Managers are indispensable players in any reward and recognition strategy.
In fact, a 2012 study by Dale Carnegie Training showed that an employee’s relationship with their direct supervisor is one of the top, if not the No. 1 driver of employee engagement.
However, while several organizations have a reward and recognition program in place to recognize the achievements of employees, too few have specific initiatives in place to reward managers for their efforts.
Keys to success
WorldatWork conducted a year-long engagement survey examining this practice, and came to the same conclusion. They made the following suggestions to improve manager engagement within an organization:
- Develop performance metrics that encourage managers or supervisors to encourage engagement among their employees. Information is power, so track engagement within your organization and create actionable tasks for managers that can be benchmarked and reviewed. A general rule of thumb is to make sure each employee receives timely recognition for a specific positive behavior at least once every seven days.
- Reward supervisors and managers for developing employee engagement among their peers. Modern reward and recognition platforms support multiple initiatives, so there’s no excuse to not have a special recognition initiative for managers. Formally recognizing managers or supervisors sends a strong message that giving proper credit and recognition is not a task reserved for a select few, but something the organization values from the top down.
- Strategically define employee engagement and include it as a goal in the strategic plan. We already know that employees and managers will put much more faith in a reward and recognition program if it is supported from the highest levels of management, so this should be a no-brainer. Companies that are serious about engagement take time to identify areas for improvement, track relevant metrics, and create a diverse collection of initiatives that touches every level of the organization.
Turning the tide
As the saying goes, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” In the same way, a successful recognition program should build a culture of recognition that includes everyone in your workforce, elevating the entire organization.
Effectively engaging employees takes skill and hard work, and rewarding those who are normally called upon to do most of the engaging is a sure way to boost everyone’s spirits.
This was originally published on the Michael C. Fina blog.