Looking for the best workers in the marketplace? Many are already part of your corporate family, but what are you doing to keep them happy? Great talent might stay with a company for years or constantly seek out opportunities and leave after a short stint. So how can you ensure your best employees stay put? Take a good look at how your organization embraces recognition and engagement.

performance recognition a great motivator.

Especially among today’s millennials and Gen Z workers, employees find recognition of their work highly inspiring. This should be something your corporate culture strives to achieve throughout every department. As HR expert Susan Heathfield says, ''As a manager or supervisor, your impact on employee motivation is immeasurable.''[1] By giving a nod to outstanding performance or consistently reliable effort, you create a workplace that fosters hard work and a high level of engagement. On the other hand, if your managers aren’t being encouraging every day, you’ll see motivation drop and loyalty wavering. It can be a downward spiral that can significantly hurt morale and your employer brand. Reward and recognition programs more than pay for themselves so consider appropriate resources for them.

engage rises with appropriate use of skills.

Are your workers’ skills aligned to their jobs? One of the most important ways of keeping your workforce engaged is making sure workers feel accomplished in their roles. New hires expect employers to appropriately use their skills, but that doesn’t always happen. As author Barry Schwartz writes in his book "Why We Work," ''(Employee's) work day offers them a measure of autonomy and discretion. And they use that (...) to achieve a level of mastery or expertise. They learn new things, developing both as workers and as people.'' [2] It’s important to foster a sense of achievement among your employees, and only by putting their skills to work will you ensure this happens. Managers who ignore this important consideration can lead to his team to feel inadequate and unengaged. 

Organizations need to regularly assess the capabilities of their workers and the work they perform. Considering the rapid pace in which workplaces are evolving today, driven largely by digital transformation, you may be at risk of losing the attention of your workers. However, when stimulated and properly challenged in their daily routine, they will perform at a higher level and engage colleagues as well.


[1] Susan M. Heathfield, ''Tips for the leader about employee motivation'', internet, https://www.thebalance.com/building-employee-motivation-morale-1918764
[2] Anne Quito, ''Why Work? A psychologist explains the deeper meaning of your daily grind'', internet, https://qz.com/