Dive Brief:
- Money is nice, but it's not always what motivates people. Instead, simple employee recognition, a higher title (no raise required) or employee perks can be just as effective, or even better in some cases, when rewarding/recognizing employees, according to a recent survey from BambooHR.
- The study, which polled more than 1,000 U.S.-based employees, reveals that 1 in 5 employees would prefer to receive a promotion (higher title included) without a 3% raise, rather than getting that raise without a promotion. Also, nearly one-third of employees would rather be recognized for their work accomplishments in a company-wide email from an executive than receive a bonus of $500 that isn’t openly publicized by a superior to coworkers.
- As for gender, when asked to rank what signified a career advancement to them, women ranked “more money” and “a higher title” higher than men, who ranked “more direct reports,” “expanded responsibility” and “more face time with company executives” higher than women, according to the survey.
Dive Insight:
Rusty Lindquist, VP of HCM Strategy and Intellectual Property at BambooHR, says that in this particular study, BambooHR really wanted to figure out what matters in reward and recognition.
"We weren’t surprised that dollars were still king when it comes to the expression of appreciation," he says. "What we were surprised to find though was just how valuable non-monetary recognition was, and the strength of correlation between frequency of recognition and employee satisfaction."
Lindquist says what he called the "most refreshing" takeaway is that increased employee satisfaction is within reach. BambooHR found that 30% more of the workforce is satisfied when there’s even an informal recognition program in place, and 75% of employees receiving at least monthly recognition (even if informal) are satisfied with their job.
"Our research showed that the most preferred method of recognition was simply an in-person expression from their boss," he says, noting that the second most preferred was a personal email from the boss, third was in-person recognition from a peer and fourth was a company-wide email from the boss. "The key takeaway here is that it doesn’t really have to be disruptive. Simply pulling them aside and saying thank you seems to be what matters most."
