Why Employee Recognition Matters
When your employees feel seen, heard and included or, in other words, recognized, they feel motivated to engage in their workplace. This especially rings true for underrepresented groups.
It’s important that recognition is being given and received to all members of your organization. Validation and recognition in the workplace brings meaning to your employees day-to-day and encourages goal completion.
For unheard and underrepresented employees, it can feel like it is the same people or the same type of people being rewarded, called out and recognized for their work.
Individuals who may not feel comfortable being outspoken during meetings or may not feel emboldened to take credit for their work, and sometimes a language barrier can prevent bonding with their colleagues.
These factors can inadvertently lead to employees being forgotten during opportunities to recognize or praise employees.
Why Employee Recognition is Important at Work
By not considering the diversity and unique experiences of your employees, you may be isolating and othering these individuals; if this is the case, you may consider alternative employee recognition practices. Like most policy or organizational change, there is no one size fits all fix.
Your employees are unique and will need differing levels of support and recognition.
The employee recognition practices employed by most workplaces today often lend themselves to creating a culture of exclusion and isolation rather than fostering a sense of community in the workplace for all lived experiences and identities. For example, unconscious biases often creep up during annual performance reviews.
A recent study by The Harvard Business Review found that 43% of people of color and 31% of white women had at least one mistake mentioned in their evaluation compared to 26% of white men.
Alternatively, workplaces can utilize self-assessments and “soft check-ins” to ensure employees are feeling happy, safe and challenged in their workplace. This strategy can also create a “paper trail” to track employee work accomplishments from their own point of view. This empowers employees to check in on themselves and share their accomplishments with their superiors.
👩🏾💻Fostering a Culture of Inclusivity
Recognition ensures your employees feel appreciated, valuable, and motivated to work towards a common goal. With a diverse group of people all being recognized and seen, the workplace environment becomes an inclusive space where everyone is valued and engaged.
A culture of inclusivity leads to an increase in motivation, engagement and employee retention.
🌎Recognizing the Value of Diversity
A diverse workforce means happier employees, and managers have greater access to wider and varied skill sets and ideas. A study from Harvard Business Review found that diverse companies had a 19% higher innovation revenue.
Ensuring that all employees are receiving equal recognition and given equitable access to promotions and higher work opportunities will likely lead to heightened work performance, happy workplace environments and potentially outperforming competitors.
By recognizing your employees’ accomplishments, lived experiences and contributions to your workplace, you will ultimately be supporting your company's goals as well.
7 Ways to Improve Employee Recognition
Check In With Your Team
Occasionally, employees may not feel comfortable sharing how they feel, their concerns or how they’re doing with a task. It can make a great difference for managers and supervisors to touchbase one on one with an employee and hold space for them to share their thoughts.
This can also be an opportunity to allow your organization to see what they can do to increase employee recognition and what your gaps are as an organization from your employees’ point of view.
Professional Development Days and or Funds
Often, an employee may not have had the opportunity to focus on or prioritize a skillset. A parent may not be able to take additional time to work on an area, or a new citizen may not have the language skills; often, both circumstances and others can apply. Sometimes a lack of funds can impact access to professional development opportunities.
Professional Development Days and Professional Development Funds can allow employees to be empowered by the organization's support.
Celebrating Birthdays/Holidays
It may feel like a small thing, but recognizing something as commonplace as a birthday or a holiday can make a world of difference in helping an employee feel seen and heard.
Many cultures have holidays and celebrations that are not nationally recognized as official holidays. By encouraging your employees to celebrate their culture and themselves, you’re letting them know that they are important.
Encouraged Breaks or Vacations
Your team may feel hesitant or uncomfortable taking necessary breaks or vacations that are important to helping them feel recharged or giving them the space to spend time with their family.
By encouraging your employees to take breaks or use their vacation time, you are letting your employee know that you recognize how hard they work; this is a great way to increase employee happiness and motivation.
Company-wide Value-based Awards
Many workplace tasks take energy, time and effort, and company-wide awards can be instrumental in recognizing your employees’ accolades and efforts. Did they win a big case? Secure a major client win?
Company-wide awards are a way for your organization to celebrate your wins collectively as a company and individually as employees.
Rewards/Benefits
Your employees keep your organization going and ensure you’re reaching your goals as a company. Rewards and company benefits signal to your employees that you appreciate their hard work and recognize that they deserve the best.
Rewards and benefits are a great way for employees to feel cared for and valued. This can help ensure your employees stay motivated and buy into the company culture.
Positive Feedback
Whether you are a manager, director or junior-level employee, we all want to know we’re doing a good job. Positive feedback is an easy way to let your employees know that you recognize their good work and their value.
You can encourage your employees to give one another positive feedback as well to encourage communication and collaboration.
It can be hard to know, whether as an organization or employee, whether your colleagues are feeling seen, heard and valued. However, by acknowledging that more can be done to improve your workplace, you are already taking a great first step. By checking in with your employees, you can identify gaps and see where as an organization, you can better serve your team.
It’s important to recognize and include the diverse groups in your organization by offering positive feedback, implementing regular check in’s and encouraging employees to take advantage of their time off and recognizing their individual holidays and celebrations. By ensuring diverse groups of employees are included in these practices, you are identifying and calling attention to what is valued in your work culture - them.
Overall, employee recognition strategies are a fantastic way for employees to feel seen, heard and valued, particularly for racialized, female-identifying and disabled members of your organization. By implementing any number of these small changes, you will position yourself and your organization as trailblazers in employee happiness.