Employee Recognition and Appreciation

Can robots have emotions?

Well we are in a fast paced environment witness huge technical transformation and literally a part of the silicon revolution. Processes done by humans are being automated, replaced with robotics and Artificial Intelligence ( AI Technology ) replacing human interactions. We are moving towards a work places where we may have robots doing our jobs.

However there is one element that can never be replaced by any exotic robot or the most complex, hybrid artificial intelligence. It can never have emotions. This is what differentiates humans from robots right!!!

How would you recognise an employee if you cannot emotionally connect with them or the effort gone into what they have done or delivered? Building healthy relationships with employees is critical to seamless functioning within a team or an organisation. Imagine a situation where you have a parent who’s critically or under long hospital treatment and your manager never asks a word but just asks you to deliver the tasks at hand. You feel so worthless and stop caring about your job, resulting in average or not-so-good performance at work. This is what makes employee recognition extremely important in a work place where we don’t just mean business…we care !

Employee recognition is also a great way to build relationships at work where you appreciate the effort somebody has taken. There are different ways to recognise an employee’s work either through some team emails-sharing their story, or appreciation in a morning huddle. It is also important for managers to not feel insecure of their team and if there are any bright cookies in the team. You have to selflessly appreciate when they deserve it. We are not robots after all…

It’s in those small gestures or deeds that lies great happiness. Even small words of appreciation can go a long way in building lasting relationships. The better the teammates get alone, lesser the conflicts within the team which is very important in delivering expectations and taking businesses forward. From a management perspective they are the hygiene or the pull factors that can help retain talent and reduce attrition levels. It can also link back to one of our old topics on whether a good boss in a bad company is still better than a bad boss in a good company. If you are not appreciated or motivated enough to work then it is going to impact every fibre of your well being both personally and professionally.

There are plenty of ways of recognising employees. To name a few could be awarding points, e- cards, gift cards, quarterly events so better use of social media. Most large organisations have well-structured rewards and recognition programmes. For example during my stint at an MNC bank I have been nominated for a quarterly event to participate in high tea for adding value to my team. There were also the reward points and we all had an allocated budget for it where we had to compulsorily and generously give to our peers in an effort to recognise their contribution. It’s the smaller companies that can sometimes struggle to keep up with recognising employees sufficiently enough.

At the end of the day we are all human. We like to be appreciated or recognised for what we do. Small children get stickers in school for their good work. We all have a child within us…don’t we ??