Keeping your employees continuously engaged (as we discussed in last month’s issue) might seem like a time-consuming, tedious process on the surface.  There are many simple ways to address engagement, ways that take little time and effort, but reap numerous rewards and benefits in the long term.  One of these ways is recognition.

Recruiters learn a great deal about the culture and values of their different clients.  They also discover that those clients that do a great job of identifying their core values—and then practicing them—are the ones that enjoy the most success hiring and retaining superstar candidates.  When you think of core values, you might not immediately think of this one: “recognition motivates.”  Not only does it motivate, it also effectively engages employees and raises retention rates significantly.

Recently, one of my recruiting colleagues was a guest speaker for a college’s Human Resource Management class.  A segment of his talk was about recognizing and rewarding top performers.  As an example, he addressed how recognition not only motivates people to be even better, but also how it’s a highly effective retention tool.  He asked the audience members to imagine his recruiting call to two top-producing sales reps at two different companies.  For the sake of this article, let’s pretend I’m the one making the calls.

The first call goes to Adam at Company A, whose boss takes him for granted, who doesn’t hear from the CEO, and who needs a vacation.  This guy wants to talk to me.  He’s hoping that a recruiter is going to call to discuss a great opportunity, and he’s ready to interview.  He’s driven to succeed by his internal engine, but his company isn’t fueling that engine and he’s burning out.

Now imagine my call to Bill, a top-producing sales rep at Company B.  This guy was recently mentioned in the company newsletter for adding a new customer and was listed in a press release as being the #1 salesperson in his region.  In addition, he just hung the President’s Award on his office wall and came back from a rubber chicken banquet, where the CEO thanked him for his contributions while presenting the award.  Bill and his spouse are going on the company trip for award winners: five days and nights in the Bahamas, and he’s also been asked to mentor the new hire, who starts next week.

Bill is motivated, not only internally, but also because his company appreciates him.  Bill doesn’t want to interview; Bill doesn’t have time to interview.  His company is keeping him interested with new challenges and with pats on the back.

If you’re looking at recognition costs, let’s add them up.  The cost of an award to hang on the wall: $29.  The five days and nights in the Bahamas for two with airfare and spending cash: $1,500.  The value of a motivated top performer who is not only loyal and happy, but also fully engaged in his position: priceless.

Recognition motivates people to accomplish more through effective engagement, and it also helps retain talent.  Turnover is extremely costly.  It can cost tens of thousands of dollars for most positions.  Recognition is the most cost-effective motivation, engagement, and retention tool that I know.  The more ways you find to use it and the more people you use it with, the more powerful it becomes and the more prosperous your team will become.

(Recognition increases retention, but there’s no foolproof way to retain all of your top people.  The fact of the matter is that you’re still going to have turnover.  In next month’s issue, we’re going to talk about best practices in selecting and partnering with a recruiter for optimal results.)