Retaining the best employees is difficult, especially when the economy is on the rise and new opportunities are opening up all around. But keeping your talent is essential if you want to remain competitive. As economies around the world improve and labor markets tighten, retaining top talent becomes increasingly difficult. Keeping those great people is critical to maintaining your competitive edge.

Employee Turnover is the No. 1 challenge

SHRM and Globoforce recently published the 2015 Employee Recognition Report. Not surprising to us, employee retention/preventing turnover was found to be the biggest challenge facing human resource leaders in 40 percent of all companies surveyed. History is repeating itself. Employee engagement was the second biggest. Another 29 percent were concerned about finding replacements for departing talent.

Why are employees leaving? According to this study, lack of recognition at work is one of the top reasons, while employees also feel their contributions are not valued by their peers or manager. Moreover, it is values-based recognition that makes employees feel that their contributions are fully appreciated.

Values-based programs are superior

And, while more than 80 percent of large companies offer some kind of formal recognition, “values-based recognition,” or recognition based on living the company’s values, is practiced by only slightly more than 50 percent of these companies, though we see that percentage increasing.

For the 90 percent of respondents practicing values-based recognition, the program seemed to have a positive impact on engagement, versus just 67 percent for non-values-based programs. In 68 percent of values-based programs retention seemed to be directly affected, versus 41 percent for non-values-based programs.

The message is clear

Linking the recognition system with the company’s core values works to drive home the importance of those values and to reinforce aligned behaviors. Not only will values-based recognition programs support engagement and retention, but will also help attract the types of candidates looking for companies that have values aligned with theirs – something else that will contribute to long-term retention and workforce stability.

How this trend affects organizations

Wise organizations will use this information to redesign their recognition programs to be optimally effective by focusing on their core values in every aspect of the employee lifecycle – from recruitment to onboarding to engagement and retention. Particularly for the younger generations, living the company’s values is important; they will make their decisions to work and stay with companies, based on their comfort levels with core values.