In my previous Performance Perspective I talked about festering levels of employee frustration brought on by two factors: mounting workloads combined with a sense that everything has become a priority. Today, I want to talk about managers and how their relationships with employees should define the recognition planning priorities for HR leaders everywhere.
Front line managers influence an employee’s attitude toward the job more than any other factor. According to Blessing White there is a strong correlation between an employee’s relationship with their manager and their level of engagement. And that connection can be traced back to the manager’s use of recognition: Do they provide regular feedback? Does the manager encourage the employee to use their talents? Do they recognize and reward achievements? When it comes to employee engagement managers are the critical piece in the employee/employer puzzle.
So what are the barriers to getting more managers on board the recognition bandwagon? The answer to that question lies in the practical factors that drive recognition activity. Line managers need tacit approval from senior executives that they should be recognizing/rewarding employees and secondly they need systems to help them do so easily and accurately.
Senior-level sponsorship, manifesting itself in the form of executive support is widely acknowledged as a “recognition requisite”. It provides managers with clear direction from the top that recognizing employees should be one of their objectives—that it’s good business. Secondly, managers need a platform, that makes the process of rewarding employees easy and accurate and encourages painless participation from managers.
Start with those two pieces and you are well on your way to solving the employee engagement puzzle.