Recognising success in a changing world

The way we work is changing

Organisations are growing increasingly dependent on new technologies. But despite the evolutions in the way we do business, at least one fundamental truth remains. It is people that are their employer’s greatest asset.

When the best people are in the right roles, companies can grow their profits. They are best placed to understand and adapt to new challenges. They can make sense of new systems and applications and increase efficiency and productivity.

People are at their best when they are engaged and motivated. And human beings thrive on praise and recognition. Companies with a strong recognition culture have a 31% lower voluntary turnover than those that don’t. At a time when a quarter of UK workers could be considering quitting their jobs, employers should prioritise all measures that build loyalty.

Recognising staff successes increases engagement and productivity. Some 40% of workers say that they put more energy into their work when their contribution is regularly appreciated. Yet, despite the numerous advantages of pouring praise on the workers that have earned it, creating a meaningful recognition strategy is increasingly challenging.

New ways of working require innovative ways of motivating teams. Employers are increasingly adopting hybrid working arrangements. Organic opportunities to recognise hard work risk becoming scarcer. Workers who are regularly out of sight become out of mind more easily.

This eBook explores the challenges of creating a meaningful recognition strategy. It shows how the Zest Recognition Centre can help employers celebrate the achievements of their teams and build motivation, engagement and productivity.

What does good recognition look like?

Employees thrive when recognition is:

1. Regular
  Over half of workers prefer to receive positivefeedback immediately rather than wait for an annual performance review.
2. Relevant
  Some people like their achievements to be publicly celebrated. Others prefer a quiet word of thanks. Effective recognition should be tailored to each individual.
3. Ranked Highly
  A quarter of employees report that their most memorable moment of recognition involved direct praise from the chief exec.

The Challenges with recognition

New ways of working create new challenges for delivering an effective recognition strategy. Specific obstacles include:

1. Out of sight, out of mind
  Some 20% of employees claimed they received less recognition when working from home. Just 8% said they were praised more.
2. Proximity bias
  Hybrid working arrangements often mean some workers interact face to face with their manager more than others. “Proximity bias” is a natural human tendency to focus on the people most immediate to us. This can lead to an unintentional exclusion of remote workers, with 60% claiming they miss out on crucial information. It’s vital that they don’t also miss out on recognition.
3. Too busy to praise
  When working from home, 41% of workers believe they put in an extra five to ten hours a week. When managers are busier than ever, they may not make the time to recognise their team’s achievements. An oversight that could soon prove a false economy.

Building a recognition culture with Zest

Zest is a provider-agnostic benefit platform. It enables reward managers to quickly deliver a range of flexible benefits to the workforce.

Zest has recently launched a new “Recognition Centre”. This module helps employers show appreciation and boost recognition.

Specifically, the Recognition Centre enables employers to:

1. Mark recognition and achievement
  By creating a place where colleagues can celebrate each other’s achievements.
2. Praise publicly or privately
  Managers – or colleagues – can praise team bmembers on a social-media-style “wall”. They can also send direct, private messages of praise.
3. Celebrate special events
  As well as recognising specific contributions, workers can use the Reward Centre to celebrate birthdays, long services and other happy occasions.

When an employee receives praise through the Recognition Centre, they are sent an email and asked to log in to the employee portal to read the message. This encourages broader use of the portal with regular access to company news updates, discounts and wellbeing initiatives as well as an individual’s own benefits package.

By using Zest to deploy their benefits strategy, employers can:

1. Communicate total reward
  the Zest Total Reward Statement (TRS) graphically demonstrates to employees the total value of their remunerations, including both salary and benefits. It makes the total package from their employer more attractive and competitive. Because of an employer’s buying power, flexible benefits typically cost less than they would for the employee to purchase them directly. It helps the employer offer a competitive remuneration package and communicate its value to staff.
2. Deliver a diverse range of benefits more easily
  a benefit programme must offer something relevant to each individual. With Zest it’s easy to make a wide range of benefits available. The platform is entirely “provider agnostic”, meaning that employers can incorporate a diversity of benefits from different suppliers. This makes it easier to ensure there’s something for everyone
3. Support wellbeing
  Support wellbeing whether offering a bike to work scheme, gym membership, financial support or an Employee Assistance Programme, Zest’s Benefit Centre will support, promote and allow employees to select the benefits that best suit their wellbeing needs.
4. Adapt and improve their programmes
  Adapt and improve their programmes using Zest’s Insight Centre, HR can see which benefits are the most popular. They can then gauge the effectiveness of their strategy and make improvements where necessary.