It’s an important question. Don’t let yourself be the workplace version of the poor saps standing in line for self checkout at 5 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, holding a sad bouquet of wilted roses. But there’s a more important question out there: How do you make sure your employees feel recognized for their effort when they head home for the weekend, not only this Friday, but every Friday?

Yes, it’s a good idea to throw a little party in recognition of your employees’ hard work. But it should be extra recognition — something that spices up an appreciation employees feel all year long. In this blog, we’ll discuss how a culture of appreciation fuels worker engagement and boosts retention, insulating your business from the forces of Great Resignation and the post-pandemic world.

Disengagement is a growing trend

Before we unpack how to make employee appreciation a hallmark of your office, let’s spend a little time understanding the realities of the American workplace. First, understand that employee engagement is up. This is good news. In 2018, Gallup reported that 34% of workers said they were engaged. As of this year, that figure rose by two points to 36%. There’s some bad news, too: Active disengagement is also on the rise. Gallup reported in 2018 that 13% of workers were actively disengaged; that figure is also up by two points this year.

Gallup summed it up like this: “Historically, Gallup research has found substantial differences in intentions to change employers as a function of the quality of the work environment. The importance of this finding is magnified in the current workforce’s ‘great resignation,’ which is possibly just getting started.”

Let me put that in simpler terms. Employees are more likely to jump ship when their work life sucks. Among Gallup participants who said they were actively disengaged this year, a whopping 74% said they were actively looking for new gigs or watching for openings. The same was true of 55% of unengaged employees and 30% of engaged ones. Yikes.

Getting to know you

If workers are more inclined to leave their jobs when they’re unengaged, the next question is obvious: How do we boost engagement?

Workplace experts tackled this question exactly in October for the Harvard Business Review. They concluded that employers increase engagement when they help employees connect what they do to what they care about.

This task requires sustained effort. It also requires a deep knowledge of employees. Consider your rockstar employees: Do you know what fuels them? Do you know what motivates them to show up each day and do their best? Do you know what challenges them?

Don’t limit employee appreciation to one day

Here’s my challenge to you: Plan your appreciation day — your cupcakes, your gift cards, your free vacation days — but put aside extra time to strategize how your organization will take appreciation to a new level.

The research pulls no punches. Employees will delve into their jobs when they feel connected to their work, when they sense they’re contributing to something bigger. Get to know your employees, build a culture that communicates how much you value them, and reap the rewards all year long.

To find out how PeopleBest can serve your team, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies.

Employers have shown heroic effort in the face of real and lasting challenges in the last two years. 

We’ve dealt with overnight transformation as the COVID-19 pandemic threw our operations out the window. We’ve installed plexiglass partitions, handed out masks and worried over vaccine policies. We’ve herded new employees in the door as tried and trusted staff took off for good. 

As the staffing situation gets more complicated, employers are realizing that the talent game is about more than filling roles. It’s about finding the right people and tending to them correctly. It’s a big task, and one that most organizations are botching. 

PeopleBest offers a path forward. In this white paper, we will explore three ways a holistic talent system powers your people decisions. 

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  Envision your talent goals and learn how a system can help you achieve them.

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  See how talent systems use data to generate insight. 

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  Learn to assess a talent system’s functions and judge for success.

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PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies

That may sound impossible — it’s definitely ironic. But emerging research says it’s true. HR tech company Beamery recently reported that 39% of workers are more likely to work through sickness from home. And a quarter said they believe sick days themselves are a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, data from the U.K. revealed that the country’s sickness absence rate fell to 1.8% in 2020 — the lowest recorded level since the country began reporting the data in 1995.

Companies may be excited by this prospect: Workers are getting stuff done, even when they’ve got the sniffles. But encouraging workers to push through on their crummiest days may cost companies in the long run.

Burnout is contagious — and spreading fast

Workers are burned out. In a November 2021 survey from Eagle Hill, 56% of women and 51% of men said they are burned out at work. Among younger workers, reports of burnout are even higher; 62% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 said they are fatigued at work.

When workplaces encourage employees to forgo the occasional sick day — even if it’s for a mild head cold — they tell workers that their health comes second to their productivity. In a talent market that’s being bowled over by the Great Resignation, that’s not the message employers want to send.

Lead by example (no, really)

Employers need to pick a sick day policy and live by it. Maybe your company gives workers unlimited time off and trusts employees to take the time off when they need it. Works for me. Or maybe you tell workers they’ve got two weeks for sick time. It’s fine either way.

The important thing is to model the policy. Workers will not take the rules seriously if leaders and managers don’t model them. Your managers need to send out an offline notice when they’ve taken the day off to recover from food poisoning. They need to let their teams know when they need a mental health day.

Use behavior data to help the stragglers

Some workers won’t get this, even with perfect modeling from managers and leaders. When you run into these employees, it’s important to take a step back and look for broader issues. You may have a star performer who believes their success is rooted in perfection. If they have a hard time taking a sick day, they’re not likely to take any vacation either. Soon your best employee is burned out and considering a new gig.

Behavior data can help illuminate potential problems like this one. To find out how PeopleBest can flag great work and room for improvement on your team, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies

When the coronavirus began its first sweep through the U.S., the country transformed, almost overnight.

Suddenly, people were conducting their whole lives from the confines of their homes. Working, learning, shopping, eating, playing, praying — it all happened right there in the living room.

Normalcy disappeared and challenges took root. Adults reported worsening mental health conditions, linking depression, anxiety and other difficulties to the pandemic and its consequences.

The coronavirus pushed people to new levels of strength. That demand hasn’t faded, especially with the omicron variant’s nationwide sweep. Amid the tragic losses and frustrating inconveniences the pandemic caused, Americans have had to cope. Emerging research is beginning to examine the factors that allowed people to get through the enormous challenge that was and is the COVID-19 pandemic. One recent report spotted a fascinating connection: behavior’s role in resilience.

Can behaviours predict coping?

A study published earlier this year by the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences studied the relationship between the pandemic and human behavior. The researchers considered about 500 young adults living in North America and found direct links between habits and positive and negative coping responses.

The research revealed, for example, that individuals who demonstrated strong emotionality and extroversion were more likely to seek socioemotional support. Participants whose behaviors featured conscientiousness were more ready to adapt COVID-19 safety measures.

The report suggested a connection between personality and negative coping mechanisms, too. Individuals who lacked honesty or humility demonstrated behaviors like increased substance use. The researchers linked low openness to experience with a resistance to emerging science and a hesitancy to problem solve.

Coping beyond the pandemic

As the pandemic continues to unfold, Americans continue to cope. On a large scale, they cope with continuing cases, economic frustrations and health implications. Everyday Americans like you and me also continue to cope with the small and large challenges our lives offer.

Our behaviours offer us insight into how we might deal with those challenges. How will we meet the frustration of an incapable coworker? Will we step up to the plate when the car breaks down, again? The answers to those questions are wrapped up in our behaviours.

Tools and tricks

Our behaviors may hold a lot of information about why we do what we do, but that doesn’t mean we must accept those answers once and for all. Today, the tools exist to help us learn about our personalities and channel our strengths and weaknesses into resilience. My poor crisis response may stand in my way in an emergency, but my vitality will sustain me when the going gets tough.

To find out how PeopleBest can help you and your team learn more about your behaviours, book a demo and set up a time to chat with one of our specialists.

PeopleBest is a revolutionary, simple and powerful way to capture the exact ‘DNA of success’ inside people, teams and companies.