Many organizations have been consistently boosting the importance of employee rewards and recognition for quite a long time now.

Yet, employee recognition still appears to be pretty less popular among many companies and industries.

Now, what might be the reason for such hold-backs?

Well, every industry and company has its intentions and expected yields. So, it might be pretty difficult to pinpoint a few specific reasons for what’s holding back the top employee recognition companies industry?

However, we have carried out a few studies and found several common reasons for such stuttering of the companies.

1. Not Being Able to Understand the Impact

In many cases, business leaders consider recognition as some kind of “fluffy stuff” or, to simply put it, “a gesture of doing something nice.” Still, they aren’t aware of the drastic impact recognition can have on their business or company.

There is evidence where it shows drastic and positive outcomes to the business results due to employee recognition.

For instance, in a study, it has been found that around 5,000 employees in the U.KU.S. and Australia have less motivation, and this impacts the employees to have 46% less productivity and even 37% of poor work quality.

And these figures can be devastating for a company or business industry.

2. Not Understanding the Actual Meaning of Recognition

Even if the business leaders know the positive outcomes of recognitions, they often misunderstand the actual meaning of employee recognition.

For instance, some leaders firmly believe that bonuses, base pay, and even sales commissions are considered recognition, but that’s not what recognition means.

Instead, employee recognition is more like having a purpose of bringing the best out of your employee by looking and appreciating the things that your employees value.

In short, we can also say to care, value, and appreciate their work, and also look after the small things that they crave.

Sometimes small appreciations can play a significant role in digging the best out of an employee compared to pay rise or financial incentives.

3. Motivations Matter

Another misconception that many business leaders have is “appreciate the employees when they do a wonderful job.”

That’s not the way to motivate or give recognition to your employee. Instead, even if your employee cannot perform his duties, ask him the reasons, know about his mental conditions, and try to motivate him.

This will allow the employee to open up to you about the problems he’s facing. Moreover, when you start to motivate him even during his times of failure, it will boost him up to stand back again.

There are times when employees tend to face many daily challenges. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to encourage him and recognize his value to the team and company.

4. Recognition Might be too Costly

Many leaders believe that it might be too costly for them to give recognition to the employees. So, they tend to step away from these “recognition schemes.”

This is not what recognition means. It’s not correct to think that employees will only appreciate money as their recognition.

In a survey, it has been found that out of 500 employees, around 70% of the employees prefer simple motivations and encouragements as their recognition.

Most employees prefer motivation as one of the most important recognitions. So industry leaders can indeed do that for their employees.

5. Appreciate the Small Achievements

As an industry leader, when you find ways to give small compliments to your employees, it can generate a lot of confidence and encouragement.

These few statements of appreciation can indeed be one of the best recognition for an employee. Even small positive gestures can also make a huge difference.

For example, a designer in your company stays up late to work on a project to put it back on schedule.

So as a leader, you have a responsibility towards your dedicated employee as well. You can offer him some snacks, even have a chat for a few minutes, and tell him how you appreciate his hard work and dedication.

These appreciations for an employee’s dedication and small achievements can indeed be one of the most effective recognition for an employee.

This will not only encourage him to work harder but will also give him the spirit to bring positive results.

6. Afraid of Not Knowing How to Recognize

This is one of the significant reasons that resist leaders and managers from recognizing their team members. And that is, most of them don’t feel comfortable with their employees or team members.

So, the managers or leaders need to get around with their employees, as it’ll help them understand their team members and stay more natural.

Therefore, giving recognition will become pretty natural, and you won’t feel afraid or uncomfortable. So, the first and most important rule of discarding this fear of giving credit is to start mixing with the team.

The moment you do that, you’ll be more comfortable and tend to engage with your team even better.

So, next time when you decide to give recognition to a member or an employee, you’ll feel more relaxed, and you can be more open with the reasons for choosing and recognizing them.

Bottom Line

In the end, all that we can say is this corporate world does need a lot more awareness on this matter.

The corporate influencers and other experienced personalities need to show up and spread encouraging words regarding this fantastic employee motivator.

Furthermore, giving employees recognition doesn’t always mean money. Appreciating the employee’s work and even some good motivations can be one of the best and effective recognition.