Unlocking Employee Productivity: The Power of Recognition

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Are you leveraging the full potential of your workforce? Our latest insights reveal that strategic recognition is the secret weapon for enhancing employee productivity and performance, which are vital to organizational success.

While fair and livable wages are fundamental, they are not the sole factors in boosting performance and retention. More than just a thank-you program, strategic recognition is about reinforcing high-value behaviors that drive results.

This one-pager from Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI) outlines the connection between frequent, meaningful recognition — an often overlooked ingredient for a highly productive workforce — including the impact on frontline and hourly workers.

Why does productivity matter for HR leaders?

Productivity and performance matter for HR leaders because these crucial metrics align with company results such as revenue and profitability. An efficient and effective workforce will deliver better products, sales, customer satisfaction, and overall results for the organization.

How can you measure productivity and performance?

Measuring productivity and performance is not an easy task, especially in the context of remote and hybrid work models. Traditional indicators, such as hours worked, output quantity, or sales volume, may not capture the full picture of how employees contribute to the organizational goals.

These indicators may not account for the quality, creativity, or innovation of the work, which are equally important for long-term success. HR leaders need a more comprehensive and holistic approach to assess productivity and performance, one that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative data, as well as feedback from multiple sources, such as managers, peers, customers, and self-evaluation.

Three ways to drive workforce productivity

Research shows there are ways that HR and people leaders can improve performance and productivity for their team.

1. Set measurable objectives

Ensure team members understand what is expected of them, how their work contributes to the organization’s objectives, and how they will be evaluated.

2. Provide feedback and coaching

Be kind but clear on areas for improvement. Help employees overcome challenges, learn new skills, and grow professionally with a coaching approach. Read AWI’s Coaching Camp whitepaper for more on creating a coaching culture in your company.

3. Emphasize positive reinforcement

Celebrate successes as well as steps along the way to encourage employees to stick with their learning and development journey. What gets recognized, gets repeated, so recognizing the right behaviors will help drive results throughout the organization.

What is the connection between recognition and employee productivity?

There is a strong positive connection between recognition and employee productivity, according to the last five years of AWI research. Our most recent survey on the new skills gap shows that employees recognized monthly are twice as likely to consider themselves very productive and 28% more likely to say they are usually productive at work.

Read the whitepaper today to understand the connection between productivity and recognition and for the latest research on strategic recognition and its impact, download the full 2024 State of Recognition: Optics vs Impact report.