Employee engagement
Employee retention

Employee Retention and Turnover Solutions

Jessica Collins
January 27, 2020
0min

To solve employee turnover, we look at employee retention best practices and organization-specific strategies.

Current best practice is to improve the employee experience in order to increase employee engagement and retention—and all the other great things that come with them, like improved business performance.

The CMO of People maps the employee experience from the employee’s perspective instead of HR’s perspective. This small shift can help focus efforts on a great experience instead of an efficient process.

Even before someone is hired, they can begin to experience the passion of the leadership, the camaraderie of the workplace, and the inspiration of the organization’s purpose.

An employee value proposition (EVP) articulates what a person gains by working for you. Defining and communicating your EVP improves both recruitment and retention.

Gartner reports that organizations that effectively deliver on their EVP can decrease turnover by nearly 70%. They identify five key categories of a strong EVP:

  • Rewards includes compensation, health benefits, and recognition awards
  • Work includes person-job fit and work-life balance
  • Opportunity includes career and development opportunities
  • People includes coworkers, managers, and senior leaders
  • Organization includes product quality and social responsibility

Starting day one, you will want your employees to experience the EVP throughout their time with your company. These are all opportunities to engage and retain your talent - or not.

That said, when it comes to turnover in your unique organization, a general best practice may not be the answer. The solution depends on the problem.

Your retention efforts will be more effective (and cost-effective) if they are tailored to the critical people at risk of leaving. Based on who these critical people are and the reasons they are at risk of leaving, consider the following strategies to reduce employee turnover.

How much could your organization save on employee turnover each year? Use our Cost of Turnover Calculator to find out. 

Total rewards

Compensation has less to do with retention than most people believe. However, it is a major factor in deciding between job offers.

If an employee is recruited by another company that offers higher pay, that could be a key reason they leave. The same goes for benefits and perks—vacation time may not be why employees stay, but it could be why some leave.

Therefore, regularly benchmark your total rewards against your competition for talent. Also, listen to employee feedback on what they value. That said, avoid competing on pay and giving employees every perk they ask for. It’s unsustainable, with diminishing returns.

What you can do is make sure that your employees are recognized for the hard work they do. Everybody prefers to be appreciated in a specific way, which is why we recommend checking out our study with SurveyMonkey about the five languages of appreciation. Rewards isn’t just about monetary amounts—it’s also about building trust, making others feel seen, and providing a positive employee experience.

Onboarding

Many people quit because the job wasn’t what they expected. Before hiring someone, ensure you are providing them realistic previews of the job and work environment.

Then, use your first impression wisely. Essentially, you want to affirm their decision to join the company. Make their first day special, make them feel welcome!

Next, set them up for success. People quit when they feel neglected, overwhelmed, under-qualified, or under-trained.

Be extra clear with new hires about the role and expectations. Ensure they have enough access to their supervisor when they have questions. No matter how brilliant they are, everyone has a learning curve in the beginning.

Finally, socialization into the culture is the biggest missed opportunity in onboarding. Incorporate culture into your onboarding program. Integrate formal and informal opportunities to build connections with co-workers. A buddy or mentor program is a common approach that gives the employee someone to go to with the less technical, more “how do you use the espresso machine?” kind of guidance.

For more tips on effective onboarding, check out our webinar: Employee Appreciation Starts with Onboarding.

Leadership

There’s no denying how important managers are. Supervisors play a key role in most retention drivers. That’s why enabling leaders to be their best is so important.

New managers need training, coaching, and support. They need the information and tools to lead their teams. For more details, read our summary of a strong leadership toolkit.

Apart from the role they play in retaining employees, it is critical to retain leaders! Don’t assume that just because they’re higher up in the career ladder, that they need less appreciation for their hard work. A good place to start is by recognizing your leaders.

Plus, don’t forget about your most senior leaders. PwC’s Strategy& reported turnover among CEOs at the world’s largest companies at 17.5% in 2018, a record high in 19 years. These senior leaders can leave huge information gaps in their wake if they leave, so don’t just assume they’re here to stay.

Most of the time a CEO leaves, it’s a planned succession. However, successor CEOs tend to deliver lower performance and shorter tenures. Which makes it all the more important to retain, engage, and prepare the people in your succession pipeline.

Learning and development

We love this quote from Peter Baeklund:

A CFO asks a CEO: "What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?"

The CEO responds: "What happens if we don’t and they stay?”

Development shouldn’t stop after an employee is trained to meet the expectations of the role. When you provide your people with the time, encouragement, and access to learning, then you are helping them to feel valued and that the company cares about their personal success. Bonus points if these employees are continually recognized for their ambition.

Based on the budget and function, this could be in the form of an online learning platform, conferences, job shadowing, mentorship, and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.

Development should also be the focus of your performance management program. (By the way, we have a complete guide on that, too.)

Recognition

To provide the feedback that employees want, combine performance development with recognition. Josh Bersin reports that the top 20% of “recognition-rich” companies have 31% lower voluntary turnover rates.

When employees feel under appreciated, Robert Half found two thirds of employees would leave their jobs. Gallup found they were twice as likely to quit within a year.

Moral of the story: when you recognize and appreciate your employees, they’re more likely to stick around—and be more engaged, productive team members as well. Find information and benefits about effective recognition in The Guide to Modern Employee Recognition.

Growth and advancement

Growth encompasses the opportunity to contribute more, whether it’s a promotion or greater participation in decision making. Without changing jobs, employees can find growth through greater meaning in the work and greater contribution to the organizational purpose.

In a survey of over 2,000 professionals, over 90% would trade pay for meaning. On average, they would be willing to earn 23% less in their lifetime. They would even learn less just for a manager who cared about them having meaningful work.

When employees have meaning, they are more productive and take less time off. The study estimates this generates an additional $9,078 per worker for the company, every year. Furthermore, turnover risk reduces by 24% when shared purpose is combined with social support.

Any job has room for creativity and meaning. Focusing on the people that the employee helps. Create a shared purpose with the team. Consider job crafting, which allows employees to redesign or reframe their job.

In addition, look for ways to facilitate internal mobility. This could be as simple as ensuring employees are aware of job openings. This can be supported by encouraging one-on-one discussions with managers about developing skills for future jobs.

Wellness and work-life balance

Investing in wellness shows that the company cares about its people, which increases their satisfaction with the workplace. It also happens to improve the bottom line.

This is another area that depends on the needs of your unique employee population, paying close attention to those at most risk of attrition. Examples can be subsidized transit passes, free healthy snacks, or a wellness spending account.

The most important place to instill wellness is in the culture. On-site yoga classes won’t feel very genuine if employees fear they’ll look bad for leaving their desk to participate. Look in your day-to-day interactions and workflows for ways to support well-being.

Work-life balance is a priority and a challenge for pretty much everyone who works. Many are moving to more of a work-life integration or blend.

This had led to high demand for flexible work arrangements, which can save costs and increase productivity but can also introduce new challenges.

Figure out what makes sense for your organization and how to support it from the culture up. How about checking out Bonusly’s employee recognition and rewards platform? Join us for a demo to learn more about how you can start building a highly engaged organizational culture.

Otherwise, Chapter 5 of our Ultimate Guide to Employee Retention gives you a rundown of the best HR tech tools on the market.

Table of Contents
Free Trial! No credit card required.
Get started with a Free Trial to see how effective & engaging our platform is. You'll get the full Bonusly experience like any paid user would. Invite teammates, & start recognizing & rewarding today!

To solve employee turnover, we look at employee retention best practices and organization-specific strategies.

Current best practice is to improve the employee experience in order to increase employee engagement and retention—and all the other great things that come with them, like improved business performance.

The CMO of People maps the employee experience from the employee’s perspective instead of HR’s perspective. This small shift can help focus efforts on a great experience instead of an efficient process.

Even before someone is hired, they can begin to experience the passion of the leadership, the camaraderie of the workplace, and the inspiration of the organization’s purpose.

