The Value of Recognition in Engagement

By Robert Lavigna, Director, Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement

You may already have heard about the results from our national employee engagement research. In our recent Livestream session we explored the results, including the organizational culture aspects - such as trust, fairness and inclusion, and appreciation - that have the have the greatest impact on individual employee engagement.

The Results Are In
Our research results revealed that the top culture driver for both private and public sector employees is reflected in the statement, “I feel valued for the work I do.” Interestingly, the overall government score for this statement is low, and significantly lower than the private sector score:  only 67% of government respondents indicated that they feel valued for the work they do, compared to 72% of private sector respondents. By level of government, federal employees had the lowest level of agreement, coming in in at 63%, followed by state government at 66%, and local government employees at 69%. As these results show, recognition is critically important to employee engagement, but is low, particularly in government.

There’s clearly room for improvement. So how can we show our employees that they’re valued? We often think in terms of financial rewards. However, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, 64% of Americans who leave their jobs say they do so not because of money – but because they don’t feel appreciated.

Recognition Isn’t Necessarily Just About Money
In government, a critical aspect of employee recognition is ensuring that public servants take pride in the fact that what they do matters. With that understanding, effective leaders must help front-line employees make the connection between their work and the very important outcomes that government produces. This is particularly true in today’s environment of almost constant attacks on the value of the work that public servants perform.

Recognition can also be as simple as making sure that those who serve in government know that their work and contributions are appreciated. But we have to this in an authentic and meaningful way. The HR director for a government agency recently told me that employees in her agency are tired of hearing their leaders offer generic thanks for doing a good job. It’s become perfunctory and meaningless. Authentic and meaningful praise needs to be specific. In other words, “I appreciate the good work that you did when you …”

Recognition doesn’t have to be costly. The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics created a toolkit for supervisors that includes suggestions to recognize employees “without spending a dime:”

• Recognize employee achievements at a staff meeting
• Surprise the employee with a Post-it note of thanks
• Put a thank-you note on the department bulletin board
• Compliment the employee within earshot of others (and the word will spread)
• Mail a handwritten note to the employee’s home
• Send a department-wide email praising an individual employee or team
• Start meetings by recognizing employees, and ask employees to recognize each other
• Pull an employee aside and ask for his or her opinion

But remember it’s also important to understand how individual employees want to be recognized. Some folks love being publicly recognized while others would be mortified to be singled out in public.

Regardless of the form of recognition, our research shows that government can and must do a better job ensuring that government employees can agree with the statement, “I feel valued for the work I do.” Because helping public servants feel valued is a key to improving employee engagement.