I love that Thanksgiving gives us all a reminder each year to be grateful for the people and things that we value in life. Some people gather with their loved ones, while others go out into the community to serve, remembering that no matter our hardships, we can always give someone else a hand. I think it is wonderful that we have set aside a national day of thanks.

I also think that gratitude is somewhat perishable. If it isn’t expressed in the moment, it can get superseded by other events and forgotten. That’s why appreciation, especially in terms of your employees, should be a daily, not an annual event. That's why employee recognition software is designed to support the day-to-day demonstration of thankfulness.

Why Recognition Matters

On Oprah’s final episode of her wildly popular TV show, she highlighted the importance of validation: “I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show,” she said, “and all 30,000 had one thing in common. They all wanted validation.” The need for recognition is something that almost all humans have in common. We want to be acknowledged for what we do well. It reinforces our self-worth and affirms our value to others.

Not feeling recognized consistently ranks among the top reasons that employees leave their job, yet many managers still apply the, "If you don't hear from me, it means you're doing a good job," approach. That probably explains why 60 percent of employees say they feel ignored or taken for granted. Employees who don’t feel appreciated become disengaged, under perform, or simply leave.

How Employee Recognition Software Helps

When it comes to recognition, many organizations talk a good game, but fail to deliver. Aberdeen found that only 14% of organizations provide managers with the necessary tools for rewards and recognition.

KaiNexus has baked employee recognition software into the technology we offer to support your efforts to achieve continuous improvement. It helps in a number of ways:

• Managers have a systematic way to broadcast employee achievement
• Employees are rewarded with badges that are displayed in their profile
• Impact reporting makes it easy to see which employee ideas are resulting in positive results
• Quickly identify those who are contributing to your culture of improvement

There’s no escaping the fact that employees will do more of what they are recognized and rewarded for doing. This Thanksgiving season, consider employee recognition software as a way to keep that grateful spirit alive all year.

Learn more about how to engage your employees in continuous improvement with this free eBook: