Employee recognition programs keep the press busy too!

Sure, as a printer you want your clients to provide you with marketing communications, signage, packaging and other critical projects to keep your presses busy. What about something more seemingly mundane – printed products that support employee recognition programs? It’s something we don’t hear much about (especially from small and medium-sized businesses), and yet the benefits of such programs are clear.

The documented benefits of employee recognition programs include…

• Higher employee morale
• Higher employee productivity
• Greater employee retention

As these numbers grow, so do company performance. Happy employees are more productive employees, and when happy employees choose to stay with a company longer, it benefits everyone. Hiring, onboarding and training new employees is expensive.

This is a huge opportunity for printers to engage customers in a variety of projects, from promotional items to personalized gift boxes to signs and banners. Thanking an employee can take many forms, and printers can help with many of them!

Employee recognition data

Let’s look at some of the latest data on employee recognition:

• 63% of employees do not feel appreciated at work, and 39% of employees do not feel appreciated at all. (Achievements, 2023)
• Recognition is the third most important factor in employee satisfaction, after job security and remuneration. (SHRM, 2023)
• 77% of employees said they would work harder if they felt better recognized. (TINYpuls, 2023)

Consequences of poor morale

What happens if this doesn’t happen? When do employees not feel appreciated? Summary in the great SelectSoftware Reviews article:

Decreased job satisfaction: A study by staffing firm OfficeTeam found that 66% of employees would leave their job if they felt underappreciated.

Increased turnover: The same study found that 51% of employees would leave their job if they did not feel appreciated.

Reduced productivity: A Gallup poll found that only one in three U.S. workers strongly agree that they have been recognized or praised for good work in the past seven days. Lack of recognition can lead to decreased motivation and productivity.

Increased stress in the workplace: Lack of recognition can contribute to increased stress and burnout among employees. A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that employees who don’t feel appreciated are twice as likely to say they experience high levels of stress.

It doesn’t have to be complicated

Creating an employee recognition program doesn’t have to be complicated. Even something as simple as congratulating employees on their work anniversary can add two years to the average length of service in an organization (OC Tanner). When the average cost of hiring and onboarding a new employee is almost $5,000, that’s real money.

What are some ideas for using print for employee recognition? You know what your specializations are. Find a way to position your production within one of these programs. “Employee of the Month” banners or milestone banners; personalized awards such as personalized plaques and trophies; banners, posters and table tents to decorate spaces for larger employee recognition events such as awards ceremonies, team lunches or holiday parties.

So use what you have. After all, research shows that while employees prefer some types of recognition over others, what they receive is much less important than the fact that they are recognized.