any people in HR dismiss awards and incentives programs as "feel good"
activities. But evidence suggests there is a strong link between non-cash awards
and incentives and improved job performance, says employee-recognition expert
and best-selling author Bob Nelson.
Nelson’s study, conducted from September of 1999 to June of 2000, is based
on responses from managers and their employees in 34 organizations ranging from Universal Studios to the U.S. Postal Service.
He says that several performance-related variables were found to have broad support from managers in the study, the majority of whom agreed or strongly
agreed with the following items (listed with percentage of agreement):
Nelson also found that 72.9 percent of managers reported that they received
the results they expected when they used non-monetary recognition either
immediately or soon thereafter, and 98.8 percent said they thought they
eventually would obtain the desired results.
Of the 598 employees who reported to the managers in the study, 77.6 percent
said that it was very or extremely important to be recognized by their manager
when they do good work. Employees expected recognition to occur: immediately (20
percent), soon thereafter (52.9 percent), or sometime later (18.8 percent).
"If you look at companies employees love to work for, you’ll find that
they recognize their people and tell them they’re doing a great job," says
Nelson, whose books include the best-selling 1,001 Ways to Reward Employees
(Workman Publishing, 1994) and, most recently, Please Don’t Just Do What I
Tell You! (Hyperion, 2001). "Non-cash awards and incentives lower stress,
absenteeism, and turnover, and raise morale, productivity, competitiveness,
revenue, and profit."
Nelson’s mantra: "You get what you reward."
Workforce, April 2002, p. 44 -- Subscribe Now!
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