“There are two things people want more than money: Recognition and Praise”- Mary Kay. These words by Mary Kay are indeed true. Recognition is a basic human need and we all carry a silent desire to be recognized, which one could argue is more powerful than our desire for money. The same is true for your employees. They crave to be recognized for the efforts they put at work and if you direct your efforts to satiate their craving, they will go the extra mile to ensure your organization’s growth and well-being. These endeavors imply that your employees become engaged.
They no longer work for the single principle aim of earning a pay check. Rather, the success of your organization also becomes their principal aim. They bring you innovative ideas to beat the competition, become their best productive selves, and yield extraordinary output. All these are the traits of engaged employees and so, we can certainly say that recognition leads to employee engagement.
But, this is just a brief description of the role of recognition in employee engagement. Now, let us discuss in detail 5 reasons why recognition is indispensable for employee engagement.
1. Recognition gives a boost to your employees’ self-esteem
“Self- esteem is made up primarily of two things: feeling lovable and feeling capable.”- Jack Canfield.
These words by Jack Canfield, give us an idea of what self-esteem is. It is your sense of self-worth. It is how you feel about yourself and as a matter of fact, all of us want to feel good about ourselves and when we do, we become so powerful, energetic, and productive. We feel that we are the best and we can achieve anything. This confidence we feel leads us to great engrossment in work and we become engaged. So, to engage your employees, you have to give a boost to their self-esteem and recognition is the best way to accomplish that. It gives a huge boost to your employees’ self-esteem, makes them feel capable, and takes them on the path of engagement.
2. Recognition is fuel for employee motivation
Employee engagement cannot happen until and unless your employees feel motivated to work well. It is only if they feel motivated that they can give their 100% focus to work and become engaged. This simply means that for employee engagement you have to motivate your employees first and for this recognition is the best strategy that you can utilize. The moment you recognize your employee for their efforts, you ignite in them a determination to better their performance even more. As a result, they become motivated to perform better which eventually takes them on the path of engagement. So, recognition is fuel for employee motivation, which is further essential for employee engagement.
3. Recognition is the foundation for employee happiness
When we are happy, we are more engrossed in work and perform better. This is simply because happiness gives a boost to our energy level and makes us feel enthusiastic about work. The same is true for your employees. They are better engaged in work when they are happy. So, for employee engagement, you have to enhance employee happiness and recognition does exactly the same. When you recognize your employees, they start feeling happy. They feel good that their efforts are being recognized and they rejoice. Further, their happiness gets reflected in their improved work performance, greater efficiency, and enhanced engagement. This way, recognition gives a boost to employee happiness, which in turn gives a boost to employee engagement.
4. Recognition is the key to boost employee morale
Employee engagement cannot occur if your employees have low morale. If you wonder why so? The answer is because low employee morale is characterized by a lack of focus, motivation, and determination to work. When these characteristics are present, your employees cannot become engaged. This implies that for employee engagement you have to give a boost to employee morale and recognition is the key to achieving that goal. As discussed above, it gives a boost to employee motivation, which further enhances their focus on work and leads them to engaging properly. Employee engagement is therefore heavily correlated with high employee morale and recognition of achievement.
5. Recognition acts as an antidote to employee stress
Stressed employees are more likely to remain disengaged. This is because all their mental focus is robbed by stress and they cannot give their undivided attention to the subject matter. In order to engage your employees, workshops should be implemented to cope with mental health issues. By recognizing your employees’ efforts, you make them feel happy which elevates their mood and induces stress-relief. Thus, recognition acts as an antidote to stress and helps your employees pave closer to engagement.
Recognition is indispensable for employee engagement. It offers multifarious benefits that together lead your employees to become engaged. It is not necessary to find big reasons, even recognizing your employees for the smallest of the reasons will help you establish employee engagement in your organization. Recognition leads to higher morale and self-purpose which is a catalyst for engagement.
Author Bio- Jessica Robinson is a woman of words, who brings with her an experience of a decade. She is an educational writer and has even penned down many motivational blogs for various websites. She spills the magic of her thoughts through her blog ‘The Speaking Polymath’. In this blog, she makes the reader experience her management proficiency along with her skill to resolve matters of global importance.
