Employee Engagement at a Low
According to a new Gallup poll 71% of employees indicated they do not feel engaged, or feel actively disengaged at their jobs. Employees that do not feel engaged are often far less productive than employees who feel engaged and connected to their position within their company. This staggering statistic is indicative of employers needing to make more of an effort to engage their employees at work, and recognizing their hard work. Tom Agnew author of "The Enemy of Engagement: Put an End to Workplace Frustration--and Get the Most from Your Employees" identifies three causes of disengaged employees: poor communication about goals and performance, resource constraints that make it more difficult for employees to do their jobs, and employees who feel that they do not have the authority to do their jobs effectively. In order to engage employees it is important to keep open communication lines, and ensure that employees know when they are doing their jobs well. Giving small spot rewards such as a small denomination gift card to useful retail outlets such as CVS/pharmacy lets employees know that an employer is noticing their work, and empowering them to do their jobs to the best of their ability. Do you think your employees feel engaged? How do you think you can engage your employees better?
For more information on employees engagement from Business Finance magazine click here.
What do Twitter, LinkedIn and Employee Recognition have in Common?
Timeliness!
Incentive Magazine recently published an article called
“Forget Employee of the Month and Focus on Employee of the Moment”, where they discussed the rise of importance of immediate rewards for brilliant performance. In the past year, our connected sociability brought a 250% increase in tweets per day, 100% growth of LinkedIn users, and Facebook’s increases logins to 250 million each day, indicating a rapidly growing culture of immediacy. How does this effect HR professionals? Razor Suleman’s Incentive article announces that it’s time to institute an “Employee of the Moment” strategy by launching a social networking campaign to:
You may not have to break the bank to reward your employees this year
A new MarketWatch survey release this week indicates that employees don't need much to feel rewarded during this holiday season.
Another Piece of Evidence: Cash Not Always the Best Reward
Another study out this week, by the Incentive Research Foundation shows again, what the GCP team has known for years, cash incentives are not always the most effective. According to this new research non-cash incentives such as merchandise, travel, and gift cards prove more effective than cash rewards. Employees find them to be more valuable. They drive more competition in today's tough economy, and are viewed as a special treat, rather than cash that could be spent on bills, or groceries. Non-cash incentives must be used for a special occasion, whether it is a trip, or "free" merchandise purchased through a gift card. The trophy value of gift cards and other non-cash incentives is also important in today's economy. No one wants to lose their job, or feel as though their job is in danger, these kinds of incentives serve as better reinforcement of behavior than cash. Employees take more notice of other employees receiving non-cash incentives, rather than a check that is often included in an employees regular paycheck. So when beginning to think about end of quarter, or end of year bonuses and rewards, think outside the "cash box."
For more information on the Incentive Research Foundation study click here.
Saying Thank You to Employees (and…Hang In There)
The Prepaid Press recently published
Employers Find Ways to Say ‘Thank You’ to Employees; Prepaid cards Increasing as Incentive of Choice which highlighted Young America’s recent research regarding prepaid cards (such as gift cards) gaining even more popularity amongst corporate HR incentive programs. With company-wide salary freezes and abandoned bonuses, employers are struggling more than ever to retain their best employees. “…employers who want to retain their best employees admit they have fewer resources to do so, and many are turning to structured incentive programs, which cost less than salary increases and often result in high levels of employee productivity, positive feedback and loyalty," said Joe Custer, president of Young America. A few highlights of the survey findings:
