I was just listening to an interview with Aubrey Daniels who was commenting on Daniel Pinks TED presentation
He says that human nature has not changed for 1000s of years.
A few weeks ago we received the survey results back. More than 3000 people gave us feedback on the current state of Reward and Recognition in businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
The basic premise - 'Managers are driving employees away'. 70% of an employees engagement is determined by their immediate supervisor according to Hay Group. The RedBalloon research wanted to establish why this is the case.
It appears 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. Managers are in the spotlight after 62 percent of employees have rated them as 'not good' at delivering specific and timely praise.
52% of the respondents said that, not receiving any recognition would be a contributing factor in their decision to leave their organizations, and 28 percent would leave if they were not receiving any recognition at all.
There is a fundamental requirement for people to feel that they belong and that the organization notices what they contribute. People have a choice - and they would rather work with a direct manager who appreciates them. Otherwise they will go elsewhere and find a manager who will.
The study found that managers do not know their people. Two thirds across all generations are convinced their managers don't know what motivates them.
Without a formal recognition program in place, recognition is left up to the direct manager, - and respondents tell us that that means that recognition doesn't happen. Recognition has become subjective, only if the manager remembers. This is not good enough.
Recognition is a powerful driver.
As leaders we need to support managers, with resources, training, information on WHY recognition is such a critical part of commercial results - but also give them the tools on HOW to make people feel great.
Managers need to be empowered to say thanks, and given the tools to do it. It has to be part of 'how we do things around here.'
For a copy of the full survey results


Let the numbers speak for themselves.
We've finished the report from our recent survey and we heard from 3,053 employees on how well their managers and companies perform when it comes to recognizing and rewarding them, and what the impacts are. We also uncover the secret to what employees really want.
It might be worth downloading the full report
Below are some of the key findings... But the biggest outcome I got from reading the results - is we are not finished yet. There is so much work to be done. Engagement is a journey that many organizations are just starting - and have a long and rocky road ahead of them. We need to support managers with tools, training and strategic imperative.. to make recognition as important as commercial rigor - they are of course one in the same thing.
Key Findings:
Praise is not frequent enough - One in five employees does not receive any praise at all or at best, it only happens once per year. And 62% of managers are rated as "Poor" or just "Satisfactory" at delivering specific and timely praise.
Managers are driving employees away - 52% of employees say not receiving recognition would contribute to them leaving a company.
Managers don't know their people - two thirds of employees are convinced their managers don't know what motivates them to be more productive.
Recognition means the most from the manager - Close to half of employees surveyed want to be recognised directly by their manager on a one-on-one basis.
Only one in three companies were rated as being "Excellent" or "Good" at rewarding and recognising their employees.
Employees want to receive rewards that involve spending time doing activities and sharing experiences with friends or family (55%).