The magic ingredient in effective employee recognition is authentic appreciation -- knowing how employees want to be shown that they are appreciated.
A core concept foundational to demonstrating authentic appreciation is that not everyone wants to be shown appreciation in the same ways. The Motivating by Appreciation Inventory is an online assessment that identifies the various ways individuals like to be shown appreciation at work. The concepts behind this assessment are drawn from The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. The inventory identifies an individual's primary and secondary languages of appreciation, as well as their least valued appreciation language.
Words of Affirmation are Most Desired
Employees overwhelmingly chose receiving Words of Affirmation as the primary way they like to be shown appreciation in the workplace. Of the more than 100,000 employees who have taken the Motivating by Appreciation Inventory, more than 45 percent prefer receiving verbal praise as their primary language of appreciation. Showing appreciation through words is a fairly easy thing to do, takes less effort than the other languages of appreciation, and is easy to use and to teach to others.
Tangible Gifts are the Least Desired
Fewer than 10 percent of employees identified tangible gifts as their primary language of appreciation. Employees chose tangible gifts as their least valued way to be shown appreciation nearly 70 percent of the time. Employees are not saying they don't want gifts (e.g. gift cards, going out to eat, earning a trip, earning a monetary reward) for doing good work. However, when asked to choose between the five languages of appreciation, receiving a gift is far less meaningful than appreciation communicated through the other languages. Unless the gift is complemented by the other languages, the gift feels superficial and hollow to the employee.
Knowing trends across the workforce can be helpful in understanding general employee desires for how to be shown appreciation for the work they do. The most important information is to know how your individual team members desire to be appreciated, and then actively communicate appreciation in the language and actions that speak to them.
Stop thinking that receiving rewards is highly meaningful to employees -- tangible gifts are not the primary way more than 90 percent of employees want to be shown appreciation. They would prefer some individual time and attention, help on tasks (particularly time-sensitive projects), and to hear specifically what you appreciate about them.
Source: http://www.govloop.com/community/blog/100000-employees-share-want-appreciated/
Research Report: Appreciation at Worktraining and theMotivating by Appreciation Inventory: development and validity. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/SHR-11-2015-0090