Much has been written in the last six weeks about the Great Resignation of 2021. A quick online search will reveal scads of articles and opinions about the fact that approximately 33 million Americans have quit their jobs since April 2021. Although some of those people are leaving the labor force by retiring early, others are simply looking for new jobs. The question is, how do you retain employees in times like these?
The Impact of Toxic Culture
Recent data analyzed by MIT Sloan Management Review revealed that a toxic culture is one of the primary forces driving workers to quit, and a key component of toxic culture is failure to recognize performance. What is more discouraging to good workers than when their employer doesn’t distinguish between those who meet and exceed goals and those who don’t? Why would an employee keep putting forth their best effort when those who underperform have all the same perks and benefits that they do and no one recognizes the extra effort they’re putting in? This is what leads employees to leave. And the real problem is that this is what leads your BEST employees to leave.
Make Recognition a Priority
If you want to turn things around, make rewards & recognition a priority. Not only will it help you retain your best employees, it also improves performance. A study by Bob Nelson, a leading expert on motivating and rewarding employees, supports the link between recognition and enhanced performance. He states that:
- Recognition for high performance has been shown to drive 56 percent of engagement for employees.
- 90 percent of managers found recognition helped motivate employees.
- 80 percent found that recognizing employees for good work made it easier to get work done in the future.
Let Strategic Help
We have extensive experiencing building employee rewards & recognition programs. Let us help you put an end to the Great Resignation and develop a program that not only fits your company culture, but motivates employees to satisfy your customers. Contact us at info@scgnyc.com and we will make your business the one where employees want to remain.