Employee Appreciation Day: Kick-Off a Culture of Appreciation

This Friday, March 7, is Employee Appreciation Day – a good time to do something particularly special for your employees. It’s also an important time to think about how to elevate your employee engagement efforts to the next level, taking the spirit of this one day and make it an ongoing, year-round program that is woven into the fabric of your organization.

By creating ongoing opportunities throughout the year to recognize, reward and motivate your employees for their contributions to the company’s success, you’ll be building a Culture of Appreciation within your organization. It will serve to boost your employees’ “psychic income,” not just their monetary income. And, it pays dividends to your company’s bottom line.

Studies prove that, when done right, employee engagement strategies are the next significant ROI opportunity for organizations. For example, Towers Perrin found in 2004 that a 15 percent improvement in levels of employee engagement correlates with a 2 percent improvement in operating margin. Further proof comes from a 2007 Gallup survey of millions of employees worldwide, which showed that organizations with higher than average levels of employee engagement also realized 27 percent higher profits, 50 percent higher sales, 50 percent higher customer loyalty levels and 38 percent above-average productivity.

It’s clear that getting employee engagement right within your organization delivers on multiple levels. Your employees will be more satisfied and your organization will benefit from an energized workforce motivated to help the company reach critical goals – all of which impact the bottom line in a very real and measurable way.

So do something extra for your employees this Friday...and then do something extraordinary for your company this year by embracing employee engagement.

Visit our blog on Wednesday to learn about our “Five Keys to Employee Engagement.” In the meantime, for more information, read our white paper, “Global Strategic Recognition: Driving Bottom Line Results Through Employee Engagement.”

4 comment(s):

At March 04, 2008 7:12 AM, Anonymous said...

Derek -

We are very much looking forward to reading your blog and to better understanding hte five keys to employee engagement.

Judy

At March 04, 2008 8:49 AM, Derek Irvine said...

“Thanks, Judy. I enjoy your blog as well and look forward to an ongoing dialogue on this topic.”

At March 23, 2008 10:13 PM, Anonymous said...

Your points are very good. As a therapist I speak with a lot of clients who feel that they just aren't valued and I see that really lowers motivation compared to those who do feel acknowledged and noticed by management.

At March 26, 2008 2:37 PM, Derek Irvine said...

Exactly, Deb! The knowledge that their contributions -- and they themselves -- are valued is critical to a healthy social architecture in a company. I discuss this further (specifically cultures of intimidation v. cultures of appreciation) in our recent white paper: Designing Your Company's Social Architecture Designing Your Company's Social Architecture: Five Steps to Build a Culture of Appreciation across Borders. Check it out. http://www.globoforce.com/corporate/eng/whitepaper.html