Q:How does employee appreciation play in improving retention?
A:Research shows that employee recognition has a huge role in making people feel unique and valued in an organization. They feel that their specific skills or contributions make a difference and just this belief, creates the stickiness factor. The way the recognition is done makes a huge difference. Recognitions that involve families of the individual, create connections which are harder for people to break. Recognitions which involve seniors within the organization (like the CEO or the head of the Function) are memorable for people. Employee recognition has the power to create the 'bond' to the organization that even money cannot buy.
Q:Can you share 2 practices that can help integrate appreciation into the daily workflow?
A:Kudos mail: Through this practice, we send out a mail to the entire function/department of the individual- with a picture and the reason why the person is given the kudos award. The monetary value of the award is limited, but it's more the recognition of the work that they have done or the specific project that they have worked on
Value cards: These are cards that people could give each other for displaying certain values of the company. Individuals could write a personal note on top of these. This value based recognition, made the value come alive and gave a nuanced view of the contribution of the person
Q:How do think awards contribute towards boosting employee morale?
A:When appreciation is done intentionally and meaningfully, I think it has more impact than a monetary award. And I don't mean appreciation only in the form of certificates and awards, but also in everyday work, if we regularly (and that is important) have mechanism that reminds managers to appreciate their employee- it has a huge impact on employee morale and motivation. The reality though is that the pendulum swings in extreme directions. Either employees are appreciated for every small thing- thereby making appreciation meaningless. Or rewards and recognition budget are never utilized. When we strike the right balance, there is absolute magic that happens.
Q:How do you support the continuous learning and development of your HR team?
A:We have a dedicated team that is looking at the competencies required for HR professionals. Regular training is done for the HR community on the development of these competencies. Managers of the team are expected to ensure that their team members do regular training. The Firm also re-imburses the training expenses of the employees and regularly sends them for training programs. Just in time training and long term training is provided for the individuals on an ongoing basis.
Q:Can you provide an example of how a lack of employee appreciation has negatively affected a work environment?
A:Whenever the manager shows favouritism or biases for a certain individual, it makes the entire team environment very toxic. People feel that they are in competition with one another. They also feel constant stress as they are not appreciated for the good work that they are doing. They keep chasing a 'mirage' of great work that no one has seen or experienced. The work environment also has less gratitude and goodwill and more of constantly seeking validation.
Hot Seat