I was recently talking with the HR Director of a leading Australian Insurance firm - you know, one of those which is currently either owned, part owned, about to be bought out or merged, and it was little wonder that she told me staff chats around the kitchen area have deferred to an hourly stock watch on their company’s performance and what it meant to their job.

A slip in staff morale and confidence in these tough economic times is starting to bite and will no doubt impact on an organisation’s productivity in the year ahead.

Managers and Executives have a corporate responsibility to strategically manage their staff through these times, ensuring that they are honoured and respected for the job they do. But this must be more than words. Leaders must embrace the culture of recognition from the top down.

Staff will sense a genuine effort by management to buy into a reward and recognition program and respond accordingly. They can also smell a false attempt a mile away!

I encourage organisations to formalise recognition awards, maintain staff training programs and create new and dynamic ways of communicating this so that staff morale remains high through these uncertain times and productivity does not waiver.

More can be read on this subject through an article I found online:

Incentive Magazine Newsletter – October 22. 2008
Recognition for the real world - By Jeanie Casison