Employee Recognition

Ninety (90) percent of US companies have formal recognition programs. And in spite of the recession, 9 out of 10 of them will keep these programs in place during 2009. The cost of not recognizing your employees can be quite high. One example of this is turnover. A recent survey revealed that if employees are not shown appreciation on a regular basis, 81 percent will seriously consider looking for another job, compared to only 25 percent of employees who are complimented on a consistent basis.*

*(Source for statistical information: Recent article in the Blue Ridge Business Journal)

Employee Recognition

Recession or no recession, if employees believe that they are not being treated fairly, they will be unhappy with their current employer. The top (3) reasons cited by employees who were looking for other jobs were 1) not being paid enough 2) lack of career development opportunities 3) insufficient recognition.*

*(Source for statistics: recent article in the Blue Ridge Business Journal)

Employee Recognition

The economy will turn around-we just don't know when that will happen. So....in the meantime, how do your current employees feel about working for your company? A recent survey stated that over 50% of workers under 35 have "neutral" loyalty to their current employer. Even with the national unemployment rate close to 9%, a recent salary.com survey found that 65 percent of employees were looking for other jobs.* Huh?! What kind of sense does that make?!.....

*(Statistics come from recent article in Blue Ridge Business Journal).

Employee Recognition

According to the US Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the next several years employers in the United States will face significant shortages in positions that require college-level training. As an example, information technology talent shortfalls are predicted to be as high as 20 percent by 2010. *

Based on our current economic situation, these statistics are hard to believe...or are they? Stay tuned.

*Source: Article in Blue Ridge Business Journal

Recession Fatigue

If one of your employees asks a question during the group meetings that leadership can't answer, make sure that someone follows up with that employee with an answer after the meeting. This builds trust among your employees. If an employee seems distressed during the meeting, spend some time with that employee after the meeting. Maybe he/she just needs some individual attention to talk about the future of your organization.

Recession Fatigue

If you normally do not have regularly scheduled group meetings with your employees, start them now. Strongly encourage your CEO/President/General Manager/Whatever his or her title is to talk openly and honestly with your employees during these meetings. Tell them "the good, the bad, and the ugly" about your sales volume, current backlog of orders, the general state of your particular industry, etc. Respect your employees enough to know that they can successfully handle good news as well as bad news.