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What is employee recognition?

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Employee recognition is an incidence or program by which an employer appreciates and acknowledges the efforts and contributions of an employee. Employee recognition can be practiced by a huge corporation, a small business, or an individual manager. It can be aimed at specific individuals, teams of workers, or the company as a whole. It can take on many different forms, but its significance cannot be denied. According to a Gallup poll, recognition and praise are among the five most important factors in determining such key business benchmarks as employee retention, customer satisfaction, productivity, and profits.

Employee recognition is reward for past work with an aim towards future productivity. This is not some ploy to make employees work harder, nor is it simply a practice of rewarding employees with no eye on the future. Many employees receive no tangible reward for their work, and a study by the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives (SITE) Foundation, found that fifty-nine percent of employees believe their employers do not do enough to motive them. Employee recognition attacks both of the problems. The goal is both to reward and to motivate, to stimulate the employee�s confidence, self-esteem, and productivity, all at the same time.

The National Association for Employee Recognition defines employee recognition as the application of the behavioral psychology principle that employee performance and retention are strongly linked to consistent, appropriate positive reinforcement of behaviors that promote the organization�s goals. In other words, employee recognition is a win-win situation: the employee feels valued and the company benefits from employees who work harder and longer for the company.

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