Want happy workers? Pour on the praise

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/want-happy-workers-pour-praise-1C7393763

Michelle V. Rafter , NBC News contributor
Dec. 4, 2012

When it comes to rallying the troops, bonuses aren’t always the best way to go -- or the cheapest.

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Companies do better at engaging workers if they pair bonuses with employee recognition programs, according to a recent Society of Human Resources Management/Globoforce survey. Companies that spend 1 percent of payroll on programs that publicly call out employees for above-average performances see an 85 percent positive impact on worker engagement, and 61 percent hang onto workers longer, according to the survey.

Acting on employees’ suggestions is just one way companies can recognize and reward workers in addition to or in lieu of year-end bonuses -- and not spend a lot doing it.

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Companies can please employees by keeping communications open between managers and subordinates, and between co-workers, says Robert Levering, co-founder of Great Place to Work Institute, publisher of annual lists of exemplary U.S. employers. The real distinguishing characteristic of great places to work “is the level of trust, how much employees trust the management,” Levering says.

Here are other ways companies can show the love to employees and not break the bank:

Create a formal employee recognition plan. -----

Praise peers in public. -----

Don’t wait until December to pay bonuses. -----

Offer rewards that employees value. -----

Offer flexible schedules. -----

Provide challenging work. ----- “When you're thinking about ways to motivate your work force, always acknowledge and praise their worthwhile contributions and try to find out more about their interests, their backgrounds, their skills,” Vlachoutsicos writes. “These will give you insight into their non-financial, intrinsic motivations.”

Let employees share recognition on their social networks. ----