Employee recognition is an important practice for every workplace. Integrated recognition means recognition is a frequent, meaningful part of the everyday employee experience. For finance workers, getting encouragement and support from internal recognition champions can make your recognition program more meaningful and more successful.

When finance employees work in organizations with integrated recognition, there are:

• 3.8x increased odds of planning to stay two or more years
• ‍10.1x increased odds of having a sense of belonging
• 7.3x increased odds of feeling fulfilled at work
• 7.6x increased odds of high engagement
• 5.2x increased odds the employee will thrive at work

Financial organizations like Navy Federal Credit Union celebrate their employees throughout their careers—from start to finish.

What should you keep in mind when recognizing financial workers? Read on for 5 recognition best practices in the finance industry.

1. Integrate recognition into your company culture and employees’ daily flow of work

72% of financiale workers say recognition is a part of their organization's everyday culture and 72% say their organization continually implements new programs and technologies to recognize great work. 

And while 78% of financial employees say their organization has a formal program to recognize years of service, fewer (75%) have programs to recognize above and beyond performance, everyday efforts (61%), safety (68%), or wellness (64%).

Organizations should provide tools for employees to recognize one another for a variety of reasons including great work, extra effort, safety, and wellness. Recognition tools, like Culture Cloud®, should also be integrated into the tools employees use every day for collaboration, leadership tools, reporting, etc., so employees can remember to recognize and easily do so in their flow of work when they see great work happening.

2. Give recognition in a personal and meaningful way

When it comes to meaningful recognition, 45% of finance workers workers say the recognition they receive at work feels like an empty gesture and 31% say recognition at their organization is inauthentic.

For recognition to feel genuine and sincere, it must be personal, timely, and specific. Ensure recognition calls out individual accomplishments and contributions, connects recognition to the organization’s values and purpose, and details what the employee has done well and why it matters. Also, share stories of recognition happening across the organization, so everyone can see the great work an employee has done.

Train leaders to get to know their people and learn how they want to be appreciated so leaders can create recognition moments that are appropriate and tailored to each individual. This ensures recognition is delivered in a personal and meaningful way, every time.

Learn how TD Bank Group enriches the lives of employees with recognition

3. Build connection, belonging, and community with recognition

Most financial employees (83%) believe recognition is a crucial part of building a workplace community and believe recognition for their work makes them feel like they belong at their organization (82%).

Empower and equip peers to recognize one another—it’s guaranteed to build connection and community. Have leaders recognize employees during leader rounding efforts and when employees transition roles or teams. Help new employees feel welcomed and connected with recognition from day one.

Recognizing employees' extra effort, career milestones, and life events shows you care about employees both at work and outside of work. With 77% of financial workers saying their organization celebrates life events, there is an opportunity to help employees thrive outside of work. Recognition for things like new babies or homes, but also accomplishments like running a marathon, learning a new skill, or even sending kids off to college are great ways to build connection, community, and a sense that the company cares about employees.

Custom awards are another powerful way to connect employees to your workplace community and organization. Using symbols of your company culture, history, and work environment can help tell the stories of your employees’ accomplishments and how they’ve made an impact at your organization, in a memorable way.

4. Recognize growth and development

Ongoing skill building and development is crucial for employees in the financial industry. It leads to more fulfillment, increased retention, and better patient outcomes. Recognizing employees both during and after the skill-building process shows they are valued and have achieved something important as they learn new skills.

Employees have 3x greater odds of being satisfied with their experience if they’re recognized at the completion of training, but 4x greater odds when they are recognized during and after. We found 77% of financial employees were recognized both during and after training with a gift card, certificate, or other form of acknowledgment. This leaves about 25% of employees who would benefit from more recognition as they build skills.

Recognition is equally important as employees learn new skills in a new role or team. When recognition is an integrated part of a job transition experience (as employees are learning new skills)—whether it’s a new hire, a newly promoted employee, or an employee changing job responsibilities or teams—satisfaction with their transition experience increases 5x.

Learn how CIBC supports mental health and wellbeing in their work culture.

5. Encourage gratitude to support employees’ mental health

Finance can be a rewarding but tough business. A whopping 75% of financial employees report high levels of burnout.

Just as clinical research finds expressions of gratitude can help improve mental health, giving gratitude at work through recognition can also alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression. Employees who gave recognition in the past 30 days report decreases in the odds of:

• Burnout (-57%)
• Probable diagnosis of anxiety (-24%)
• Probable diagnosis of depression (-28%)

While recognition is not a replacement for mental health care, it can complement mental health wellbeing strategies. Giving and receiving recognition can increase belonging, connection, and gratitude, which counteract many factors that lead to poor mental health.

Encourage employees and leaders to give recognition when they see great work happening. Align employees’ work to a greater purpose, be specific in how they contributed and why it was unique, and focus on genuine, positive sentiment.

Simple acts of saying thank you and receiving recognition not only bolster the mental health of employees, but also strengthen workplace culture, which can help protect against mental health struggles and lead to an estimated annual savings of $8,000 per employee with probable depression.

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See how Culture Cloud makes it simple and fun to recognize everyone on your financial services team. Request a demo.