An employee value proposition (EVP) articulates what a person gains by working for you. Defining and communicating your EVP improves both recruitment and retention.

Gartner reports that organizations that effectively deliver on their EVP can decrease turnover by nearly 70%. They identify five key categories of a strong EVP:

  • Rewards includes compensation, health benefits, and recognition awards
  • Work includes person-job fit and work-life balance
  • Opportunity includes career and development opportunities
  • People includes coworkers, managers, and senior leaders
  • Organization includes product quality and social responsibility

Starting day one, you will want your employees to experience the EVP throughout their time with your company. These are all opportunities to engage and retain your talent - or not.

That said, when it comes to turnover in your unique organization, a general best practice may not be the answer. The solution depends on the problem.

Your retention efforts will be more effective (and cost-effective) if they are tailored to the critical people at risk of leaving. Based on who these critical people are and the reasons they are at risk of leaving, consider the following strategies to reduce employee turnover.

How much could your organization save on employee turnover each year? Use our Cost of Turnover Calculator to find out. 

Total rewards

Compensation has less to do with retention than most people believe. However, it is a major factor in deciding between job offers.

If an employee is recruited by another company that offers higher pay, that could be a key reason they leave. The same goes for benefits and perks—vacation time may not be why employees stay, but it could be why some leave.

Therefore, regularly benchmark your total rewards against your competition for talent. Also, listen to employee feedback on what they value. That said, avoid competing on pay and giving employees every perk they ask for. It’s unsustainable, with diminishing returns.

What you can do is make sure that your employees are recognized for the hard work they do. Everybody prefers to be appreciated in a specific way, which is why we recommend checking out our study with SurveyMonkey about the five languages of appreciation. Rewards isn’t just about monetary amounts—it’s also about building trust, making others feel seen, and providing a positive employee experience.

Onboarding

Many people quit because the job wasn’t what they expected. Before hiring someone, ensure you are providing them realistic previews of the job and work environment.

Then, use your first impression wisely. Essentially, you want to affirm their decision to join the company. Make their first day special, make them feel welcome!

Next, set them up for success. People quit when they feel neglected, overwhelmed, under-qualified, or under-trained.

Be extra clear with new hires about the role and expectations. Ensure they have enough access to their supervisor when they have questions. No matter how brilliant they are, everyone has a learning curve in the beginning.

Finally, socialization into the culture is the biggest missed opportunity in onboarding. Incorporate culture into your onboarding program. Integrate formal and informal opportunities to build connections with co-workers. A buddy or mentor program is a common approach that gives the employee someone to go to with the less technical, more “how do you use the espresso machine?” kind of guidance.

For more tips on effective onboarding, check out our webinar: Employee Appreciation Starts with Onboarding.

Leadership

There’s no denying how important managers are. Supervisors play a key role in most retention drivers. That’s why enabling leaders to be their best is so important.

New managers need training, coaching, and support. They need the information and tools to lead their teams. For more details, read our summary of a strong leadership toolkit.

Apart from the role they play in retaining employees, it is critical to retain leaders! Don’t assume that just because they’re higher up in the career ladder, that they need less appreciation for their hard work. A good place to start is by recognizing your leaders.

Plus, don’t forget about your most senior leaders. PwC’s Strategy& reported turnover among CEOs at the world’s largest companies at 17.5% in 2018, a record high in 19 years. These senior leaders can leave huge information gaps in their wake if they leave, so don’t just assume they’re here to stay.

Most of the time a CEO leaves, it’s a planned succession. However, successor CEOs tend to deliver lower performance and shorter tenures. Which makes it all the more important to retain, engage, and prepare the people in your succession pipeline.

Learning and development

We love this quote from Peter Baeklund:

A CFO asks a CEO: "What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?"

The CEO responds: "What happens if we don’t and they stay?”

Development shouldn’t stop after an employee is trained to meet the expectations of the role. When you provide your people with the time, encouragement, and access to learning, then you are helping them to feel valued and that the company cares about their personal success. Bonus points if these employees are continually recognized for their ambition.

Based on the budget and function, this could be in the form of an online learning platform, conferences, job shadowing, mentorship, and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.

Development should also be the focus of your performance management program. (By the way, we have a complete guide on that, too.)

Recognition

To provide the feedback that employees want, combine performance development with recognition. Josh Bersin reports that the top 20% of “recognition-rich” companies have 31% lower voluntary turnover rates.

When employees feel under appreciated, Robert Half found two thirds of employees would leave their jobs. Gallup found they were twice as likely to quit within a year.

Moral of the story: when you recognize and appreciate your employees, they’re more likely to stick around—and be more engaged, productive team members as well. Find information and benefits about effective recognition in The Guide to Modern Employee Recognition.

Growth and advancement

Growth encompasses the opportunity to contribute more, whether it’s a promotion or greater participation in decision making. Without changing jobs, employees can find growth through greater meaning in the work and greater contribution to the organizational purpose.

In a survey of over 2,000 professionals, over 90% would trade pay for meaning. On average, they would be willing to earn 23% less in their lifetime. They would even learn less just for a manager who cared about them having meaningful work.

When employees have meaning, they are more productive and take less time off. The study estimates this generates an additional $9,078 per worker for the company, every year. Furthermore, turnover risk reduces by 24% when shared purpose is combined with social support.

Any job has room for creativity and meaning. Focusing on the people that the employee helps. Create a shared purpose with the team. Consider job crafting, which allows employees to redesign or reframe their job.

In addition, look for ways to facilitate internal mobility. This could be as simple as ensuring employees are aware of job openings. This can be supported by encouraging one-on-one discussions with managers about developing skills for future jobs.

Wellness and work-life balance

Investing in wellness shows that the company cares about its people, which increases their satisfaction with the workplace. It also happens to improve the bottom line.

This is another area that depends on the needs of your unique employee population, paying close attention to those at most risk of attrition. Examples can be subsidized transit passes, free healthy snacks, or a wellness spending account.

The most important place to instill wellness is in the culture. On-site yoga classes won’t feel very genuine if employees fear they’ll look bad for leaving their desk to participate. Look in your day-to-day interactions and workflows for ways to support well-being.

Work-life balance is a priority and a challenge for pretty much everyone who works. Many are moving to more of a work-life integration or blend.

This had led to high demand for flexible work arrangements, which can save costs and increase productivity but can also introduce new challenges.

Figure out what makes sense for your organization and how to support it from the culture up. How about checking out Bonusly’s employee recognition and rewards platform? Join us for a demo to learn more about how you can start building a highly engaged organizational culture.

Otherwise, Chapter 5 of our Ultimate Guide to Employee Retention gives you a rundown of the best HR tech tools on the market.

Share this article

Employees who feel a strong connection to their company’s mission tend to go above and beyond. They know that their daily work is furthering a vision they believe in and benefit from. But unfortunately, the reality is that fewer and fewer workers today feel this sense of connection. 

Recent Gallup data shows that compared to 2020, employees feel more detached from—and less satisfied with—their organizations, and are less likely to feel connected to their company’s mission and purpose. This drop is especially pronounced in younger workers, who are the future of the workforce. 

This data points to not just a staggering drop in connection and engagement but also the future of work. 

How can companies address this large and growing disconnection between their mission and their employees? How can they be more effective at connecting employees with their company’s goals, especially the younger generations, in a rapidly changing world of work? We’ve got the six essential steps to take.

Connect employees to the mission: 6 essential steps

1. Have a truly compelling mission 

To get employees at all levels inspired to go above and beyond (instead of quiet quitting), they need to feel a strong and durable connection to your company's mission. But do you have a truly compelling one? 

Of course, all businesses need to make a profit to stay in business. But delivering ever-higher levels of growth for the sake of growth, and larger returns to shareholders and executives, is not a mission that will connect with employees or managers. Why? Because it lacks a larger and more compelling purpose

You need to have a mission that also speaks to what your company is contributing to the lives of your customers, your community, and/or the world positively. And, most critically, it must be authentic to your company. For many companies, this point is obvious—but for others, it’s not. (Did you know that Ralph Lauren didn’t have a formal mission statement until 2018?!)

