Why Employee Recognition Programs Don't Work- What Leaders Should Do Instead?

Sheila Krejci

Sheila Krejci, M ED is an author, master facilitator and consultant at Sheila K Consulting, Inc. has trained and coached hundreds of corporate leaders, police and fire support staff, professional, technical and support employees and elected officials to recognize and mitigate the risks of inappropriate and destructive workplace behaviors, participate in the investigation of harassment and discrimination claims and model critical behaviors that encourage respect for healthier, happier, more productive workplaces. Her recent courses, "Cultivating Workplaces of Respect and Civility-It Starts at t........

Overview

Why is it that most leaders believe they are doing a great job demonstrating to their staff how much they value them but only a small percentage of those same staff members agree? In fact, many employees suggest that their manager's silence is "deafening!"

Do you have leaders who say, "I pay them well - that's how I show my appreciation" or "My job isn't to make them feel good about themselves. It's to get the work done" or "I don't have time for that touchy- feel stuff. They can go to Google if they want to play games all day" or even, "These young kids today need to grow up and live in reality - every day at work can't be MEANINGFUL!"

We know the enormous costs to organizations to replace employees. Research shows as little as 50% of an entry level staffer's annual salary up to 400% of a highly specialized employee. Losing and replacing staff is always expensive! And how about the resulting declines in productivity and devastation to morale during the process of recruiting and training someone new? It makes sense then that retaining skilled, quality employees over the long term creates a competitive advantage for the organization so how can we best do it?

Building great workplaces where employees contributions are acknowledged and encouraged requires a foundation of trust and authenticity. The problem with a one size fits all approach to employee recognition such as the typical annual awards event where employees are recognized for years of service or a public announcement of cost reduction idea winner in the company newsletter is that employees don't believe it's authentic. In fact, these sometimes-well-meaning attempts to demonstrate appreciation have an adverse effect - increased cynicism, lack of trust and even resentment before employees have had enough.

Why should you attend?

The reality is that the costs of communicating appreciation and respect to staff and colleagues alike doesn't have to be exorbitant. Lavish recognition events are rarely what employees want or need to feel valued, appreciated and recognized by the leaders they respect, on their terms, and based on their individual needs. Whether you're the business owner, CEO, Human Resources specialist, manager, team leader or employee discouraged by negative coworkers in a toxic workplace, this webinar is for you! We'll begin reviewing the unfortunate realities and costs of ignoring what most of us want at work today - to use our knowledge, skills, education, experience and desire for learning to make a difference for our organizations and customers.

You'll leave this session with a myriad of recommendations to seek out the recognition needs of those around you AND multiple practical, little or no cost suggestions to begin implementing in your workplace immediately.

Areas Covered in the Session: