Dive Brief:
- According to a new study by Maritz Motivation Solutions, a global employee engagement firm, 80% of companies polled think their recognition programs are moderately effective, and just 22% think their programs are very successful.
- The CultureNext Employee Engagement and Benchmark Study also found that 78% of companies document their employee engagement strategies while 50% measure their programs' effectiveness. However, 13% of employers don't use a technology platform for their recognition initiatives, and 25% of respondents' programs don't have a social recognition component.
- A roundup of other key findings: budget and lack of managerial commitment are the top two deterrents for recognition programs; employers categorized as “very effective” invest the most (to the tune of .76% or more of their entire payroll); and the major types of recognition programs are service anniversaries, exceptional performance and worker referrals.
Dive Insight:
A surprising result from the study was that 13% of employers lacked a technology platform for their recognition programs, and a substantial 25% don't have a social component in this digital age. Employers need technological tools to attract and engage tech savvy millennials, the largest segment of the workforce.
Another surprising result was the relatively small investment — less than 1% of payroll — that employers make in recognition programs. Budget constraints and uncommitted managers aren't surprising deterrents to recognition programs, however. A recent WorldatWork study noted that 28% of employers polled said lack of senior managers' support was the biggest deterrent, followed by cost at 26%.
With only 22% of employers in the Maritz study thinking their recognition programs are very successful, higher success rates are needed to engage workers. Employers can use this and similar studies for benchmarking their own recognition programs, measuring program effectiveness and discovering technological tools for supporting their employee engagement strategies.