2. Write a succinct, inspiring mission statement 

Once you know that your mission is truly inspiring (and authentic to your company), you need to ensure you’ve articulated it clearly and succinctly. A great mission statement should condense your mission into one or two exciting, inspiring sentences—don’t fill it with jargon or vague buzzwords. 

That mission statement should be communicated frequently and broadly across your organization so employees know it well. Your internal communications should point to it, and all your leaders should know it by heart. (This is also why keeping it short helps!) Employees can’t connect to what they don’t know. 

3. Evaluate your company culture 

Even the most beautifully worded mission statement can’t overcome a mismatch between your stated mission and your actual company culture. If your culture is broken or even toxic, while your mission statement makes the company sound like a bright and sunny place, that authenticity gap can be even more damaging to employee morale and connection than not having one at all. 

Take a careful, thorough look at the state of your company culture to ensure it’s genuinely aligned with your stated mission and purpose. If you’re finding that employees aren’t connecting with your mission even after you’ve articulated it perfectly and distributed it widely, look to your culture to diagnose a potential problem. 

Be careful not to ignore your company’s external image when creating an internal mission statement. Consumers today are especially distrustful of brands who espouse one mission when their actions indicate a competing set of priorities—this tweet sums up this problem (and lives rent-free in my brain): 

 

[source]

4. Replace top-down messaging with two-way dialogue 

Another way to ensure you’re connecting employees with your mission is to stop thinking of a mission as something that you develop at the top and dictate to everyone else. An inspiring and engaging mission should be a result of a dialogue between everyone at your organization—leaders and managers, of course, but also employees and even customers. 

If you’re re-writing your mission statement (or writing it for the first time), invite employees from across the company in via focus groups and discussions to get their input. Not only will you end up with a stronger statement as it reflects a wider range of experiences, but employees will also feel a sense of ownership and buy-in of the mission, and feel a stronger sense of connection to it. 

5. Train and enable your managers 

Managers are critical elements in connecting employees to your mission, but often they’re not trained or enabled to play that key role effectively. They should be checking in with employees frequently (ideally at least once per week) to give feedback and connect their daily tasks to the company’s mission. 

But too often, managers are too burnt out or overworked to do this essential managing, and it falls to employees to do it themselves. Train your managers so they know why making these connections is important. Then, giving them time to do said managing and communicating can make a huge difference across your organization in connecting employees to your mission. 

6. Tie recognition and rewards to the core company mission and values 

Recognition and appreciation are essential elements in any healthy company culture—and it's a fantastic way to help employees connect their work to your larger mission. By creating a formal recognition program centered around your mission and values, you can show employees that your company is genuinely committed to them and reward people for furthering that mission. 

Informal and private recognition is also great, but a formal recognition program that publicly and explicitly connects rewards to your mission and values shows every employee what they should be striving for, and what rewards await them when they go above and beyond. It’s motivating! 

Plus, fostering a culture of appreciation and recognition is great for overall engagement and just creating a pleasant, motivating workplace—so it’s valuable all around.  

The takeaway

Building a workplace culture where employees are deeply connected to your company mission is a recipe for high employee engagement and satisfaction. After all, it feels great to tackle your daily work tasks and know that you’re actively contributing to something bigger, making something in our world a little bit better, and serving something larger than yourself. 

These six actionable steps should help you get closer to a mission-driven company culture, no matter if you work for a non-profit or big corporation. Keeping your mission authentic, actionable, and in line with your company culture will go a long way toward creating a better place for everyone in your organization to work. 

-> Disconnected employees can cost your organization. To see what the cost of turnover is, try out of free calculator.

Just like the vibrant energy of springtime, Bonusly is bursting with exciting new features designed to empower your team to create a high-performing culture. These updates are focused on giving you the tools you need to cultivate a thriving culture of appreciation, while saving you valuable time and money.

Streamlined Reviews with the Team Activity Page and Bookmarking

The goal of these two features is to make performance reviews more of a breeze and less of a burden for managers. The Team Activity Page offers managers a centralized view of their team's recognition activity over time. When this tool is used to prepare for performance reviews, both recency bias and time spent are reduced. No more scrambling to remember past accomplishments!

Image showing the new team activity page.

Bookmarking adds another layer of efficiency. With a single click, you can capture and categorize outstanding achievements – both individual and team-based.  Add private notes for context, and revisit your curated collection when it's review time. Effortlessly gather a holistic picture of your employees' contributions, ensuring well-rounded and informed performance evaluations. 

Image highlighting the ability to bookmark recognition in Bonusly.

The Admin Dashboard: Simplifying Program Management

This one’s for all the hardworking HR practitioners out there! Introducing the all-new Admin Dashboard, a one-stop shop for everything you need to make data-driven decisions about your recognition program. Here’s what you’ll be privy to with Bonusly’s new dashboard: 

  • Cost Overview Visibility: Gain complete cost transparency with a breakdown of rewards spend compared to subscription fees. You can even compare year-over-year trends to predict future costs and optimize your budget allocation.
  • Deeper Program Understanding: Move beyond basic Bonusly adoption metrics. The Admin Dashboard provides a granular view of feature usage within your organization. Identify areas for improvement and focus your efforts on maximizing program impact.
  • Maximized ROI: Connect your program's unique data with Bonusly's best practices and recommendations. We’ll pair the right data with best-in-class tips and tricks so that you can maximize the return on your investment in employee recognition.
Image of the new admin dashboard feature.

Budget Predictability, Best Practices and Insights All in One Spot

These new features are designed to help you cultivate a culture of high-performance. By streamlining review processes, optimizing budget allocation, and providing deeper insights, Bonusly empowers you to make data-driven decisions that benefit both your employees and your organization's bottom line; data-driven companies are 30% more profitable than their non-analytical counterparts. 

Ready to see your team’s performance blossom? Sign up for a free Bonusly trial today! 

Getting our team members to be connected, invested, and engaged at work is more difficult than ever. Bottom line: people aren’t that engaged at work.

This report, in partnership with Lighthouse Research & Advisory, draws on responses from over 1,000 workers and employers to demonstrate key priorities to create real engagement in the workplace today. Chock full of eye-opening new data, compelling analyses, and powerful company stories, leaders can leverage this report to drive high engagement and meaningful business results.

Enjoy an excerpt of the report below, or download the entire report.

Today’s employee engagement reality

Getting our team members to be connected, invested, and engaged at work is more difficult than ever. There’s no shortage of social media content depicting people working in challenging environments or with unreasonable demands, and with viral videos showing a chronic lack of disengagement, some employers may worry that engaging their workers is hopeless. 

The good news is that there are also organizations that are overcoming the odds and creating authentically engaging workplaces where people love to come to work every day. We’ll talk more about how that’s accomplished, but first it’s worth noting why the workforce engagement disconnect is occurring.  

For starters, there’s a tremendous amount of change that has happened in the workplace in recent years. Many organizations had to adapt to remote work for the first time, and a number of them are still debating the optimal hybrid schedules to balance worker satisfaction and leadership demands. Not only that, but a strained economy, inflation, persistent layoffs, and other factors have caused no small amount of stress on the average employee. 

Overall, the series of waves that the pandemic began have rippled through the Great Resignation, quiet quitting, the Great Regret, and other eloquent phrases that mainly boil down to the same thing: people aren’t that engaged at work. The truth is that engagement is more important than ever, but how we do it is the critical differentiator for many organizations. 

Nine out of 10 employers told us in our research that it’s more important to know who is engaged during times of economic uncertainty. That’s likely because disengagement is a problem that costs employers more than a third of an employee’s salary, according to Gallup data. When you scale those numbers across the workforce, it paints a sobering picture. But as one expert puts it, this is a preventable issue:

Disengagement is not an inexpensive problem--it's a real problem with real tangible impact. But the beauty of it, the silver lining, is that it's a controllable problem. It does not have to be this way.
-Debra Squyres, Chief Customer Officer, Bonusly

Survey says...

