Managers have missed the point when it comes to acknowledging and appreciating their employees for their hard work and contribution and this will cause employees to jump ship, recent research has found.
The research, which took in 3053 employees, found that 62 per cent rated their managers as “very poor”, “poor” or just “satisfactory” when it came to delivering specific and timely praise.
A further 28 per cent said they would leave if they were not receiving any recognition at all.
Naomi Simson, CEO of RedBalloon, which conducted the research, said many managers are taking too much of a head in the sand of an approach to leading people.
“The problem will go away – people will simply leave. Moment by moment managers simply must recognise their people, it is a business imperative,” Simson said.
“When the market delivers such a challenging time it is essential for an organisation to know its people are behind them and truly engaged in what it is trying to achieve.”
The survey also found that two-thirds of employees across all generations are convinced their managers don’t know what motivates them to be more productive, proving managers needed to take the time to get to know what inspires and drives their people.
A further 70 per cent of employees said the level of praise they received from their manager depended on the priorities of the manager and the manager’s style, and only 30 per cent said they received praise because it was company policy.
“Organisations cannot afford to put lip service to this – any acknowledgement needs to be authentic, personal and relevant to a specific activity. Saying ‘Thanks’ and ‘You’re a good bloke’ is not enough. People need to know what they did specifically that contributed to a business result,” Simson said.
