How does employee recognition benefit the company as a whole?
In simple terms, a happy worker is a good worker. In the SITE study, eighty-five percent of employees reported that their level of motivation has an impact on either the quality or quantity of their work. Increased employee retention and productivity in turn benefits the corporate bottom line.
A study by the International Society of Performance Improvement found that incentive programs increase performance at an average of twenty-two percent or as much as forty-two percent. In addition, companies save a substantial amount because of the lack of employee turnover. A Harvard Business Review article argued that even a five-percent increase in employee retention can result in productivity increases as high as eighty-five percent.
All this adds up to increased profitability for the company. An Anderson Consulting survey reported that programs that retain and reward leading employees can add $40 million to a $1 billion business. A study performed by the Aberdeen Group found that shareholder returns are also positively affected when a company uses rewards programs as part of enterprise strategy.