Rose Street Advisors
Your guide from hire to retire.
The Three R's: Recognition, Rewards, and Retention
Last week we cohosted a Leadership Oasis event with our friends at Bronson’s Helpnet. We brought in a group of panelists to discuss employee recognition, rewards, and their impact on retaining employees. Our panelists included experts from the total rewards group at Bronson as well as two manufacturing CEO’s whose organizations excel at recognizing their employees.
We learned a lot and had some laughs along the way. Some of the key takeaways from the discussion included:
⁃ Know what motivates your employees and customize your rewards to match. Different employee generations and
personalities want recognition in different ways. Make certain that you cover the recognition needs of all employees.
⁃ Engage all employees in the process of providing recognition. Leaders can’t cover every employee all the time. Building a
culture of recognition for all employees is critical to ensuring that everyone receives the recognition that they need.
⁃ Leaders need to value the act of recognizing their employees. A question was asked about how you manage leaders who
don’t always support employee recognition activities. One answer was very direct. Leaders who don’t recognize employees
don’t have a place in our company. Yes, it’s that important.
⁃ Not all recognition efforts are a success. We asked about one that failed. Our panelists shared that some have been more
impactful than others, but all their efforts had connected with some employees. Some more than others.
⁃ What recognition made a big impact for minimal investment? A handwritten note sent to the employee’s home address
thanking them for their work. Not only does it recognize the employee, it engages the family as well.
⁃ Doing employee recognition takes time. There’s no way around this one. Genuine recognition takes time to do well. Make the
time.
Do you have some types of recognition that you’ve found to be particularly effective? We’d love to have you share them with us!
Have an HR question? Our talented HR team is ready to help.
Kevin Brozovich
SPHR | CHIEF PEOPLE ADVISOR
Meet Kevin Brozovich, energetic entrepreneur, people-focused team-builder and HR practitioner-turned consultant. For almost 10 years, Kevin was Founder and Chief People Officer of HRM Innovations, a Kalamazoo-based Human Resources consulting firm many would consider the top in the region. After pulling his hair out making daily decisions about running the business (does it matter where the coffee comes from?), Kevin joined forces with the Rose Street Advisors team so he could solely focus on what he loves most: working with clients.
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