With that reality in mind, this report draws on responses to our recent Performance, Engagement, Culture, and Employee Experience studies of 1,000 workers and 1,077 employers to demonstrate some of the key priorities, areas of focus, and opportunities to create real engagement in the workplace today. This includes focus areas like: 

  • The way engagement weaves through the culture, workforce, and company performance
  • The area with the highest probability for driving worker engagement
  • What employers are doing today to create engaged teams
  • And more

In addition, we’ll feature a case study of Wolfe, an organization whose leadership has the right mindset and approach to creating and driving a culture that every team member can visualize and pursue on a daily basis. 

The disengaged, disconnected workforce is a big problem, but it’s also a massive opportunity. Turning around even a fraction of those workers from disengaged to highly engaged creates real, tangible results in their performance and organizational performance as well. Let’s find out how.

[Read the Report]

You’re fortunate if you have a good manager—one that makes your work days better and helps you create a career path you love. Great bosses have a huge impact on how you feel about your company as a whole, your career, and even your life outside of work. 

How can you thank your awesome boss and let them know how much you appreciate them? You might want to celebrate National Boss’s Day. But knowing exactly how to acknowledge the day can feel complicated. Is getting them a gift appropriate? Is a card just enough, or not enough? Should you take them out to lunch, or bring them their favorite coffee?

There’s no one answer: it depends on your boss’s personality, your company culture, and how close of a relationship you have, among other variables. But understanding a little more about what National Boss’s Day means, and what to know about how to celebrate it effectively, will help you find the way to put your appreciation into words (or a little treat). 

The history of national boss day 

National Boss’s Day was started by Patricia Bays Haroski, an employee at State Farm Insurance. Her boss was also her father (cute!), and so to honor him, she registered his birthday, October 16, with the US Chamber of Commerce in 1958 as an official holiday. 

The holiday became popular across the U.S. by 1979 and spread across the globe too; it’s now celebrated in India, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, and the UK. It’s a great way to direct some appreciation upward if you have a good relationship with your manager. 

National Boss’s Day 2024 falls on Monday, October 16 (good timing because you can start their week off in a spirit of recognition and appreciation!). 

Meaningful ways to celebrate national boss day 2024 

It can be tricky to acknowledge National Boss Day because of the power differentials in the manager-employee relationship. You shouldn’t feel obligated or pressured to get your manager a gift or use it as an opportunity to score career points. 

The best way to truly embrace the spirit of this holiday is by celebrating your manager in an authentic way that reflects your existing relationship, whatever that means to you. Here are a few of the best ideas to get you started. 

1. Send a National Boss Day card 

A card is a simple but meaningful way to celebrate the day—and you can send it from just yourself or get the whole team to sign it. Writing a meaningful message of appreciation, especially if you do it by hand, is a wonderful and simple way to thank your manager for everything they do.

Recognizing managers thoughtfully can be extra-meaningful because it typically flows the other way, from managers to employees. While this is valued and necessary, sometimes managers deserve to share the love too, and they can treasure these moments of recognition all the more. 

2. Give your manager some social recognition 

You can also show a little public love for your manager by giving them some social recognition—it’s shared more broadly than just signing a card. You could post a note of thanks and gratitude, a memory from the past year, or just a hilarious, relevant meme. 

If your company uses a recognition solution like Bonusly, you can give them a shoutout on there, or in a Slack channel for the team or department. Knowing your manager is key here—some love social recognition, and others prefer a private thank you—so you can appreciate and recognize them in the way that resonates most with them.

3. Bring in their favorite treat 

Maybe you know your boss stops for a latte at a specific coffee shop every Friday, or they run on Dunkin and can’t get enough Munchkins (always a safe bet if you’re a Bostonian like me!), or have a specific food that reminds them of a place they used to live. Bringing in a special treat can be a lovely way to show them that you see and value them as a person and a manager. 

You can even bring enough for your whole team, if that’s feasible, and have a little break to connect with everyone while you enjoy them. And if you and your manager don’t work in the same location, or they’re remote, you can get it delivered to their home.

4. Get them a little gift 

National Boss’s Day isn’t the time to go all out with lavish gifts. But that doesn’t rule out getting your boss anything—a small, inexpensive, thoughtful gift can make their day. 

This could mean a little plant for their desk, something else to brighten up their workspace like a fun mousepad, or something to enjoy in their non-work life. Bosses need appreciation too, and a little thoughtful gift is a great way to show it if that’s something they would enjoy. If your boss is remote, you can get a gift shipped, or even send them a small gift card to their favorite cafe.

5. Make a donation in their name 

If your boss is involved with a charity or community organization, donating in their honor can be a lovely way to celebrate them. The donation doesn’t need to, and quite frankly shouldn’t be big. But, it’s a great way to show them that you appreciate them and know them, while also supporting a good cause. Get the whole team to pitch in to make an even bigger impact, if they feel inclined. 

Takeaways 

There are as many ways to celebrate National Boss’s Day in 2024 as there are bosses worth celebrating. Taking a moment to recognize and appreciate your manager for everything they do, and the terrific person they are can make everyone feel great (the benefits of recognition and appreciation go both ways, after all!). Just be sure to approach this holiday with authenticity and an understanding of what would make your manager grin, and you’re sure to give them a memorable day. 

Bonusly manager insights dashoard

Companies today are laser-focused on building a better culture in their workplaces, and that’s a welcome development. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, as someone very wise once said, and there’s no question that a great company culture sets your business apart from your competitors. Still, in many quarters, culture is viewed as HR’s job.

But company culture isn’t built entirely in the HR department—leaders across the organization model it, shape it, and enhance it. Leadership and culture are connected. They play a critical role in creating and living a high-performing culture. Without clear and thoughtful leadership guidance, your company culture might not evolve and grow the way you want it to. 

So how can you, as a leader, help build a company where people love to work? Here are the tips and strategies you need to know. 

employees building

6 strategies for leadership: influencing company culture

1. Take an honest look at your current culture 

The road to any successful destination starts with understanding where you are right now—and the journey to improve your company culture is no different. Dig deeply into your existing company culture, which means not just relying on old reports and second-hand info, but talking directly to managers and employees across your whole organization. 

It also requires looking within yourself: how do you, as a leader, shape and drive the current culture? What would you ideally change within yourself to take the company culture in a different direction? These kinds of questions can be hard, but they’re important to reflect on by yourself and ideally as a leadership team too. 

Harvard Business Review has a great breakdown of the eight types of company cultures and how to understand them; this can help you determine where your company currently falls and where you’d like to go. 

2. Communicate the company’s core values 

Speaking and writing about your company’s core values as an internal and external communicator is a critical part of being a leader, but you also have to embody and live them. We’re in an age where leaders are increasingly expected to be transparent and authentic, which means employees are quick to see when you don’t walk the talk. 

How you operate daily, make small and large decisions, treat people on every level of the organization, and the kinds of behaviors you reward and recognize should all be aligned with your company’s stated core values. If they’re not, consider whether the mismatch is easy to fix, or if the core values themselves need realigning. 

Being aligned with the values of your company and your employees is great for your engagement levels as well—HBR research found that COOs who weren’t values-aligned needed a 40% raise to be as likely to stay in their jobs as COOs who were highly values-aligned. 

3. Articulate why employees’ work matters 

Sometimes it’s hard for all of us to get excited about tackling our daily work tasks. Yet again, whether you’re in the C-suite or an entry-level employee, doing work for the sake of getting work done isn’t always motivating. 

That’s why tying what your employees do every day to your larger company goals and mission is critical for leaders who want to build a better culture. And since engagement is a key part of high-performing cultures, it’s one you shouldn’t skip. 

