Survive the Looming Talent War with Employee Recognition

Atlanta, GA, Loyaltyworks (http://www.loyaltyworks.com) - Employee job satisfaction in the U.S. is at record lows. The prolonged economic downturn has forced many companies to cut staff and reduce benefits, leaving the remaining workers feeling overworked, undervalued and unhappy.

So what happens when the economy turns around? Many HR experts predict accelerated turnover of top talent as workers, feeling fed-up with their current situation, seek better opportunities.

To get ahead of the curve, companies should consider ramping up efforts to prevent employee burnout and boost engagement. Employee recognition plays a big part in this, but to be more meaningful than plaques and service award pins. Well-designed employee recognition programs with individualized rewards go a long way in showing appreciation to employees for a broad range of positive behaviors: being a good team player, saving costs, representing the core values of the company brand and culture, and more.

It might sound complicated, but there are systems and vendors that can help simplify the process. One example, Atlanta-based Loyaltyworks, offers full-service employee reward programs that run on their Software as a Service (SaaS) RewardTrax® platform. RewardTrax uses points as currency that employees can redeem online for travel, merchandise, tickets, live events and millions of other items. Loyaltyworks manages the technology and reward fulfillment, and provides account managers for support.

The latest version of RewardTrax offers enhanced features that increase the impact employee recognition programs have on employee morale, satisfaction and engagement:

- Manager Banks: gives managers point budgets for discretionary staff awards
- "On the Spot" awards: "instant award" certificates bearing reward codes for points
- Email recognition certificates: automatically delivered when employees are awarded points
- Peer Points: employee-to-employee point "gifting"
- Quizzes and surveys: Web-based training tools that award points for employee feedback and education
- Integrated reporting: comprehensive program budget and performance tracking

To retain valuable talent, companies should get employee recognition initiatives established and running well before the expected recovery and job market expansion. Fully supported, Web-based reward solutions like RewardTrax can help protect a company's workforce investment.

About Loyaltyworks Loyaltyworks designs, develops and manages full-service loyalty and incentive programs that produce measurable business results. For 30+ years, we have helped companies drive revenue and profit by building employee and customer loyalty and encouraging desired behaviors with rewards. For more information, visit www.loyaltyworks.com.