Recognition & good management key to employee engagement

Workplaces are rapidly changing. That was the core message delivered by experts Isha Vicaria, Ph.D., of Workhuman and Emily Lorenz, Ph.D., of Gallup, as they discussed how organisations can build resilient and engaged cultures in today's environment.

Timed just after World Mental Health Day, their joint webinar explored how hybrid work, technological advancement, and management quality have become centrepieces of employee experience and wellbeing. "Resilience and adaptability are going to be crucial for navigating the world of work today and in the future," said Vicaria, who specialises in people analytics and research consultancy at Workhuman.

The latest Gallup data reveals hybrid work is now the norm for many, with around half of US employees in remote capable roles. Yet less than a third of these workers operate fully remotely. "Over half of US remote capable employees expect and prefer to be working hybrid," explained Lorenz, noting similar trends are also emerging globally. "Less than 10% prefer to be fully on site."

The shift, accelerated dramatically during the pandemic, has brought new challenges and opportunities. Employees working in hybrid or remote roles report greater engagement than those required to be entirely on-site, Gallup's findings suggest. "The employees with the lowest level of engagement are those who could be working remotely but don't have the option," Lorenz said.

Work-life balance, now cited as the top reason people want hybrid roles, is transforming the conversation. But Lorenz stressed the wider context: "Work itself is not always that bad. A lot of it has to do with the workplace… how valued people feel, the quality of management, and team dynamics play a huge role."

In fact, the quality of management surpasses even work location as a predictor of engagement. "Management quality matters more for employee engagement than the number of days in the office," Vicaria told the audience. According to Gallup's statistics, 80% of employees who received meaningful feedback in the past week are fully engaged, regardless of work location.

As Lorenz clarified: "If you have a good manager, you're going to feel the benefits, whether you're on site, remote, or working in a hybrid arrangement." However, a concerning gap remains—73% of managers and senior leaders say they have never been trained in how to recognise and appreciate their teams. "There's so much to be gained from knowing how to express appreciation and gratitude for the people around you in the right ways," Lorenz said.

Vicaria called for more structured training in strategic recognition. "How do we empower managers and senior leaders to know what to do? To feel like they can do this practise?" she asked, advocating for recognition-specific training and referencing the 'five pillars of strategic recognition': fulfilling, authentic, equitable, embedded in the culture, and personalised.

Recognition was highlighted as an essential input in improving employee experience, with Vicaria urging: "Show your employees appreciation and leverage those frequent conversations." Yet only 10% of employees have ever been asked how they would like to be recognised—a number the presenters described as alarmingly low.

The second major trend for 2024 is the rising impact of new technologies, especially artificial intelligence. Despite its growing prevalence, 67% of employees report not using AI in their current roles, including Vicaria herself. For those who do engage with AI, lack of training is a major barrier to broader adoption. "Of those whose organisations had started using AI, nearly half said their employer doesn't offer any training," Lorenz pointed out. Just 15% reported being required to undergo any form of training at all.

This lack of education can undermine organisational confidence in using new tools, Vicaria observed. "We have a huge opportunity here to just raise the awareness of what is expected if organisations are expecting AI to be used, then the training has got to be offered as well."

Moreover, the research finds that employees are more likely to learn new skills out of a desire to do their job better (60%) or to develop personally (51%), rather than to leave their organisation. Just 4% said they learned a new skill with intentions of moving to a different organisation. "People are really driven to… learn new skills, to better grow in their current role," Lorenz explained, challenging a common misconception about upskilling being primarily for career moves.

Recognition once again emerges as a powerful motivator for upskilling and adaptability. According to Gallup and Workhuman's research, employees who are recognised for learning a new skill are 75% more likely to strongly agree that their organisation encourages ongoing learning. Lorenz emphasised this point: "Recognising and appreciating people for learning new skills motivates them. They feel encouraged to do it, and the organisation overall is going to reap benefits from it."

For Vicaria, it all comes back to creating a culture where people are celebrated for the day-to-day behaviours that make organisations resilient. "If learning a new skill is actively reinforced and it's part of your culture to celebrate when somebody's taken an AI course or finished a new training, then you're going to see more of that behaviour," she said.

As the webinar wrapped up, Vicaria summarised: "Humans are the ones that are guiding, prompting, training, evaluating these smart technologies, and the human remains at the centre of work. Celebrating the human is going to help us navigate and become adaptable and resilient."

Lorenz concluded: "There's so much to be gained from knowing how to express appreciation and gratitude for the people around you in the right ways."