Both personalized rewards and travel incentives can improve engagement, boost morale, and contribute to greater productivity. But if an organization expects its incentivization efforts to pay off in the long run, there is a critical ingredient that cannot be ignored: leadership enthusiasm. Leadership needs to do more than endorse programs on paper. They need to be personally involved.
A March 2024 post by Forbes Council’s Member David Grossman drives home this point really well. We will borrow from Grossman’s post while adding our own thoughts. When all is said and done, we hope you walk away with a better understanding of how leadership impacts both the tangible and intangible benefits of personalized rewards and employee recognition.
Leadership Was Into It
Grossman began his post by discussing a recent experience that had made a huge impression on him. As he put it, he “had the opportunity to observe an exemplary employee recognition program in action.” The program was designed to award employees who demonstrated the company’s values in remarkable ways.
That alone says something. The employer went beyond offering personalized rewards and recognition just to increase engagement or boost productivity. They actually want their employees to live out company values as they do what they do. They want company culture to be more than words on paper. They want it to define how employees do what they do.
At any rate, Grossman observed that company leadership was really into the recognition part of the program. During the official recognition ceremony, leadership described how award winners exemplified company values. They described how the award winners went above and beyond to meet the needs of both clients and colleagues.
The Excitement Was Palpable
According to Grossman, the excitement in the room was palpable. There was an energy not seen in most employee recognition events. Most importantly, all the employees were able to see first-hand that company leadership actually believed in what they were doing. They saw that their leaders were genuinely enthusiastic about recognizing employees for their exemplary work.
It’s Not Always That Way
Unfortunately, what Grossman observed is not the standard for every company. In fact, he cited statistics from a Gallup poll showing just the opposite. According to the poll:
- 40% of American employees receive recognition a few times per year or less.
- Just 23% reported that their employers had recognition programs in place.
Things do not have to be this way. In fact, they should not. The same Gallup poll reveals that employees who are regularly recognized for doing well are four times more likely to be engaged at work. They are also 73% less likely to report burnout.
More Than Just a Human Resource
Perhaps a good way to summarize everything Grossman wrote in his post is to say that American workers want to be treated like they are more than just human resources. They want to be treated as partners with ideas to contribute, visions for the company, and the ability to serve clients without being tethered.
Personalized rewards and recognition programs cannot meet every employee engagement need in the modern workforce. But they can go a long way toward demonstrating to employees that they are human beings with value rather than just easily replaced resources.
Just remember this one thing: the success of any rewards or recognition program is intrinsically tied to leadership enthusiasm. Leadership needs to buy-in, both on paper and through actively participating in recognizing hard working employees. The more enthusiasm leadership displays, the more enthusiasm they will encourage in their employees. Ultimately, that’s what makes all this work.
