior decision maker respondents are not encouraged by their own line managers to show appreciation to staff.
Glenn Elliott (pictured), founder and chief executive officer at Reward Gateway, said: “This is another really strong data point that tells us what we’re doing with recognition is wrong. If [organisations] want to improve employee engagement, motivation and retention they need to urgently divert investments from tenure-based, long-service award programmes which aren’t working but are costing businesses a fortune”
