Employee Recognition in India

Ask any professionally run company in India if they have an employee recognition program in place and the answer will be “YES.” Dig a little deeper and more often than not, you will find that most programs are managed in an ad-hoc manner with very little thought process that has gone into it. It gets even worse if you start asking questions about ROI (Return on Investment), Recognition Strategy and Management Commitment to the program.

I personally believe that “Employee Recognition” can be a very powerful tool in the arsenal of business leaders and HR professionals to drive up employee engagement, which in turn, as has been proven over and over again, drives better business performance & customer satisfaction.

To compare this philosophy with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, employers typically do a great job in taking care of the employee’s PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS (Compensation & Benefits) – Level 1, and SAFETY NEEDS (work-place, medical facilities, housing etc.) – Level 2. The individual’s SOCIAL NEEDS – Level 3, are fulfilled by becoming a part of a group of colleagues at work or by their strong family set-up outside of work. Post this, the fourth and the fifth needs (ESTEEM and SELF-ACTUALIZATION), tend to be clubbed in a majority of organizations i.e. the same employees who are valued and recognized are the ones who are promoted and grow up the corporate ladder. So employees tend to stay at level 3 (SOCIAL needs fulfilled) or move 2 steps ahead (SELF-ACTUALIZED). Are companies missing a trick in the book by not having a larger pool of employees at level 4 (ESTEEM needs fulfilled)? Logically, shouldn’t there be a larger number of employees with fulfilled esteem needs than those who are self actualized? Won’t employees be happier and more engaged if their chances of moving up the hierarchy of needs are higher?

A robust employee recognition program that is directly linked to the company’s vision, mission & values, and has the commitment of management, can effectively move a larger number of employees to level 4 (ESTEEM) and motivate a larger number of employees at level 3 to work harder, given that they now have a more realistic chance of moving to level 4.

The topics I hope to cover in this blog will centre around this philosophy and belief in the art & science of employee recognition as it applies to organizations in India and the surrounding regions. I will look forward to your participation.