Why Recognition is Crucial for Onboarding Talent -  What Can Your Organisation Do?

Talent recognition is a central defence against employee churn. This is backed up by research and surveys that highlight how much employees value recognition as a motive for remaining with a current employer.

However, what can organisations do to help improve talent recognition in the onboarding process? In this article we will explore why recognition matters and why this is the case during onboarding new talent. Then we will explore key themes in which talent recognition can be communicated during the onboarding process to help better engage with talent in the longer term.

Why Recognition at Work Matters?

According to research by Capterra, nearly 56% of employees do not feel they receive the correct level of recognition in the workplace. The study also noted that productivity gains could be found through improved talent recognition as 78% of respondents stated they would work harder if they felt that their input was appreciated by the organisation.

Furthermore, this recognition was less about improved pay or thank you-based treats in the workplace, and instead nearly one third of respondents to the survey stated that a simple “thank you” from management or the organisation would be the most desirable form of talent recognition.

The functional delivery of this recognition, according to research noted above, could be in two ways: Firstly with 36% was one-to-one recognition giving meetings with a line manager; secondly with 29% was a group-based huddle approach which was more informal and allowed the small group of colleagues to receive recognition as a small team within a large organisation.

Talent Recognition and the Onboarding Process - How to Get These Experiences to Line Up?

As the research undertaken by Capterra above noted, employee recognition or talent recognition is a crucial experience that is highly prized by employees. Therefore, organisations who are serious about onboarding great talent need to make sure that they communicate how talent recognition works within their organisation – and more crucially how much of part it plays within the organisational culture they, themselves, will experience.

As anyone involved in recruitment will know, onboarding is a time-sensitive and stressful experience – this is the case for not just for the employer but especially the employee. The sensitivities of a new employee worried about starting at a new company align with the key tenets of talent recognition. Therefore, onboarding talent requires talent recognition from the start – it is about saying a big “thank you” from the first introduction to the new employee onwards as they continue their career with your organisation.

Employees starting a new role will have initial thoughts about “fitting in” but this is quickly repurposed into another thought altogether which is; “did I make the right decision to join this company”. According to research, around 78% of new recruits within the first week of commencing employment will have these thoughts – with 44% using this experience and lack of initial recognition as a validating marker to begin the mental process of understanding that this may well be a short-term role and that they will be actively seeking alternative employment in the very near future.

Talent recognition during the onboarding process can help cement the notion with a new employee that this organisation values them, values them for becoming a new employee and provides the right space for talent growth through on-going talent recognition. All of this helps drive down employee churn, to make the onboarding process more human and more validating for the individual – that’s why it is important to make talent recognition a central part of the onboarding process as it can help improve organisational culture and decrease churn rates.