It is important for businesses to assign roles and responsibilities within its workforce, to prevent redundancy and give a sense of purpose. The marketing team handles the marketing; the accounting team handles the accounting; the organization of tasks keeps a business functioning productively.
Yet — who is responsible for employee recognition? Is it human resources, which is often given responsibilities related to organizing the workforce, or is it management, who is expected to lead teams of workers to contribute best to business success? Or, is it the workers themselves, who know better than anyone which team members are putting forth the most effort and achieving the best results?
Though it may not fit into the regimented structure of an organized company, the answer is that everyone within a business is responsible for giving employees the recognition they deserve. Fortunately, it is possible to separate different types of recognition into different layers of an organization:
How the C-Suite Contributes to Recognition
The CEO, and the c-suite in general to some extent, is the figurehead of the business. Responsible for making major business decisions, these leaders have the potential to make the most significant impact on a company — despite the fact that few members of the c-suite encounter the much of an organization’s workforce on a daily basis. All other leaders within a company look to the c-suite to understand the company culture, which will inform the actions and behaviors taken at every level of the enterprise. In this way, the CEO and other c-suite leaders have the ability to support behaviors and programs that are essential to employee wellbeing.
Depending on the size of the business, the c-suite may be responsible for initiating an employee recognition program — or that might be a task for a different level of leadership or management. Regardless, members of the c-suite need to be cognizant of how their attitude toward their workers affects the entire organization. It is best for these high-level leaders to speak politely and express gratitude for hard work and achievement at every opportunity.
What Leadership Teams Do for Recognition
Not all organizations maintain a leadership level distinct from the c-suite or the managers, but among those that do, leaders are tasked with creating and refining programs necessary for high performance and productivity. Leaders should work with managers and workers to develop recognition programs that suit the organizational goals set by executives. Then, leaders are responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of these programs and refining them as goals are achieved and needs shift. The benefit of having leadership teams take charge of a structured recognition program is that leadership has the power and influence necessary to enact organizational change as well as the knowledge and skill to make the program successful within their respective fields.
When Management Should Offer Recognition
Managers are critical members of the recognition process because they are the leaders who maintain the most constant contact with workers. Thus, managers have the critical task of seeing the staff’s efforts and achievements and doling out praise, rewards and other forms of appreciation to promote high performance and strong morale.
It is essential that management buys into the company culture and behaves toward employees using the values set by higher-ups. Fortunately, managers can rely on recognition programs developed by more senior leaders to provide relevant and timely recognition to keep employees happy and productive.
Why Employees Are Essential for Recognition
There is no need for recognition within an organization if there are no employees providing essential work. Employees devote their time and energy toward projects that lead to business success. Though many might be motivated to high levels of performance thanks to internal drivers like ambition or passion, every employee benefits from knowing that their efforts are observed and appreciated.
Employees should not be left out of the recognition program development process. Every leader should work closely with their teams to understand what types of recognition are most effective at motivating hard work, loyalty and other positive attributes that improve performance. Employees are also well-positioned to provide insight into challenges that could reduce the impact of recognition attempts. Feedback from employees is remarkably valuable, so leaders should take advantage of any strategy for collecting thoughts and opinions from the workforce.
Everyone within an organization is responsible for recognizing the effort and achievement of fellow workers. By managing this responsibility effectively, everyone can feel appropriately appreciated for their contributions to business success.
HR Future Staff Writer