It’s especially important to communicate how your company’s work serves your customers and your community, because that reinforces a culture committed to serving something bigger than just profits. And that’s the kind of culture people want to join and stay at.  

employees talking

4. Create shared goals and processes with your team

A shared mission and purpose is essential, but so is the process of getting there. Employees today don’t want to work in a culture that makes them feel like cogs in a machine, but individuals who make valuable contributions and are valued in return. Creating shared company goals and processes ensures that employees feel a sense of ownership and accountability towards those goals, which is highly motivating and great for performance.

Empower employees and managers alike to suggest and implement improvements to work processes, tackle strategic goals that are in their area of work, and work cross-functionally to solve problems. Avoid micromanaging and blaming, and instead help everyone feel like you’re all in this together, proactively tackling issues and solving problems creatively. 

5. Ask employees how they feel, and truly listen 

In a global Gallup survey, 41% of employees say the one change they’d make to their workplace to make it a great place to work is related to engagement and culture. Employees know what changes, large and small, would make your culture and workplace better—so be sure to regularly ask them and act on that feedback.  

Plus, actively listening to employees and acting on that feedback creates a culture where they feel heard and valued—and that’s great for retention, engagement, and motivation. This requires more than simply sending out that once-a-year employee opinion survey though, as that’s not frequent or thorough enough to truly connect with employees. Holding focus groups, casual chats, and regular town halls are all positive places to start making these connections and gathering feedback.  

6. Recognize people regularly

Recognition is a huge component of creating a great company culture. Leaders have the privilege and the responsibility of modeling regular, authentic, meaningful recognition to their teams and all employees in the organization. Make it a point to offer recognition and appreciation frequently, both privately and publicly. You’re setting the standard for other leaders to do the same, and encouraging managers and employees to offer plenty of recognition on and across teams as well. 

Recognition must be meaningful to be effective, however, so don’t think that just tossing out a few “thanks!” replies to emails will do the trick. Celebrate big accomplishments and small wins, recognize peers and direct reports, and get specific in your appreciation. 

An easy-to-use recognition platform like Bonusly can help you make recognition a part of your leadership and culture and help make recognition efforts more visible across your organization. Everyone can applaud great work and acknowledge milestones together, as part of a high-achieving, supportive, collaborative company culture. 

Bonusly demo cta

The takeaway 

Creating a great company culture looks different for every organization, but one big driving factor in all of them is a leadership team that’s committed to building and maintaining that culture. With a deep connection to your company’s mission and goals, a commitment to communicating regularly and effectively with employees at all levels, and a sprinkle of recognition, you can lead your company into a better culture—one where employees love to work. 

In October 2021, when Mindbody acquired ClassPass, a new chapter began for thousands of fitness and wellness businesses worldwide. The acquisition united two powerhouse platforms: the leading experience technology platform for the wellness industry and the leading global fitness and wellness membership. Mindbody and ClassPass were united in their goal of maximizing revenue for these businesses, a mission that required seamless integration of company operations and culture.

As Mindbody and ClassPass came together, one critical initiative that needed consolidation was employee recognition software. In order to successfully merge cultures and form new critical organizational connections, getting a solution up and running quickly was essential. Both Mindbody and ClassPass already had recognition and rewards solutions, but they needed to get the whole organization onto one platform. After careful assessment of both solutions, Bonusly was the clear winner for its modern interface, ease of use, and ability to operationalize company values. 

By getting the whole organization connected through Bonusly, the team established a thriving company culture together, one recognition post at a time. Bonusly was an instant hit among employees, managers, and leadership alike. We spoke with Lauren Whitehouse, Mindbody’s Employee Experience Manager, to understand how Mindbody uses Bonusly to empower managers and power performance post-acquisition. 

Consolidating recognition platforms

Immediately following the acquisition, Mindbody and Classpass teams couldn't acknowledge each other's achievements because they were split between different recognition platforms. Employees were craving a way to connect with new teammates and they wanted a solution sooner rather than later. With help from the Bonusly team, Whitehouse was able to get Bonusly up and running quickly so employees could connect with one another in the wake of the acquisition. 

As Whitehouse put it, "Bonusly was one of the best gifts I could have given the team.” 

Empowering managers to cultivate high-performing teams

As the entire team acclimated to Bonusly, Whitehouse began training managers to use the solution to cultivate high-performing teams. When describing the manager training process, Whitehouse said: 

“Bonusly is a tool managers already know and love, so we’re just helping them level up the way they use it so we can help them achieve the goals that are already top of mind for them. We try to show them that Bonusly is a tool that will actually help them save time.” 

 What are some of Mindbody managers’ favorite features? 

  • Managers are thrilled with the manager giving tracker, a feature nudging them to recognize team members and foster a culture of appreciation.
  • They are also excited by custom feeds, which allows them to filter their recognition feed to show only recognition given to their team. This view provides insights into team dynamics and allows managers to give more personalized recognition. 
  • Managers appreciate the ability to recognize their team members year-round instead of in once-per-year performance reviews. Consistent recognition enables higher team performance from direct reports who are more willing to input discretionary effort when they feel appreciated. Plus, looking back at historical recognition of their team members made the performance review process more efficient, evidence-based, and inspiring to employees. 

As the company geared up for its first annual review cycle post-Bonusly launch, the platform proved invaluable. Managers leveraged recognition data to glean insights into their team's contributions and accomplishments. These analytics became especially important in aiding new managers in understanding their team's past achievements. 

Integrating core values

Bonusly became a cornerstone for making Mindbody’s new values sticky. The values introduced after the acquisition were new for the whole organization, so the team needed a way to operationalize the new values. They decided to require core value hashtags in recognition posts, so the entire organization could see their colleagues enacting the core values and start to learn what they looked like in practice. Quarterly core value awards were operationalized and amplified with Bonusly, transforming recognition into a company-wide celebration during all-hands meetings. 

“I can't even describe how much easier the fulfillment is by fulfilling awards on Bonusly. I announce them in the all team meeting, and I give a speech about the individuals and then put the award in Bonusly in real time so everybody can jump into Bonusly after the meeting. I even have the winners put their award emoji as their Slack status, and so people know to jump on Bonusly and see the awards. I also send out the link to the winners’ posts in our Slack channel for further visibility. I am always sure to tag the winners’ manager so that they can congratulate their team members publicly. It makes recognition carry on long after the all hands meeting ends.” 

The takeaway

Bonusly didn't just streamline recognition; it became part of the unified culture emerging from the Mindbody-ClassPass integration. It seamlessly translated organizational values into a tangible company culture, uniting a global workforce in a shared appreciation for each other's efforts and enabling a high-performance culture. 

Performance reviews are often a dreaded task for both employees and managers. Not only are performance reviews a monumental pain, but studies show that they’re costing most companies far too much time and money: 

  • Employees spend an average of 40 hours per year on performance-related activities. 
  • Managers dedicate a staggering 210 hours annually to prepping for reviews alone! This translates to wasted time, frustration, and a hefty cost for businesses. 
  • Companies spend an estimated $3,000 per employee on reviews each year.

There must be a better way! Bonusly can help you streamline the performance review process, saving time and fostering a more evidence-based and data-driven approach. In fact, according to recent Bonusly research over ⅔ of customers were able to save time on performance reviews using Bonusly. 

Here’s how to use Bonusly to power year-round performance and performance reviews all while saving valuable time and money.

Step-by-Step Guide to using Bonusly for Performance Reviews

Gather Recognition Data Throughout the Year

Let’s Talk About Bookmarking

With Bonusly’s Bookmarking feature, you can save noteworthy achievements with a click of a button on the Bonusly feed. You can organize bookmarks with customizable labels and add personal notes for future reference, all without leaving the Bonusly feed.  

💡 Pro tip:  Review the bonus feed weekly to look for and bookmark team member’s significant achievements and contributions. Then, create labels for each of your direct reports so you can effortlessly compile their "greatest hits" come review time.

Track Team Activity

Monitor the Team Activity Page to stay updated on team member contributions throughout the year. You can even pull insights into weekly team meetings to motivate the team and encourage regular use of Bonusly. This builds a robust data pool for reviews. To get to the Team Activity Page head to Analytics —> Team Activity. Note, you’ll only have access to this dashboard if you’re designated as a people manager in Bonusly. 

