Employee Recognition & Appreciation Study
At ADLER Business Gifts, we understand the importance of recognising and rewarding employees for their dedication and hard work, which is why we decided to survey 2,000 UK workers to find out whether this is actually happening and how much employees value it.
For our workplace perks survey, we wanted to find out what perks, benefits and gifts employees value the most, as well as what they’re currently getting and how they feel about that. We also looked into the difference between male and female workers, as well as analysing the generational divide to find out what various age groups want from their employers.
So, how are UK companies currently rewarding their staff? We asked employees what gifts and benefits they currently receive from their businesses, with the most common gifts as follows:
- Sweets and confectionary – 17%
- Mugs and drinkware – 10%
- Promotional clothing – 10%
- Calendars and diaries – 9%
- Pens and writing instruments – 9%
- Home accessories – 9%
- Notebooks – 8%
- Electronics – 8%
- Office accessories – 7%
- Keyrings – 7%
- Chocolate – 42%
- Personal care – 38%
- Watches – 32%
- Mugs and cups – 26%
- Notebooks – 25%
- Sweets – 21%
- Premium pens – 21%
- Water bottles – 20%
- Umbrellas – 20%
- Travel mugs – 20%
The Gender Divide
As well as analysing overall workforce sentiment, we also broke our results down by gender to look into the male-female divide and see what differences we could uncover. The results were extremely telling, with women feeling less appreciated than men in almost every category we looked at. Overall, 30% of women responded that their employer does nothing to recognise or show appreciation for their work, compared to just 24% of men who gave the same response. This was backed up by the fact that, according to our study, women are less likely to receive bonuses; personal or public recognition from a manager, colleague, director or CEO; pay rises; awards; or gifts. The full results can be seen below: This clear divide between men and women when it comes to being recognised at work is compounded by the fact that women are more negatively impacted by a failure to be valued. Women are, according to our study, more likely to see a negative impact on motivation, productivity and mental health, as well as being more likely to start searching for new jobs, all because they are less recognised than their male counterparts. The full results from this section of the survey are as follows:The Age Gap
As part of our research, we spoke to Paul French, HR consultant and founder of Intrinsic Executive Search, a global recruitment and talent management firm. This was what he had to say on the gender recognition gap in the workplace: “The global health pandemic has disproportionately negatively impacted women, leading to a loss of income and the bigger gender pay gap we are currently witnessing. More women had to either work part-time or leave full-time employment for childcare and home-schooling reasons in the last year. “There’s plenty of anecdotal data showing that women continue to spend more time on domestic obligations than men. This became even more apparent during the pandemic when more women than men exited the workplace. These dynamics have inevitably led to a situation where there are more men than women in the workplace; this is reflected in metrics such as an expanding gender pay gap. “Supporting flexible working and availing childcare benefits will ensure more women remain in the workplace and earn their keep. Women would work the same number as their male counterparts, therefore, mandating employers to give them equal pay. Remote work should not be an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ situation. It should come with real opportunities for professional development, perks, bonuses, and meaningful promotions, ensuring women workers do not fall behind at any point in their career path.” As well as breaking our survey results down by gender, we also compared the different generations of the UK workforce to find out how they feel about workplace recognition. The results were decisive, with the oldest age demographic we surveyed feeling the least appreciated at work, and that sense of value decreasing consistently from the youngest generation to the oldest. A massive 43% of over-55s say they receive no recognition or appreciation at work, which is more than twice the percentage of 16 to 24-year-olds who feel the same way. The full percentages of those who feel they receive no appreciation are:- 16-24-year-olds – 18%
- 25-34-year-olds – 20%
- 35-44-year-olds – 28%
- 45-54-year-olds – 35%
- Over-55s – 43%