How leaders can bring recognition into the workplace

culture employee employeerecognition engagement gratitude leaders motivation team culture Sep 30, 2024

It is more important than ever for organisational leaders to find ways to bring recognition into the workplace and embed employee appreciation within their company culture.

Why is it more important than ever?

Recently the Inclusion@Work Index assessed Australian employee wellbeing in the workplace from 2023-2024. The data highlighted 27% believe their manager is non-inclusive, 29% feel they don't belong in the team and 32% don’t feel valued, respected or able to contribute to discussions (Diversity Council Australia 2024). A workplace survey by the Australian HR Institute also revealed almost 72.9% of respondents identified inadequate rewards and recognition as a significant psychosocial hazard at work (AHRI 2022).

Given the above findings, it is necessary for workplace leaders to find ways to embrace gratitude and recognition, to ensure employees can see how their contributions and personal attributes impact the success of the team. This is likely to increase engagement, motivation and productivity through creating a sense of belonging and inclusivity within the team.

So how can leaders actually do this? Here’s a few ideas we have in mind...

Informal expressions of appreciation -- sending an email to recognise an achievement or leaving a thank you note.
Use team meetings to recognise people’s efforts -- expressing gratitude in a team environment may encourage others to do the same.
Create a recognition board or wall – a place or online forum people can go and write a ‘thankyou’ note. Allows people to stop and think about what and who they are grateful for.
Hold monthly team events or regular coffee catch ups -- provides a space for employees to come together.
Share feedback from clients or the team on a shared platform (e.g Microsoft teams, slack, Monday.com) -- this will normalise recognising others in a more casual manner.
Recognise employee milestones and achievements -- show employees you remember special occasions and celebrate milestones.
Seek employee input regarding how to bring recognition into the workplace – what do team members want to see?
Be consistent – don’t let recognition be something that stops after a few months.

Contact the team:

If you have any questions regarding the information above, please feel free to reach out to the Employii team via employii@employii.com.au or give us a call on 0401 510 559.

References:

Diversity Council Australia 2024, Inclusion@Work Index 2023-2024, DCA, viewed 17 September 2024, https://www.dca.org.au/research/inclusion-at-work-index-2023-2024

AHRI 2022, The state of wellbeing in Australian workplaces, viewed 30 September 2024, https://www.ahri.com.au/wpcontent/uploads/MMcQ_WellbeingLab_Australia_WorkplaceSurvey_2019-2022-1.pdf?

Author: Jess Roughsedge (HR Officer)

How leaders can bring recognition into the workplace

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