ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to a recent Maritz Motivation Solutions study, companies can improve the effectiveness of the reward and recognition programs they invest in by focusing on participant values. While businesses have spent more on employee reward and recognition programs in recent years to attract top talent and retain good employees, only 45.3 percent of employees feel meaningfully rewarded and recognized by those programs.
“Businesses tend to create employee programs in a vacuum, adopting a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Michelle Pokorny, solution vice president of employee engagement and recognition for Maritz Motivation Solutions. “However, to truly engage employees, businesses need to understand what drives and motivates individuals, and then design a program to fit those needs. We know people pay more attention to things that align with their values so understanding the predominant values of your people is a great place to start in making your program more relevant.”
Maritz Motivation Solutions designed its study in conjunction with The Maritz Institute to help employers understand employee values, attitudes, intentions, and reward and recognition preferences. The study serves as a model for Maritz Motivation Solutions’ next generation research product, Motivation Insight, which clients can use to obtain the following insights regarding their unique employee populations:
- How the individual, their manager and the organization impact motivation
- The impact of an organization’s organizational climate (e.g. culture of recognition, celebration atmosphere)
- How manager support impacts motivation
- The relationship between employees’ perceptions of the organization’s values and their own personal values
- The impact of performance-based reward systems on motivation
The national study indicated a relationship between how effectively employees felt rewarded and recognized, and several factors that can be improved with good program design. These factors include leadership support, reward and recognition efforts of direct managers, appropriate reward options and communications, support of personal goals, alignment with company strategy, reinforcement of consumer-focused actions, and alignment with corporate culture and values.
The study also indicated a relationship between feeling meaningfully recognized and levels of engagement. For example, of employees who stated they were not meaningfully recognized:
- 80.4 percent did not agree with the statement, “Overall, I am completely satisfied with my job.”
- 58.3 percent did not agree with the statement, “I feel motivated to go beyond my formal job responsibilities to get the job done.”
- 71.4% of those not meaningfully recognized did not agree, “I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with my company.”
“To engage employees in a manner that is meaningful and motivating requires an understanding of our innate human drives and what people value and view as important,” said Pokorny. “In all cases, we have to consider that employees are people first.”
To identify opportunities for creating better employee programs, the study focused on distinguishing the specific drives and values of employees relating to reward and recognition programs. Four distinct employee value segments emerged – Altruists, Drivers, Pioneers and Stabilizers.
Each segment possesses values unique to their particular segment, specifically about how they work, how they prefer to be rewarded and recognized, and how to effectively communicate to them. For profiles on each of the employee value segments, visit www.maritz.com/Employee-Values-Study.
“Values work as a powerful filter for what we pay attention to, so understanding the predominant values in an organization is hugely important to breaking through the overload of information and reaching people. With these specific employee value segments, companies can better understand and respond to the uniqueness of employees, as well as their different needs in employee programs,” added Jennifer Kallery, division vice president for Insight Services at Maritz Motivation Solutions. “Overall, greater understanding will help companies design more effective and efficient reward and recognition programs, leading to happier, more engaged employees who deliver on the brand promise.”
By understanding the values held by each of these employee segments, companies can develop approaches that take into account the wants, needs and motivators for specific employee groups. This knowledge can help companies tailor communications, rules, rewards and recognition to meaningfully engage more employees in achieving the company’s mission and goals.
For more information on the Employee Values study, an infographic and details on each of the four segments, please visit www.maritz.com/Employee-Values-Study.
The latest Maritz Motivation Solutions study surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. employees across several industry sectors including financial services, technology, telecommunications, hospitality, retail, pharmaceutical and health care. Respondents included part-time and full-time employees, and explored potential differences for remote employees.
About Maritz Motivation Solutions
Based in St. Louis, Maritz Motivation Solutions is part of the Maritz family of companies. It offers full-service reward and recognition, sales incentive and channel loyalty programs to U.S. and global companies. Maritz Motivation Solutions delivers best-in-class rewards and fulfillment services, including purposefully-chosen merchandise and experiences that excite, motivate and recognize people. The people who work for Maritz Motivation Solutions are dedicated to being the best in the business, fun to work with and their clients’ most valuable ally. For more information, visit www.maritz.com/motivation or call 1 877 4-Maritz (1 877 462-7489).