Employee Recognition Programs: Experience and New Reality

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problems of using tools for employee recognition in modern practice. The main and forms of recognition, their advantages and disadvantages are considered. It summarizes research evidence supporting both the positive effects of recognition on variables such as employee productivity and retention, morale, motivation, job satisfaction, happiness and positive mood, organizational and professional commitment and engagement, and the impact of lack of recognition on employee burnout. The factors that determine the increasing importance of justifying the strategy and programs of employee recognition, as well as trends in their development, including the desire to harmonize recognition programs, alignment with business goals, talent management processes are highlighted. An analysis of the reasons for the insufficient effectiveness of employee recognition programs is presented. Recognition programs have been shown to fail due to a lack of structure for employees to recognize each other, difficulty in choosing people to express recognition, lack of clarity about the goals of recognition programs, insufficient attention to age and perceptions of recognition, and the state of organizational culture. (Leaders declare certain values, but no one in the organization gains recognition in realizing these values; competitive cultures often suppress people's desire to recognize and praise their colleagues). Recommendations for improving the effectiveness of employee recognition programs are presented.