Communicating Employee Recognition to Maximize Motivation

How effectively do you communicate your recognition philosophy and strategy to your employees?

According to a recent Hay Group Study:

“Only 33% of companies believe they communicate their reward philosophy and strategy effectively to employees - yet 80% believe reward communication has an effective or very effective impact on the organization's performance, employee satisfaction, retention and employee engagement. Few companies formally evaluate the effectiveness of their rewards communications. In fact, 39% of respondents conduct no evaluation.”

These findings remarkably mirror or own beliefs about successful communications of recognition and reward. We advocate strongly for a “Pull” vs “Push” strategy of communications as well as training for our strategic employee recognition programs.

While the “push” of communications materials and training is very important, our experience has taught us the far greater value of creating a “pull” environment in which managers and employees want to learn more about recognition and want to use a recognition program. The keys to achieving this pull momentum are:
* Gaining high-level executive sponsorship throughout the organization
* Making the program intuitive and easy to use
* Incorporating the program goals into annual personal goals and MBOs

How do you communicate recognition and reward to employees? Do they understand the full invest you are making in them and your commitment to their well-being? If not, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to convey to your top performers their value to your organization, retaining them for greater competitive advantage today and when the market turns. Tell me in comments.