Keeping high-performers happy and on the organization’s team has never been more important. These employees are critical to the everyday success of an organization. From their knowledge, work ethic, and client relationships, they can truly be a force multiplier. Some employees even bring a significant boost to team morale, keeping everything running smoothly and fellow employees in good spirits. Losing these employees can have a much larger impact on operations than just needing to start the hiring process.
The Cost of Turnover
Replacing an employee, of any performance level, can cost an organization anywhere from 50% to 200% of that employee’s salary. The recruitment process not only costs time through the labor spent finding a suitable replacement, but the brainpower that could be used for devising and implementing programs that benefit the current employees is spent elsewhere. This can bring a negative feedback loop, causing more employees to leave, requiring more resources to be pushed towards recruitment instead of retention, and so on.
Understanding The Recognition-Retention Relationship
With the negatives of losing employees being more apparent than ever, talent acquisition (TA) teams have to shift their efforts from being a transactional recruiter to more of a retention specialist. TA teams can take their intimate knowledge of what motivates candidates to join (or leave) an organization in the first place and direct those insights into keeping employees engaged and motivated in their current role.
Successful employee recognition utilizes our basic human needs for appreciation and purpose. Employees who feel valued develop strong connections to their team and organization and are more emotionally invested in the outcomes of their respective work. It also brings a higher level of loyalty, higher performance, and a reduced likelihood of seeking another employer who will recognize their efforts.
Effective Recognition Strategies
Annual reviews and “Employee of the Month” programs have been shown to have next to zero impact on recognizing star employees. There is a need for personalized, regular, and legitimate positive feedback to have a lasting impression on employees. Most employees only receive corrective feedback from their managers, making them feel as though they’re not performing well.
Successful recognition strategies will vary from person to person. TA teams, especially if they’re part of the organization, need to take time during onboarding to learn what makes each employee feel valued.
An effective recognition strategy should also include multiple points of celebration throughout the employee’s career. Including work anniversaries, project completion, and completion of skill development milestones. One tool that is becoming more prevalent to keep track of these touchpoints is a reward platform. The HR team can use this tool to track upcoming points of recognition and record previous points of celebration.
Metrics to Measure Impact
Blindly implementing recognition strategies without measuring their success is hardly any better than no strategy at all. Your team needs to develop measurable metrics, updated on a regular basis through employee surveys or face-to-face meetings, to see if there is any impact. With these metrics, organizations can tweak these recognition plans as necessary to achieve the largest impact, becoming more successful at retaining employees in the process.
Being Proactive
Organizations that are forward-thinking when it comes to employee recognition will have a competitive advantage in the labor market. They’ll be able to retain their top talent, while also having a positive reputation as a workplace, which then attracts more high-talent employees. The war for talent has never been more cutthroat. Attracting and retaining talented employees is based on regular recognition. TA and HR teams that implement these strategies will position their organization for success now and in the future. Don’t let your organization get left behind.
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