Employee Recognition Can Generate Profits

Can Generate Significant Revenue and Profits

Point of View
In today’s economy, many companies are dealing with a workforce that has been – or very soon will be – reduced to core essentials. The competitive marketplace, on the other hand, cannot be put on hold until the economy improves. Attracting and retaining the very best talent is a key element to stability at any time, but it is especially so during a recession.

Successful companies know that they must have the entire team fully engaged in the success of “their” company during challenging times. This is important to success not only during the recovery, but also well beyond. A lack of engagement, according to recent research, can lead to an overall reduction of 10 percent in our GNP, not to mention its effects on the corporate bottom line. Creating a climate of appreciation, where efforts are recognized and potentially rewarded, can go a long way toward strengthening the process of engagement and improving the outlook for the company as a whole.

Further complicating the recession economy is the shrinking talent pool. As baby boomers retire (or hope to soon), so-called baby busters and millennials are taking over leadership roles throughout corporate America. A shortage of talented workers worldwide is inevitable in the coming years. Global recruitment will see an increase in diversity – in age, experience, language, culture and values – thus challenging companies to consider multiple strategies and tactics to drive performance and employee engagement.

Developing recognition and reward programs to encourage an engaged, diverse and talented team is an important tool for thriving in the best times and surviving during economic downturns. Even though the environment in which companies are operating may appear complex, recognition programs can be designed to be very effective and easy to administer.

Executive Summary

Buyouts….Bailouts…Bankruptcies. The three “Bs” currently dominate our economic landscape in a way not seen since the Great Depression. Businesses of all kinds are confronted with the looming realities of a severely challenged economy and growing global competition. In the midst of the chaos, human resource professionals struggle daily with changing business models as they look for increasingly better ways to attract, retain and inspire the employees who are thelynch pin in any company’s survival.

Economic conditions, a changing talent pool, and employment expectations converge with a resulting challenge: it has never been more crucial to have the “right talent” fully “engaged” in every organization.

Engaged employees make a significant contribution to the profitability of any company, regardless of the business environment. In a down economy,the degree of engagement of those employees who remain can make the difference not only between profit and loss, but also between survival and dissolution.

A conscious strategy of recognition and reward cultivates the positive cultural environment that companies need to succeed today. Employees who feel valued remain with their companies and are measurably more productive. Research demonstrates that companies engaged in recognitionand rewards programs outperform their competitors. Such programs result in a clear return on investment and improved overall outlook.

Recognition and rewards programs can be both easy and effective and adapted to fit the budget and goals of every company. Today’s technology makes it possible to offer rewards and awards that appeal to different employee groups, while being efficiently administered and monitored for effectiveness.

While there may be an overriding temptation to target employee motivation programs as a way to trim costs during lean times, it would be a mistake to remove the investment that may be the very mechanism that keeps a restless, unsettled, and hardworking workforce engaged in the business, at the very moment its best efforts are most needed.

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