Dive Brief:

• The 2016 SHRM/Globoforce Employee Recognition Survey showed retention as the greatest concern for 46% of the respondents, followed by employee engagement at 36%. Globoforce specializes in employee recognition.
• Of the 798 HR executives surveyed, 40% don’t think performance evaluations are accurate assessments of employees’ work. Another 19% have doubts about the accuracy of their own reviews.
• Survey results also showed that employee recognition programs have a higher return on investment than other programs. Companies that invest 1% of their payroll on recognition programs based on values generate a higher ROI than those that invest less than 1% of payroll, according to survey results.

Dive Insight:

Retention and engagement are persistent problems for employers. Low retention is typical in some industries, such as retail, and in some lower-paying job categories. Exit interviews can give employers quantitative and qualitative data on why valued workers leave and help pinpoint areas that need attention.

The time may be right to overhaul employee assessments based on the traditional performance evaluation system. Assessments based on subjective criteria are open to questions about accuracy. Processes or procedures that can’t be relied on for accurate results should be revised or replaced.