National audit of over 30,000 staff signals that women and men are not recognised in the same way
Milton Keynes, UK. - Monday 28th April 2014 - P&MM, an award winning rewards and recognition company that specialises in performance improvement, has released findings of a nationwide audit looking into how staff are recognised within the workplace. The findings show that women and men are not recognised in the same way and that recognition schemes may now be due for a review.
The audit of 30,857 employees across Insurance, financial services and manufacturing sectors, highlights that 63% of the UK's workforce were recognised at least once in the past 12 months when a formal scheme is in place. This recognition typically fell into one of three categories: a non-monetary ‘thank you' (30% of staff received this type of recognition); a low level monetary award (58%); and a high level monetary award (12%). Furthermore, 72% of women were formally recognised for good work compared to 57% of men.
The data also implies that there was a ‘pay gap' in the recognition schemes with more men being recognised with monetary awards rather than a thank you gesture. And this is echoed in the way in which men are more likely to offer a high value monetary award to their team (64% of all these awards are made by men) compared to 35% from women.
Despite a non-monetary ‘thank you' representing just a third (30%) of all recognition schemes in the audit, women received 53% and sent 60% of them.
Adrian Duncan, Motivation Director at P&MM, comments, "Recognition continues to be a key tool in driving motivation and performance. The audit highlights that there is an element of bias in the way in which men and women are recognised at work - and that the process of recognising staff may be more emotional rather than subjective. Traditionally, reward and recognition schemes are managed by HR departments but there is evidence that other parts of an organisation - such as sales and marketing - may also benefit from being more heavily involved in the scheme. The data highlights some important trends and it should encourage organisations to review how their recognition schemes are designed and operated."
A summary of key findings include:
- Many companies are recognising great work within their workplace - however almost 4 out of 10 staff are not getting any recognition. This opens up the possibility of poor performance and high staff churn: 63% of staff were recognised at least once and received 33,360 items of recognition
- Staff that have been recognised themselves for good work are twice more (2.29 times) likely to recognise colleagues: 28.9% of staff sent recognition, sending 29,388 items of recognition
- Companies tend to operate three levels of recognition:
- A non-monetary thank you (30%)
- A low level monetary award (58%)
- A high level monetary award (12%)
- More women than men are recognised for good work - but when recognised, men are offered monetary rewards: 64% of high value rewards are sent by men and 35% by women. 74.92% of all recognition received by men has a monetary value, compared to 64% of women.
- Non-monetary ‘thank yous' tend to be directed at women: Despite a non-monetary thank you only representing 30% of all recognition, women received 53% and sent 60% of them.
Duncan adds, "Although the audit is only a snapshot of three industry sectors, the data raises some interesting questions. Is there a bias or prejudice in the way in which our workforce is recognised? Can reward and recognition schemes be better designed so that they engage both genders better, and can empirical data help to close the gap? What is evident from the data is that gender has an influence on recognition schemes. In order to maximise and improve organisational performance - and to retain staff - it is important for organisations to review their recognition schemes and to better understand the drivers of individual behaviours. By taking a more empirical rather than emotional approach organisations can deploy a more scalable and inclusive approach to recognition and therefore engaging staff."
To download the analysis please visit www.staffmotivationmatters.co.uk/employee-recognition-analysis
Note to editors
About the P&MM audit: The analysis of recognition schemes is based on data about colleague nominations made and received by employees within nationwide recognition programmes. The sample includes 30,857 people across Insurance, Financial Services, and Manufacturing. The recognition sent and received is expressed as a proportion of audience size against each recognition award level.
About P&MM Motivation
P&MM helps private and public sector organisations to recognise their workforce by providing branded incentive schemes and flexible benefits solutions such as vouchers, reloadable gift cards and prepaid cards. P&MM's award winning recognition schemes will help to improve employee performance, engagement and talent retention, particularly when salary increases are not possible. Unlike cash incentives, P&MM schemes also provide detailed reporting to demonstrate return on investment. Headquartered in Milton Keynes, the company is part of Motivcom Group, which employs over 500 people from a wide range of specialist and vertical sector backgrounds. For further information please visit www.staffmotivationmatters.co.uk
Media contact:
Lena Ahad
Technology PR
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