One Month Before Reviews:

Export Individual Data and Identify Themes

Performance review season is upon you, luckily Bonusly is here to help make the process easy and dare we say, fun! Let’s start by going to the Team Activity Page. Once you’ve landed on the page, you can filter data by time span to match your review period, then use the export function to download reports for each team member. 

After downloading, save the exports to your preferred file management system and then start the analysis! Look for recurring themes, key projects, and contributions within the data. Summarize performance based on your analysis for the specific review period. 

💡 Pro tip: Make sure these docs are saved in a private folder so that no one can stumble upon performance information unintentionally. 

Two Weeks Before Reviews:

Review Individual Profiles

Visit each team member's Bonusly profile and incorporate relevant achievements from their activity feed. You can also identify the top company values they are recognized for. Finish by clicking on the top hashtag to see specific examples of how they embody that value.

💡 Pro tip: Try starting your review conversations by highlighting your direct reports’ top exemplified value. This sets a positive tone and shows them how their behaviors align with company goals.

Go Back to Your Bookmarks 

Remember how we talked about saving relevant bookmarks throughout the year? Well, all of that foresight is about to come in handy. At this point in the review preparation process, you can revisit your saved bookmarks and incorporate any noteworthy recognitions for the individual you’re reviewing.

💡 Pro tip: If you’re asking for direct reports to submit their self reviews by a certain date, you can incentivize timely self-review submissions with Bonusly awards.

One Week Before Reviews:

Consolidate Data and Prepare Your Documents

Using all of the information you’ve collected throughout the process, compile a data-driven and value-based review document for each direct report. Then, deliver the review document along with a meeting invitation for discussion.

Let’s Recap

Now that review season is over, let’s go over the main benefits of using Bonusly to help enable performance at your organization: 

  • Reduce recency bias: Easily access past project and performance data, promoting fair and accurate reviews.
  • Use a data-driven approach: Gather objective evidence to support performance evaluations.
  • Time efficiency: Save precious time compiling reviews by easily exporting and analyzing relevant data.

Incorporating Bonusly into the performance review process is a win-win for employees and managers alike. With Bonusly’s rich people-data, organizations can create a more efficient, data-rich, and positive performance review experience. 

What comes to mind first when you think of a highly productive workplace? Maybe a room with a row of neat, diligent workers with their heads down, ceaselessly turning out goods or services?

Since most employees are not making widgets on a production line, defining and measuring productivity is tricky—and improving it can feel impossible. For starters, working your employees as hard as you possibly can, without breaks, meaningful rest, or a connection to a larger goal, is pretty much the antithesis of productivity.

Let’s go back to the basics of productivity in the workplace: what it is, how it benefits your business, how to measure it, and of course, how to improve it. 

Employees analyzing data

What is employee productivity?

The definition of productivity is simple at its core: employees who get a certain number of tasks done in the course of their workday. Those tasks aren’t just busywork, but they’re moving the organization closer to its goals in an efficient way. 

What does a productive employee look like? Are they chugging along every day checking tasks off their to-do lists in the expected amount of time? Or are they going beyond meeting expectations and making effective decisions, innovating, and living out the company culture

Most of us would probably agree on the second definition as the ideal state for productive employees. But unfortunately, that state is fairly rare in today’s workplace. More than half of employees report being relatively unproductive at work, according to McKinsey research. And the productivity of U.S. workers is declining at its fastest rate in 75 years. 

It's no wonder businesses are looking at ways to increase worker productivity, especially in a tight and pricey labor market. Lots of companies are turning to stricter controls on employee behavior like forcing a complete return to the office, using tracking software, and micromanaging in an attempt to measure, track, and improve employee productivity. 

The thing is… none of those attempts at control are actually what boost employee productivity. In fact, they often damage it (and make employees even more disengaged and unproductive). 

What boosts productivity, then? Well, first let’s dig into how to measure productivity so you have a baseline. 

How to measure employee productivity

To measure productivity, you must divide output by input. So, to determine productivity costs per hour, if you generated $100,000 worth of goods or services in 2,000 hours, you’d calculate: 

  • $100,000/2,000 = $50 per hour of work productivity.

If you measure productivity by employees, the formula looks like this: 

  • $100,000 goods/services produced / 50 employees = $2,000 per employee 

Output is not the only measure of productivity, but it's the easiest to measure. Quality and efficiency are also vital parts of productivity; if your company is churning out goods or services super fast but with low quality or a lot of waste, that’s lost productivity as well. 

Of course, when you bring knowledge workers into the mix, it gets more complex. But there are some ways to think about measuring productivity there too—even though their output is more often abstract things like ideas, relationships, strategies, and solutions. Are your employees hitting the goals your organization has set? Are they innovating? And, critically, are most of your employees engaged? 

making calculation

The connection between employee engagement and productivity 

The most productive employees are also typically the most engaged ones. On the other end of the spectrum, a lack of engagement can spell doom for your company’s productivity levels; disengaged employees cost the global economy $8.8 trillion in lost productivity, according to Gallup

This link between engagement and productivity becomes clearer when you think about your most productive employees. They’re the ones who love their work, feel energized by their role and connection to the company and their colleagues, tackle their tasks eagerly, and are ready to take on more. They’re also innovative and collaborative, and help others to be productive too. In short—they’re highly engaged.  

Enabling these employees to stay engaged and get their work done as efficiently as possible is critical to keeping their productivity as high as possible. And increasing engagement with the rest of your people also helps boost their productivity. 

Making these productivity gains can even increase engagement and retention further—highly productive and engaged workplaces are exciting and deeply satisfying to work at, while low-productivity ones can be, well, a bit of a drag. 

The overall employee experience matters to productivity levels as well. Employees who work at companies with leading employee experiences have a 40% higher level of discretionary effort (McKinsey’s language for going above and beyond) and so are more likely to surpass expectations for their work.

Creating a workplace where employees are engaged, satisfied, and challenged has benefits beyond just being a great employee experience—it will boost productivity levels as well.  

5 data-backed ways to boost employee productivity 

1. Recognize and reward good work

Gallup has found that recognition boosts not only employee engagement, but also productivity (and retention too!). That’s because recognition is about more than just feeling good—it shows employees that their work is seen, valued, and appreciated. It’s hard to get motivated to go above and beyond when that feeling is missing. 

Also, if you regularly reward your top performers for their hard work by dumping even more work on them, that’s not going to encourage them (or their colleagues) to keep up high levels of productivity. Instead, give them rewards like additional time off, bonuses, or other perks. 

2. Keep a close eye on staffing levels and practices 

Productivity in the workplace is often conflated with “doing more with less,” the battle cry of corporate and startup leadership teams alike lately. But a single employee can only take on so much work before they get burned out and lose all productivity gain. High turnover can cause issues too, as the remaining employees have more and more piled onto their workloads. 

Look carefully at your staffing and hiring levels to see if overwork is a drag on employee productivity, and come up with a plan to either take things off employees’ plates or to bring more people onboard. Temporary contractors and freelancers can also free up capacity while you hire and train new people, which can take a while. 

Speaking of new employees, are you getting them onboard and up to speed in their new roles efficiently so they can contribute quickly? Only 12% of US employees say their organization has an effective onboarding process, which leaves plenty of room for improvement at pretty much every company. 

3. Eliminate time wasters ruthlessly 

How can you expect your employees to produce at a high level if their time is taken up with needlessly manual tasks and way too many meetings? The average Microsoft Teams user has seen a stunning 252% increase in their weekly meeting time since 2020, and the number of weekly meetings has also increased by 153%. That’s a whole lot of productive time lost if you consider how productive most meetings are (not very!). 

Getting ruthless about cutting unnecessary and unproductive meetings will give employees time back to get high-impact work done. You should also get ruthless about cutting out manual tasks that can be automated or done with AI—ask employees directly what would help them the most and then implement that. Freeing them up for more strategic tasks will make them more productive. 

