Reward or recognition? How to maximise engagement

Pioneering entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, once said: “There are two things people want more than sex and money - recognition and praise.”

She has a point. 69% of employees prefer praise and recognition from their managers over and above money, according to Gallup. The management consulting firm’s research also found that employees who do not feel adequately recognised are twice as likely to quit.

James Lee, Chief Design Officer at LifeWorks, spoke to us about this very issue.

“In the employee engagement space recognition and reward are often used synonymously,” he observed. “Yet they impact differently on the two basic human motivations; extrinsic (external) and intrinsic (internal).