Thanksgiving is a nice reminder to give thanks and show appreciation to those who deserve it – and at the top of the list for companies ought to be their valuable workforce. But showing gratitude and recognition to employees needs to be a year-round initiative, not served once a year alongside turkey dinner. Employers have always depended on human capital to get the job done, but today the value of a motivated, engaged workforce is ten-fold.

According to a recent report by Aon Hewitt, career opportunities and recognition are consistently among the top engagement drivers for employees. Workers who are motivated to meet performance goals, and rewarded for doing so, are among the most engaged and productive employees a company will have. As a result, there is a substantial impact on an organization’s performance when employees feel recognized and motivated.

Do you know what motivates your workforce?

The key to motivating employees is to understand what exactly drives them. Whether it’s a raise, a promotion, or just an opportunity to work on a new project or task force, all people are motivated differently. Understanding the core of who a person is, how they think, what they value, what motivates them, and what they enjoy doing most, all contribute to motivating and engaging your entire workforce.

The use of talent assessment tools and solutions offer leaders the ability to understand their workers, with insight into their thinking style, behaviors, values and competencies. They are the foundation for learning exactly what motivates workers and in creating meaningful recognition and career opportunities that drive higher engagement.

Link recognition with performance goals

There has been a steady increase in structured recognition programs from 2002 to 2013, says World at Work. However, when organizations utilize talent assessment solutions to identify what type of recognition will inspire their workforce, and link recognition with performance goals, they enjoy unprecedented employee engagement levels.

Gallup’s workplace research has demonstrated that companies have a better chance of achieving their goals if they set clear individual performance goals, provide incentives for reaching those goals, and recognize employee who meet them. Employees are most motivated when they have highly-focused objectives and goals for their job, and a clear path for upward mobility or competency building.

Empower managers with the right tools and insight

According to Aberdeen research, only 14 percent of organizations provide managers with the necessary tools for rewards and recognition. One of the greatest barriers to effective employee recognition programs is gaining manager buy-in, due in large part to the lack of data-driven, insightful tools to help inform recognition approaches that are tied to performance.

Companies will need to start arming managers with the right information, tools and resources to help manage and optimize their talent by improving recognition, while also driving better engagement, performance and productivity.

Assessment solutions provide managers a science-driven, data-based roadmap to make informed performance improvements at every stage of employment, and insight into what most motivates individual workers. With incentives and clear direction to reach performance objectives, workers are highly motivated to perform and achieve their full potential. It is an impactful way to show appreciation and thanks to your most valuable asset – your employees.

To learn more about talent assessment solutions, contact XBInsight at www.xbinsight.com or 401.682.2859.