4. Prioritize autonomy and accountability 

Micromanaging and tracking employees’ every move is a great way to tank their productivity and motivation in the long term. Instead, consider giving employees as much autonomy as possible, including where and when they work, particularly for your top-performing employees. 

Increasing employee autonomy also increases productivity by more than 5%, which may sound small but multiplied across all your employees can add up to a major improvement. (It’s also a critical part of high-performing cultures, so giving employees more autonomy is a win-win.)

Accountability is the other side of the coin here too. Review goals regularly at the individual, team, and company level and update employees on progress or roadblocks. By balancing autonomy and accountability, you can create a culture where employees are enabled and encouraged to be productive. 

5. Make time for rest and relaxation

Giving employees more time off might seem like the opposite of productivity, but it’s a critical component of it. A study by Ernst & Young found that for every additional ten hours of vacation time an employee took in a year, their performance improved by 8%. You’ve likely experienced it too, after a great vacation or long weekend where you come back into the (remote or in-person) office refreshed and ready to tackle your work again. 

It’s not just about giving employees extra vacation days, though that’s a good start. They also need to be able to truly unplug from work without checking in or checking emails, on long vacations, and over a typical weekend too. That restorative time away resets the brain and is a great burnout preventer to boot. 

Employee relaxing and recharging

Takeaways 

Employee productivity can seem like an amorphous, abstract concept that’s hard to measure and even harder to improve. But there’s plenty that companies can do to boost employee productivity, which also benefits engagement and the entire employee experience. 

Ensuring employees have time to focus on their work, time to step away from work regularly, and are appreciated for their hard work are the most critical components of a productive, thriving workplace. 

Bonusly can help you create this kind of company culture with our employee recognition and feedback platform. See how we can help you build your own high-performance, high-productivity culture. 

Bonusly demo

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the ways that companies have typically managed employee performance 👏 just 👏 aren’t 👏 working. It’s time to seriously rethink performance management and focus on performance enablement instead

But it’s also critical to look at why those outdated performance methods aren’t serving companies or their employees so we understand exactly what’s missing—and what the newer forms of performance enablement can add. Here are the ten most revealing performance management statistics you need to know. 

Performance management by the numbers

employees looking at data

1. Fewer than 20% of employees feel inspired by their reviews 

Let’s start with a pretty clear statement about the current state of performance management: less than a fifth of employees find their performance reviews inspiring, according to research from SHRM and Gallup

The whole purpose of performance management is right there in the same: managing. But that’s not a very motivating way to look at employee performance, and it’s certainly not inspiring employees to go above and beyond and perform at their best. 

2. 95% of managers are dissatisfied with their company’s performance review system 

It’s not just employees who find performance reviews in a traditional performance management system unhelpful at best (and damaging at worst): this data from a Gallup study finds that nearly all managers agree. And managers aren’t alone: only 1 in 4 companies said their performance management systems are effective. 

3. Women get 22% more personality feedback than men 

One big issue with current performance management is that it’s often not fair, impartial, or even actionable. Research from Textio found that women get 22% more feedback based on their personality than men do, like being called abrasive or opinionated. 

The same study found further disparities in how people receive feedback in the workplace: Black and Latinx people receive 2.4 times more feedback that is not actionable than white and Asian people do, and people over 40 are three times more likely to be described as unselfish than younger workers. 

This pretty patent lack of fairness and objectivity doesn’t inspire employees to go above and beyond—sometimes it just inspires them to quit. 

4. 3 in 4 Gen Z employees will resign if they don’t get feedback 

And quit they will, if they’re not given any sort of guidance on how they’re performing. Recent research shows that younger workers are so serious about receiving regular feedback that 73% say they’re more likely to quit if they don’t receive frequent feedback and communication from their managers. Older generations aren’t as adamant, but more than half of them agree with Gen Z here. 

And while younger workers are often negatively described as more demanding, you know what? Getting frequent feedback and communication from your manager is a pretty essential element of success for people who are newer to the workforce. Gen Z is in the right here 👏. 

5. Only 21% of employees feel their performance metrics are within their control 

Gallup research shows that employees aren’t motivated by their performance reviews often because they simply don’t get evaluated on what they can control. This might include company-wide results at a large organization, the results of a team or department project they weren’t attached to, or some other goal set without their specific role in mind. 

Since the results of those metrics are out of their hands, it’s difficult for employees to feel a genuine sense of accountability or accomplishment, and to feel motivated to improve (improve on what, they might reasonably wonder). 

6. Employees are 3.6 times more motivated when they get daily (instead of annual) feedback 

Feedback must be frequent to be effective: Gallup research shows that daily feedback significantly increases employee motivation. Frequent feedback demonstrates to employees that their managers are paying attention and recognizing what they’re doing every day, and that kind of careful, positive attention is very meaningful. 

It also offers employees a chance to course-correct in real-time if a negative behavior is holding them back, and lets them hone in on their strengths much quicker than if they only hear about them in their annual review.  

7. 47% of employees receive feedback only a few times a year—or less

However, most employees aren’t getting this valuable daily feedback—not even close. 28% of employees only receive feedback from their managers a few times per year, and 19% receive it once a year or less. That’s almost half of the workforce not getting nearly enough feedback to motivate and engage them. 

Can you imagine if you were a professional runner who ran every single weekday, but you never got to look at data on your speed and pacing, or where you stood in relation to other runners? Then once per year you were thrown into a gigantic arena with every other runner in your area, and this single race determined your pay for the upcoming year. Sounds pretty confusing, doesn’t it? But that’s how many companies and managers are still treating their employees. 

8. Performance reviews actually make performance worse more than one-third of the time

That’s not a typo or a rounding error: it’s accurate, and there are a variety of reasons behind it like poorly trained managers and legal considerations. Gallup research that cites this pretty stunning statistic from the American Psychological Association also notes that these performance reviews are expensive—costing an organization with 10,000 employees anywhere from $2.4 million to $35 million a year in lost working hours. So, many companies are losing productivity on an activity that… also worsens performance. Whew! What a combo. 

9. 60% of companies who say they have an effective performance management system outperform their peers 

Now onto some more positive stats to round out this guide. When done effectively, performance management and enablement give companies a significant competitive advantage (probably because so many companies are doing it poorly). McKinsey research found that companies with strong performance management strategies say they perform at a higher level than others in their industry—almost three times higher than companies who say their performance management is ineffective. 

10. 63% of remote workers who receive feedback a few times a week from their managers are engaged 

This Gallup research compares those engaged remote workers to those who only receive feedback a few times a year: only 31% are engaged (and only 19% of those who receive feedback once a year or less). 

Similar gains apply to hybrid workers as well: 57% of those who receive feedback a few times a week are engaged, vs. just 20% who receive feedback only a few times a year, and 10% who receive it less than once per year. This data illustrates the importance of feedback in engaging employees who aren’t in the office full-time, which these days is potentially quite a lot of your workforce.  

employees celebrating

Takeaways 

The current state of performance management isn’t great. With gaps in fairness and equality, a lack of training for many managers in handling these conversations, and infrequent feedback as the norm, we’ve got a long way to go to make these performance conversations more regular and more motivating. 

Fortunately, you can start giving employees more frequent feedback, including positive recognition, today. The answer? Focus on enabling performance, not managing it. Plus, with Bonusly’s employee recognition and feedback platform, your company can create a strong culture of recognition all year round and start reaping the benefits of frequent feedback. 

People managers are the backbone of every organization, supporting their direct reports and organizational goals and optimizing team performance. But who is supporting them? To unlock team performance, managers need the right tools and resources to succeed.

For managers, getting the highest performance out of teams can be a tough code to crack, but we’ve got the key(s). In this blog post, you’ll find: 

  • Actionable tips and strategies to boost your team's performance. 
  • Expert insights and advice on fostering a positive, collaborative, and engaged team culture.
  • Curated resources like articles, webinars, and fun team-building activities.

