Recognizing and Engaging Employees For Dummies

Chapter 3

How Recognition Drives Employee Engagement

In This Chapter

Helping your employees become magnificent

Linking recognition to engagement

Creating a culture of recognition

There are a lot of things that impact employee engagement, but if you only focused on one thing that could impact it the most, it would be employee recognition. According to employee engagement research conducted by the Aberdeen Group, “By acknowledging an employee’s positive behaviors and demonstrating appreciation for employee contributions, that individual worker will continue those behaviors, stay engaged with the company, and feel motivated to perform.” Sixty percent of Best-in-Class organizations (defined as those in the top 20 percent of aggregate performers in the Aberdeen Group report) stated that employee recognition is extremely valuable for driving individual performance. And the Harvard Business Review cited “recognition given for high performance” as the most impactful driver of employee engagement.

In this chapter, I discuss what recognition is, why it is important, and how it drives employee engagement. I also offer effective strategies you can use to create a culture of recognition to promote ...