This post was inspired by a question posted on Focus.com by Focus HR Expert Adviser, Charlie Judy: Any thoughts or observations on SHRM’s Employee Recognition Survey Results that were released today? To participate in discussions like these, please check out the Focus HR community.

The recent SHRM Employee Recognition Program Survey revealed quite a bit of interesting information. According to this study, a whopping 58% of the companies surveyed (with employee recognition programs in place) stated the most common reason for employee recognition was, “years of service.” This stat absolutely blew my mind! No matter how much you love your job, who really wants to be reminded of exactly how long they’ve been doing it? Let’s put it this way: years of service are like birthdays… after awhile you prefer not to think about how many there are.

There’s an incredible opportunity for improving talent retention by recognizing employees on the basis of merit instead of years of service. From an employee’s perspective, it’s really cool to have your leaders & peers genuinely applaud the hard work and effort that you’ve put toward a specific project. When employees feel appreciated and relevant, they’re much more satisfied with their work and less likely to leave.

This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t not recognize years of service, but if we’re battling in the War for Talent we need to use every available opportunity to re-engage! Consistent and genuine recognition is a great tool for re-exciting your team about the organization and their roles… I highly suggest you try it.