Lesley Cooper, Founder and CEO of WorkingWell and author of Brave New Leader shares her insight into the power of truly valuing the workforce.
Financial rewards are obviously the most straightforward and anticipated forms of recognition – after all, few employees will turn down a pay-rise, refuse a profit-share or reject an extension to the range of employee benefits they can access (although they might if there is a benefit in kind tax implication, which there often is). Money talks, but throughout our consulting years, we have consistently noted that the softer forms of peer and leadership recognition for a job well done, or the value placed on individual insight and experience, carry just as much weight.
While financial incentives matter across the board, age-diverse workforces prioritise different things. For example, for older workers, opportunities to share knowledge and develop others are often as important as pay, particularly when finances are more in control. Mid-career professionals will tend to place greater importance on work-life balance and flexibility, thus making it easier to juggle work with caregiving or family responsibilities. Younger employees who are just starting their careers and possibly facing new financial challenges associated with living away from home, or possibly struggling to enter the housing market, are highly motivated by salary. But they are also motivated by fast-paced role expansion, training and development, and related accelerated career progression to drive their income up faster.
The need to feel valued
Universal across all age groups, however, is a primeval need to feel valued, that we belong, and that the contribution we make is appreciated. These needs are baked in – a legacy of our evolution from hunter-gathering to living in bands – and as a result, we are intensely sensitive to anything that threatens our sense of value. It follows that when these needs are met, a whole raft of positive outcomes can follow. Not surprisingly, these fundamental drivers are linked to the performance-enhancing states of trust and psychological safety, and so, when it comes to designing reward strategies, it pays to put softer forms of recognition front and centre.
When employees feel secure about the perceived value of their contribution, recognised and appreciated for who they are, as well as the work tasks they are competent in, they release more of themselves into the workplace. As a result, they become more productive, creative, engaged, and willing to go the extra mile. Candid appreciation, not just for the work done but for the person doing it, can inspire greater innovation and commitment than money alone. Small acts of genuine appreciation, and the recognition that comes with it, generate disproportionately large wellbeing and performance paybacks for the company. The best news of all is that these small acts require no capital investment, have no budgetary implications, and no real alteration to general ways of working. All that is needed is a peer and leadership commitment to recognise the person as well as the task and to be specific when they do so – the more explicit the praise and recognition, the more valuable it is to receive.
Despite being free and unlimited, our survey data, collected from a wide range of employees in many different industries over 20+ years, suggests that this type of recognition is less frequent than it could be. Around 40% of staff in workgroups that we have worked with report pressure from a lack of recognition. When asked what recognition looks like to them, people consistently point to personal appreciation and human-to-human communication over financial reward. As you would expect, many note that financial recognition is obviously good too, when available, but what is interesting is the speed with which they accept that it might not be, and that they’d ‘settle for a good morning when I come in’ or for someone (line manager) ‘to bother to lift their head and say ‘Hi’ when I come in’.
When we employ someone, we have employed the whole person, not just the bit that does the job
Upskilling opportunities, workplace perks, and formal workplace awards are valuable and tangible ways to recognise employee contributions. These should all be considered as part of an inclusive recognition strategy. Similarly important is supporting lifelong learning, role and career development, mentoring, creating opportunities for cross-functional working, and development of trust as well as access to services that support or enhance employee wellbeing. Truly flexible working options are another key way to signal company recognition that when we employ someone, we have employed the whole person, not just the bit that does the job. Allowing people the flexibility to be fully present in other potentially competing areas of life is a great way to demonstrate truly seeing and valuing the person above the task.
What is ‘rewarding’
A final word about the phrase ‘rewarding work’. Work that is enjoyable and aligned with the personal purpose and goals of the person doing it is, of course, rewarding. Getting employees involved in a discussion about the sources of workplace pressures and how to arrange personal and team resources to meet those challenges is a reward in and of itself. It demonstrates genuine curiosity about alternative perspectives and places a value on the potentially divergent insights. This type of open dialogue invariably smooths out daily hassles and brings low-hanging job satisfaction or performance enhancing fruit within the reach of the team members themselves. In so doing, it facilitates new ways of working that make the work more rewarding.
A true (and cost-free) win-win, which makes us constantly surprised that so few leaders create opportunities to unlock the creative potential hidden in their own teams a bit more often.
