Recognise This! – Research and surveys are clear. Employees want to leave for better recognition.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve seen several employee surveys on job satisfaction and retention. All drive home the point that employees are not satisfied in their work and primary reason is they don’t feel valued or recognised for the good work they do. See the pertinent research findings from three quite varied surveys below:

CareerBuilder survey referenced in TLNT (quoting):

• Only 59 percent of workers indicate that they are satisfied with their jobs (down from 66 percent in 2013) with 18 percent claiming that they are out-and-out dissatisfied at work, (up from 15 percent).
• Those who are dissatisfied, “cite concerns over salary (66 percent) and not feeling valued (65 percent) most often as reasons for their dissatisfaction.”

Rainmaker Thinking survey referenced in the Intuit Fast Track blog (quoting):

• 46% of employees say they feel “stuck” in their jobs and have an unfulfilled desire to head for the exit.
• 90% say they’re less committed, are less productive and are less willing to “go the extra mile” or “contribute their best ideas”
• Those polled are not considered the worst performers, which means that it’s not going to be the bottom-feeders who leave.

APA (American Psychological Association) Center for Organizational Excellence survey also referenced in TLNT(quoting):

• All in all, I am satisfied with my job — 67 percent in 2013 (down from 71 percent in 2012)
• Overall, I am satisfied with the employee recognition practices of my employer – 47 percent in 2013 (down from 48 percent in 2012)

Taking all that together, employees aren’t engaged and potentially have one foot out the door – all because organisations aren’t making the investment in the fastest and easiest tool HR has in its toolkit to quickly affect employee engagement and retention – frequent, timely and specific recognition.

Indeed, Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder, offered this solution (in reference to those survey findings): “Offering frequent recognition, merit bonuses, training programmes and clearly defined career paths are important ways to show workers what they mean to the company.”

Across nearly all of our customers, a deciding factor in their initial decision to pursue social recognition with us was employee feedback saying, “We need better recognition.”

How would your employees respond to “I’m satisfied with the recognition practices of my employer?” How would you?