What are the greatest challenges that organizations face today in the field of workforce management? That is the question asked in a survey of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) entitled Employee Recognition Programs made in collaboration with the consulting company Globoforce. 770 HR professionals randomly selected from SHRM members in companies with more than 500 employees, 52% of which operate only in the U.S. and 48% are multinational, participated in the study. The survey was conducted in December 2011 and January 2012.
Two thirds of organizations (63%) consider emaployee engagement a very important challenge. 57% mentioned employee retention and 51% effective performance management. Other "very important challenges" included recruitment (49%) and corporate culture management(45%).
As far as employee engagement measuring, 42% of organizations measute their employee engagement. Most common measurement methods include questionnaires prepared in cooperation with vendors (66%), exit interviews with employees (65%) and measuring the retention of employees (60%). Organizations that measure employee engagement often reward their people according to their performance. They also more often report that their managers effectively recognize and reward their people and their employees are satisfied with the recognition that they receive.
Return on investment in employee recognition programs are measured in 15% of organizations. Most measured cathegories include levels of staff retention (74%), overall financial results (61%) and levels of employee productivity (60%).
Almost three quarters (76%) of organizations surveyed have an employee recognition program. 76% of them confirmed the link between this program and corporate values. Other 5% of organizations plan introducing such program in the next 12 months.
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