Recognising employee efforts ‘improves staff retention rates by four years
Published: 21 January 2016
Are you part of a company with a high employee turnover? New research has revealed that staff retention rates improve by nearly four years when employee efforts are recognised.
A study conducted by P&MM, revealed that employees are likely to stay in the business longer if their employers acknowledge them for their good work. The data showed that employers could expect to gain nearly four years length of service when the good work undertaken by an individual employee has been recognised by their manager or a colleague.
The study was conducted across a number of companies, each operating in a different industry, with varying levels of staff turnover. The average retention rate ranged from just over four years to almost 10. However staff retention rates rose for those who had received at least one form of manager or peer-led recognition while employed in the same.
John Sylvester, director at P&MM, comments: “These results make very interesting reading. While we are not suggesting that a single ‘thank you’ alone will result in three or four more years of service, the data clearly indicates a propensity for individuals who are recognised to be more engaged at work, to go above and beyond and to have better relationships with managers and colleagues.
“This sort of analysis provides a valuable insight for managers as it means that recognition programme data can be used to highlight those staff who are a flight risk. These individuals may well feel unappreciated or not be performing in such a manner that warrants a thank you from colleagues and therefore require greater attention. It also makes high uptake and ongoing use of recognition systems vital to the overall success of any organisation.
“Employee engagement incorporates many factors – and this audit clearly demonstrates that employee recognition is one of them. Employee engagement is about the emotional connection employees have with the organisation they work for. Engaged employees understand and commit to the organisation’s mission and values and will tend to go above and beyond their basic job – making them more likely to be the recipient of recognition from their peers. These positive behaviours will drive high performance and ultimately impact on the bottom line of any organisation.”
