Recognizing employee performance is THE BEST way a company can increase productivity, reduce absences, and improve workforce engagement and retention. The results will be dramatic. 

If you're not convinced - check out the facts below! 

• The number 1 reason people leave their job is feeling unappreciated.
• Employees with high job satisfaction are 20% more productive.
• Sales reps with high job satisfaction produce 37% more sales.
• Companies with a formal recognition program have 31% less voluntary turn-over. 
• Peer-to-peer recognition has 36% greater positive impact on financial results than manager-only recognition. 
• Peer-to-peer recognition produces a 41% improvement on customer satisfaction. 
• 85% of companies spending 1% or more payroll on a recognition program report a positive effect on engagement. 
• Praise beats financial incentives for 67% of employees. 
• U.S. organizations spend more than $100 billion on incentive programs. 
• A mere 14% of companies provide managers with the tools and information they need to create effective recognition programs. 

Now you're probably wondering how to implement a recognition program! Check out 6 easy steps below: 

• Evaluate: Assess your organization to determine program goals, performance factors that affect those goals, and overall state of employee engagement/job satisfaction. 
  
  
• Create: Construct a program that focuses on rewards for activities that contribute to program goals - keep it simple, measurable and scalable.
  
  
• Sell It:  Get buy-in from company leadership. Get pre-launch feedback from employees - it helps you fine-tune like nothing else! 
  
  
• Communicate: Establish regular, consistent communication of program results throughout your organization. Key: communication must be energetic and have emotional appeal.
  
  
• Measure: Your program will die on the vine without careful measurement and reporting. Without seeing results, employees and leadership will soon shift focus elsewhere. 
  
  
• Assess and Improve: Use measurements and ongoing dialog with employees to continuously improve. The worst day of your program should be the first day. 

Click here to download our Guide to Employee Recognition Infographic!