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How Social Recognition Can Enhance Your Back-To-Office Strategy

Forbes Human Resources Council

HR Exec and VP of Solutions Consulting at Workhuman, helping HR leaders build positive, high-performing cultures with measurable results.

Navigating the nuances of remote work and safety protocols during Covid-19 was something few of us expected to deal with in 2020 and 2021 — but we’ve gotten through it. Now, are you ready for what the Society for Human Resource Management is calling the “turnover tsunami”

New research from the World Economic Forum predicts about 40% of workers are thinking about quitting their jobs. Of course, the turnover tsunami and its associated costs loom right as many companies and their HR and legal teams finalize back-to-office strategies. Several companies in the technology and financial services space have announced September as their official return date.

No company or consultant has the universal right answer for the future of work because no one has been through this before. Whatever your plan entails — remote, hybrid or in-office — it’s worthwhile to take a step back and think about what this year taught us.

So, what is universal? Human connection. At the highest level, there’s an urgent need to facilitate connection between and across employee groups. There’s also a need to demonstrate that organizations care about what their employees are going through. Trust is critical here. You build trust by making connections and forming relationships, showing up when somebody needs you to show up and walking your talk.

This is where technology such as social recognition, continuous performance management and pulse surveys can help the dual challenge of protecting against high turnover and developing an agile back-to-work plan. Here are my five tips.

1. Listen, listen and listen some more.

Sometimes we forget that we don’t have to figure all of this out at once. Take baby steps. Don’t be afraid to ask employees how it’s going. Ask them what they need. One simple way to get started gathering feedback at scale is through employee survey tools.

And if you’re a people leader, remember that sometimes people just want to talk and truly be heard. Our survey of over 16,000 global workers, published in our “How to Build Cultural Resilience” report, indicates having a weekly check-in drives motivation and belonging. You don’t necessarily have to solve every issue that’s brought up in a check-in. Really being present and listening can go a long way in building engagement and connection and making people feel seen.

2. Empower managers to show appreciation in the moment.

Gallup estimates front-line managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores. When you consider this in the context of the looming talent exodus, you can imagine the tremendous burden put on managers to keep morale and motivation high. So what can you do to help?

Communication is key. The more dispersed your employee footprint is across the globe, the more you need something other than video conference calls, Slack, Teams and other internal tools used for everyday work. You need to convey a deeper message – one of appreciation: “I see you in this moment.”

Social recognition is a tool many companies have doubled down on during the pandemic to recognize good work in the moment, as opposed to once a year in a performance review or through an annual bonus. It’s a consistent drumbeat of the message “your work matters.” Further, it’s a tool you can use to protect against turnover. Our research taught us that employees who give and receive recognition are more than twice less likely to leave.

3. Celebrate life events.

Life continued even while we hunkered down during the pandemic, and organizations are realizing that people want the ability to share those happy moments in their personal lives with their co-workers. This could include weddings, babies, birthdays or new houses. Lean into those shared celebrations in this next phase of work. Celebrating life events builds a foundation of trust which enables your team to be high-performing and power through even in the most challenging situations.

4. Show you care with team awards.

Over the course of the pandemic, our customers were looking for new and creative ways to demonstrate they cared. They wanted to scale recognition and send the message: “We see you and we appreciate you.” Many of those customers sent group recognition to all employees or a large sub-group of employees by a leader in the organization. Peter Fasolo, CHRO at Johnson & Johnson, wrote about the “superhero” award given to all essential, on-site Johnson & Johnson employees at the height of the pandemic. How you treat people in good times and bad goes a long way. 

5. Dig into the data.

Use this time of transition to take a step back and see what you can learn about your culture from whatever data you have available. What is your turnover rate? Who is leaving your company? Why? Who is getting recognized? Who isn’t recognized?

I often turn to recognition data when I’m considering career growth for my team members. Which values are they recognized for most? What are their strengths? What are areas of opportunity?

Why is this data important? If you’re trying to roll out a new initiative — such as a return-to-office plan — you can lean on people who are well-connected in the organization to get their colleagues on board. Rather than just relying on a top-down message, build buy-in and excitement from the ground up.

Similarly, you can approach outliers in the organizational network analysis as opportunities to check in. Ask questions. Really listen. Who knows? You could identify a potential flight risk before it’s too late.

While there may still be a level of anxiety as we prepare for what comes next, companies that put the human at the center of every decision will never be led astray. Use these five tips to demonstrate you care for the full human, and in the process, you will foster the community, connection and culture your team craved this past year.


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