A survey into finance employee well-being and sense of employee recognition

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How are employees at credit unions, financial services, bank branches, and corporate banking feeling? We asked about 180 banking professionals of all walks of life those exact questions.

Introduction

Although half of finance companies provide employee awards, most do not provide monetary employee recognition. Why do finance companies wait for end of year to give bonuses? Credit unions, banking institutions, and finance have an opportunity to tie company values with recognition throughout the year. They should couple these activities with a monetary component. With most finance employees stating they don't receive enough recognition, an employee engagement strategy is an easy competitive advantage over the competition.

Banking survey employee recognition

28% of finance workers are tired half or most of the time in the last six months

What factors are playing into exhaustion? Could it be only work or other factors, such as home life.

When asked, "I felt tired or had little energy in last quarter." 45% said Several days a week, 25% said not at all, 19% said half the days, and 9% said nearly every day.

Most workers feel good about themselves

86% of people said that most of the time they feel good about life and themselves.

When asked, "I felt bad about myself - or that I was a failure and had let myself or my family down in last quarter." 53% said not at all, 33% on several days, 9% half the days, and 2% most days.

Most workers are able to concentrate

Similarly, 83% said they can concentrate all the time or most of the time. Only 15% said frequently or at least half the time they felt they had trouble concentrating.

When asked, "I had trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television in the last quarter." 50% said not at all. 34% several days in the last quarter. 13% More than half the days. 2% for

Most companies do not provide monetary employee recognition

Interestingly, only 2% of companies surveyed provide donation to charity. 1/3rd of companies offer on-the-spot bonuses, and only half have employee awards. Therefore, having an employee recognition and rewards program would give a strong competitive advantage.

When asked, "If your company provides employee recognition, what are the ways in which it does?" 50% said Employee awards, 42% verbal affirmation. 41% employee anniversary or birthday. 35% Gift cards. 32% Cash awards. 12% paid time off. 8% professional perks, like a conference. 7% experiences. 2% parking spot. 2% donation to charity.

More than half of companies have an official recognition program

42% of companies are missing out on not having an employee recognition program. However, this number might be slowly improving as 16% of financial companies have reported adding an official recognition program in the past six months.

"Does your company have an official way to provide employee recognition?" 58% yes. 20% no. 16% Yes but only recently (6mo). 4% Unsure if company has an employee recognition program.

Less than half of employees are unsure or don't feel appreciated

With a successful employee recognition program, at least 70% of people should feel appreciated.

"I have felt like my company recognizes my accomplishments." 8% strongly disagree. 17% disagree. 18% unsure. 35% agree. 19% strongly agree.

Similar results with half of staff not appreciated

Still, 9% of finance workers say they strongly disagree with the recognition they received and only 19% strongly agree.

"I have been satisfied with the employee recognition I receive." 9% strongly disagree. 19% disagree. 19% unsure. 32% agree. 19% strongly agree.

Slightly more people strongly agree their recognition was at least adequate.

Less than half of people strongly agree or agree that they are adequately recognized for their work. Financial institutions should aim to fix this problem in order to have a more engaged workforce.

"I believe I have been adequately recognized at my company." 7% strongly disagree. 20% agree. 22% unsure. 27% agree. 22% strongly agree.

No recognition is not acceptable for the banking industry

With half of employees feeling unsure or under appreciated, staff need to be recognized at least quarterly.

"On average, how often do you receive employee recognition." 29% quarterly. 22% monthly. 19% seldom or never. 19% yearly. 5% weekly.

Half say no

Like most of this survey it is split between people who agree they appreciate the amount of recognition their employer provides and half that do not. What side is your company on?

"I have been satisfied with how often my company gives me recognition." 9% strongly disagree. 21% disagree. 19% unsure. 28% agree. 21% strongly agree.

Banking survey demoraphics

The Recognize team always tries to get an accurate look at the population when conducting surveys. We were able to hit the mark by surveying an equal amount of men and women and people with different job titles and salaries. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to get enough banking professionals to take the survey. Our aim was to get at least 500 responses, but we had to settle at only 184. We hope to provide a more comprehensive look in the future.