“Unless you’ve been under a rock, employee engagement is a hot topic,” said Matthew Willis, senior vice president, North America of Advantage Club. 

In a talk at From Day One’s 2023 Silicon Valley conference, Willis stressed his love for “employee engagement, or the employee experience, culture, or whatever it is we're calling it today.” 

Advantage Club currently works with companies such as Target, H&M, and Bausch + Lomb to run their in-house recognition programs, but intends to take a more prominent role in the coming year as a branded provider of employee recognition and engagement programs.  

“Think of it as an Uber for recognition, mindfulness, and wellness,” he said. 

According to Willis, with 45 percent of employees working from home, and the average cost of hire in the United States at $4,700, the most critical factor for people in talent acquisition, human resources, or people strategy is the employee experience. Because of these numbers and the data from employee satisfaction scores, companies are paying more attention to this issue, or they should be.

“Talent acquisition teams are kicking and scratching to get people in, and the job market is still very hot,” Willis said. “So, all of a sudden, the chief executive officer who said, ‘Yes, I was interested in the Employee Satisfaction scores (ESAT), and I'm interested in turnover,’ is now saying, ‘I'm interested in turnover and the ESAT scores, but I'm also interested in our employee net satisfaction score.’”

Companies have always been attentive as to whether their customers refer them, but Willis said that businesses are now focused on whether their employees will do the same. As a result, leaders are assessing engagement surveys and analyzing data using metrics that were overlooked three or five years ago. 

“What we're getting, as a result of this, is a kind of human resources tech boom and the macroeconomics of talent,” Willis said. “We're getting a spotlight on employee engagement, experience, and culture.”

Willis said that this moment could be a unique time for professionals who live and breathe this information. But there is a caveat. 

“The information can be skewed in a lot of different ways,” Willis said. “What we do know is that 90 percent of businesses indicate they recognize their employees.”

Working against this data, Willis said, are the statistics showing that 40 percent of employees said they had not been adequately recognized by their supervisor in the past, and 65 percent say they have yet to receive any recognition at all.

“So we think we're doing a good job, but if you ask the front lines, we're not,” he said.

Willis acknowledges the challenges that come with employees working from home, asking for flexible scheduling, and still wanting to feel like they belong. Also, although compensation is the number-one motivator for workers, employees are showing they need more recognition and credit, as well. And only 21 percent of global employees are engaged at work.

“What does that mean on an active weekly basis?” Willis asked. “It means employees are not getting involved with company activities. So, we know there's disengagement, there's silent quitting, there's career cushioning. And there are the layoffs.” These are tough problems for leaders to solve. 

Conflicting data points make it difficult to find immediate answers, but identifying employees’ needs is the first step. 

Willis says that recognition culture is rooted in hearing employees, celebrating successes, and creating a feedback loop to create a healthy employee experience and increased engagement. 

Relating recognition to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Willis adds that, as you address employees’ needs, their motivation rises.

“This is consistent in all companies,” he said. “I don't care if your company size is 100 or 250,000.”

Willis also notes recurring themes in employee satisfaction surveys: “I want the opportunity for growth. I want a sense of belonging. I want to believe in the company or product,” he reiterated. “We’re seeing a greater need for flexibility and scheduling in the workplace. And we're literally seeing the words ‘recognizing, achieving, belonging’ more, and more, and more.”

He stresses that this input predicts a company’s turnover and that leaders should take responsibility for the outcomes.

Willis also points out that the six predictors of job satisfaction, according to Gallup, are culture, autonomy, growth, opportunities, flexibility, purpose, and recognition. However, he cautions that employees’ needs differ depending on factors like generation, business function, and location.

“Paying more attention to employees’ needs creates avenues for recognition,” he said, adding that top companies are working on monetary and non-monetary recognition and celebration across channels. This type of recognition can look like acknowledging work anniversaries or birthdays. There is also value-based recognition, when employees receive badges or rewards for living up to a company’s core values. 

Cultural commitment is also something that can be recognized. “What is our culture?” asked Willis. “Let's ask what we want to see in our culture. Then, let's start recognizing those things,” he said. “Not just with a sales quota for the quarter. How about service? How about above-and-beyond awards? We're creating those awards, and then we're celebrating across the organization.” 

Willis and Advantage Club are seeing flexible awards and point systems in larger companies with 250,000 employees and above. Swag is still essential, but it’s thoughtful swag. More importantly, they see rewards like online team building, online communities, experiences, wellness, and non-traditional benefits like pet care or self-care. 

Having buy-in from your leadership and CEO is crucial, Willis adds. Using data and tying the employee experience to metrics is critical, but you have to get support from the top. 

“Our job is to manage up during this time, as well as sideways, and use data. We have to tie it to metrics,” he said. “And no matter how we slice this or dice that, we may have all the data in the world, but if you have the CEO who has not bought in, it's going to be very difficult.”

Willis says the time is now to use recognition and awards to your advantage in your company. If you have the ear of your executives, use it; if not, tie the metrics to turnover rates or absenteeism. 

“To get executive buy-in, track what you normally do, but then say, ‘We're gonna adopt this new engagement platform,’” he said. “‘And at this point, we're going to tie that into our turnover rates. We're going to anchor that to absenteeism.’”

Feedback loops embedded into engagement events create communities, Willis says. One way to be successful in this strategy is to have an engagement manager. 

“You can create exciting, fun activities aligned with the cultural values,” he said. “You have to keep things fresh. We have an engagement manager for a number of our clients, and they meet with you every month.”

The pandemic changed many things about how we work, and Willis says that innovation is at an all-time high in the HR tech world. But employees speaking up about their challenges and needs is primary. 

“We’ve been talking about engagement and recognition for years,” he said. “All of a sudden, we are feeling the pain, and our employees are telling us about that pain.”

The beauty of hearing this message from employees so clearly is that we can do something about it.

“At the end of the day, I'm going to join an organization where I can thrive and where I love the culture,” Willis said. “The companies that don’t step on the gas with employee experience and engagement will be outpaced by those that do.”

Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Advantage Club, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. 

Krista Sherer is a strategic communications consultant with a background in journalism and corporate communications. She resides in Sebastopol, Calif.