October/November 2021

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Employee recognition gets noticed, says Caroline Cooper
I
believe it’s all too easy, while businesses
and their teams are working so hard
to get back to any kind of normality
(particularly when they are struggling
to recruit staff) that some of the softer
elements of leadership get forgotten.
I remember reading a statistic from UK
research pre-pandemic that stated that
78% of employees didn’t feel recognised!
That to me is a pretty shocking – and sad –
statistic.
I doubt it’s much better now.
Yet employee recognition can have
a massive impact on productivity, on
customers’ experience and on staff
retention. As employee retention is so
important right now, you surely want to do
everything you can to help team members
feel appreciated and valued.
There’s a perception that everyone is
motivated by money. There’s no doubt
cash is a contributing factor. Pay them late,
mess up their overtime or deny them the
pay rise they were promised and you’re
probably going to have an unhappy person.
And unhappy team members invariably
lead to unhappy customers.
But how would you feel if on your
birthday your nearest and dearest just
gave you money? Unless it was a ton of
cash or you’re saving up for something
really special, it’s not very exciting. It feels
as if no care or thought has gone into it.
It’s impersonal. But if someone’s taken the
trouble to find that something special and
buy it for you, that’s going to have far more
impact, right?
Money is a very short-term motivator.
And let’s face it, unless your team members
are on performance related bonuses, few
businesses can be doling out monetary
rewards every five minutes. So, what
can you do to show your team they’re
appreciated?
1
SAY THANK YOU
The most obvious and easiest
thing you can do to show your team
you appreciate them is to make a point
of thanking them, especially if that’s a
heartfelt thank you at the end of a busy
shift or hectic day, when they’ve made
an extra effort, used their initiative or
gone out of their way to help a colleague
or customer.
A thank you will have more impact
if it’s spontaneous and in the moment,
not just as a routine passing comment.
Go out of your way to thank individuals
when you spot them doing something in
support of a colleague or that will delight
your customers. Bring the team together
at the end of that busy event when
everybody has pulled their weight to
make sure everything went smoothly.
Saying thank you will have far more
meaning if you’re specific; what are you
thanking them for? What impact that has
had on the team, for your customers, for
the business, etc? A follow up thank you
card can really reinforce this for when
they’ve gone the extra mile – a physical
note or card will have 10 times more
impact than an email.
If you are genuine in your
appreciation, and choose it for the right
moment, it can work wonders. A simple
but honest appreciative remark can go a
very long way.
26 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM