Despite mounting evidence of a slowing economy, it’s still crucial for CFOs to look toward collaborating with Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) in order to implement recognition programs and improve the employer-employee relationship, Workhuman CFO Scott Dussault said in an interview.
“Even though we are technically in a recession, employment is still very high, [so] it’s a bit of a paradox,” Dussault said. “I think that for employers, and particularly for CFOs, it is more important than ever to make sure you are retaining the right people.”
Digitalizing recognition programs and leaning on technology to enable organizations to develop the employee-employer relationships wherever they work is an emerging tool. It can be used to implement such recognition initiatives that is particularly important in the wake of the pandemic as more people are now working remotely.
“Recognition programs have existed forever, they just have not been formal nor digital and certainly not social in any way,” said Dussault.
Employee recognition — the act of publicly acknowledging employees for who they are and what they do — is critical to the experience and performance of both employees and their leaders, a recent stody published by Workhuman and Gallup found. Despite research supporting the link between recognition and improved business outcomes, 81% of leaders say recognition is not a major strategic priority for their organization.
However, Dussault said that employers are finally starting to recognize the relationship between employees feeling and staying engaged, productivity and in turn, turnover rates. Software such as the kind Workhuman provides to digitialize recognition programs and provide peer-to-peer recognition is particularly key given that social-media savvy Gen-Z and millennials comprise a large chunk of the workforce, he said.
Government and banking officials as well as economic experts are divided regarding whether the U.S. is heading toward a recession as ongoing inflationary pressures including skyrocketing consumer prices, enduring supply chain troubles and the persisting effects of the war in Ukraine continue to badger the economy.
Data released Thursday from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of .9% in the second quarter. However, the GDP contractions comes as the labor market remains strong.
With employees still demanding more and more from their employers, CFOs are increasing working more with CHROs, Dussault said.