We have compiled eight resources that are too good to gatekeep. We also added 🔑  key tips to every section that you can implement today to pick the lock on high-performing team cultures.

Feedback

Before we jump into the resource, let’s connect the dots between managers, feedback, and performance. According to Gallup, “80% of employees who have received meaningful feedback in the past week report being fully engaged. Moreover, employees are 3.6x more likely to be motivated to do outstanding work when their manager shares daily feedback, instead of annual feedback alone. 

Now that you’re convinced of the merit of giving and receiving meaningful feedback, let’s look at the right (and wrong) ways to go about it. 

Resource #1: Performance enablement is the new performance management

According to SHRM, only one in four companies in North America said their performance management processes were effective. 🤨  So, if we know performance reviews are broken, then why do we keep approaching them in the same way? The truth is: it’s complicated. 

Traditional performance management often leaves employees feeling controlled rather than empowered. There is a solution, but it will take work from every company employee, and an organizational paradigm shift from once per year performance assessment to always-on performance empowerment. 

Performance enablement is a people-centric practice that decentralizes feedback and allows employees to take ownership of their growth while empowering managers to inspire top performance. Employees are enabled to learn, make mistakes, and grow in their roles through consistent, real-time feedback. Timely feedback is coupled with meaningful resources, manager-led coaching, and regular goal check-ins: equipping employees to reach their full potential on their terms. 

🔑 Key tip: Consider the 5:1 rule when building a culture of feedback on your team, meaning employees should receive five pieces of positive recognition for every piece of constructive feedback.

Resource #2: Manager's Guide to Giving Effective Feedback

Cultivating a culture of feedback on your team is essential to performance, but the way you give feedback matters. Whether you’re a brand-new manager or an experienced one, everyone can use some tips on how to give feedback to an employee. These tips and strategies will help any manager deliver feedback that employees will truly listen to and act on. There are three key tenants to giving effective feedback that every manager should keep in mind:

  1. Find the ideal frequency of feedback 
  2.  Prepare ahead of time
  3. Have conversations that connect to the person and the bigger picture

🔑  Key tip: Use a framework to make giving feedback more impactful. The Situation-Behavior-Impact framework is a favorite among Bonusly managers. 

Resource #3: How to Receive Employee Feedback

Let’s examine the flip side of the feedback coin: managers can’t perform at their best without feedback from their direct reports. They have to work to create the proper conditions of trust to inspire their direct reports to candidly share feedback. It’s too easy for the door to stay closed for feedback if managers don’t actively invite it from their direct reports. We get it, receiving feedback is vulnerable for everyone, even people managers, so we put together a guide to receiving employee feedback well. 

🔑 Key tip: Ask for feedback…on feedback. Ask your manager how they think you receive feedback right now and ways you could improve. Before opening the door for direct reports to provide you feedback, it’s essential to generate awareness of any blindspots about how you react to feedback. 

Building Resilience

What is employee burnout costing your organization? More than two in five U.S. workers are burnt out. Corporate burnout is costing the U.S. $1.8 trillion (yes, trillion) in lost productivity alone. It’s not a U.S.-specific problem either: more than one in four workers worldwide is burnt out. The good news is that building resilience on your team can be a powerful antidote to burnout. Teams that solve for burnout can impact productivity, engagement, and retention by proxy. 

Resource #4: How to Address Manager Burnout 

As bad as the burnout situation across all levels is, it’s even worse in one critical group: managers. Managers are more likely than individual contributors to be burned out (and disengaged, looking for a new job, and feeling like their organizations don’t care about their well-being, to boot). A stunning 42% of managers feel burnt out, according to Slack research

Burned-out managers exhibit a lot of the same symptoms as burned-out individual contributors, but they can often hide their distress better (they’re trying to keep spirits up for the team, typically). But there are some telltale warning signs that your managers may be suffering from burnout, or about to get there: 

  1. Irritability
  2. Forgetfulness
  3. Absenteeism
  4. Apathy

Experiencing these symptoms? Our blog post might have the antidote. 

🔑 Key tip: This may sound overly simple, but have you considered a vacation? One vacation won’t cure a bad case of burnout, but it’s a good first step, and it can also boost productivity

Resource #5: Manager's Ultimate Retention Checklist

Employee retention is top-of-mind for most organizations, as it should be! Turnover disrupts the flow of a functioning workforce and can lower team morale. The cost of turnover is also quite expensive, directly impacting your business’s bottom line. 

We have some good news and not-so-good news. Let’s start with the latter: a recent analysis from Gallup uncovered that nearly half of U.S. employees are actively job searching or looking out for opportunities. Here’s the good news: While turnover is a normal occurrence in every organization, there is a lot in your control. 52% of employees leaving on their own accord say their manager could have done something to keep them around for longer. 

Let’s focus on what managers can do now to prevent their employees from leaving too soon. We’ve broken our top tips out into a checklist where each action item is manageable, and yes, you can actually check the boxes. 

🔑 Key tip: Don’t wait until employees are out the door to glean valuable information on what you as their manager or the organization could be doing to retain them. Conduct stay interviews to glean those insights before it’s too late. We even have a handy template you can use. 

Tools to Empower the Team

Before you go, we wanted to leave you with three key tools you can start using today to drive higher levels of engagement and stronger performance on your team. 

Resource #6: One-on-One Meeting Agenda Template

The manager-employee one-on-one meeting is the best place to develop a culture of regular positive and constructive feedback and constant improvement but it is often misused, underutilized, or not used at all. Gallup data shows that consistent 1:1s even help promote employee engagement. 

We’ve put together a 1:1 template to help you get the most out of your weekly time with each of your direct reports. 

🔑 Key tip: Set your 1:1 meeting agenda in advance so everyone knows what to expect and has time to prepare for the meeting. 

Resource #7: Complete Manager's Guide to Employee Recognition

Effective recognition has the power to boost employee engagement, retention, and productivity. When done the right way, it can also cultivate stronger team connections and even reduce symptoms of burnout. This complete guide for managers includes the information, resources, and techniques you need to build a recognition-rich culture on your team.


🔑 Key tip: Want to impact productivity and profitability? Try recognition

  • When recognition hits the mark, employees are five times as likely to be connected to company culture and four times as likely to be engaged.
  • According to Gallup, companies with highly engaged employees are, on average, 23% more profitable, nearly 20% more productive, and have customers that are 10% more loyal.

Resource #8: A Manager's Guide to Bonusly 

Speaking of recognition, Bonusly can help managers create team cultures of feedback, amplify team accomplishments, and surface opportunities for growth with reliable insights. Read the full blog for ten ideas for managers to get the most out of Bonusly that will lead to a more productive, engaged, and happy team.

🔑 Key tip: Show your team that you see and appreciate their work by blocking 15 minutes at the end of each week to prioritize team recognition. 

The takeaway

Managers play a critical role in an organization's success, responsible for delivering on key objectives while ensuring their team is empowered, effective, and running at a steady pace. That said, 64% of managers report that employees now have additional job responsibilities—is the weight becoming too much to bear? 

Leaders must focus on empowering their managers to do the work that matters most and equipping managers with the right tools and resources to build high-performing teams. We hope these tools will help. Here’s to turning the key on change and starting to implement small changes that result in big team wins.

swag
Organizational culture
Non-Profit Spotlight
Mobile Apps
Dashboard
Work Anniversaries
Single Sign-on
Integrations
Data Science
Security
International
Global
Customer Stories
Turnover
Tools
Recruiting
Employee Feedback
Bonusly Pro
Management
news
Employee Morale
Employee Perks and Benefits
HRIS
Donation reward options
HR
Rewards
People Analytics
Analytics
Peer-to-Peer Recognition
Interviews
Incentives
Company news
Feature
Inclusion
Equity
Awards
Diversity
Leadership
Employee retention
Remote work
Employee motivation
Company Culture
Employee recognition
Employee engagement