By Steven Green

You might think that individual performance is at one end of a spectrum and collaboration is at the other. But both styles of working have one thing in common – engagement.

You can’t collaborate without engaging others. And it’s hard to imagine somebody being a top performer while being disengaged. The leading indicator for engagement is how much praise and recognition employees receive at their jobs.

So, exactly how important is recognition to the workplace? I thought it might be fun to revisit some research put out by The Gallup Organization presented in the style of the Harper’s Index:

• Number of U.S. workers Gallup interviewed for this study: 4 million
• Number of workers estimated to be extremely negative about work or “actively disengaged”: 2.2 million
• Cost in US dollars due lost productivity, workplace injuries, absences and fraud: 1 trillion
• Average dollars spent on individual rewards, per employee: $40
• Number of times a person will change jobs in her lifetime: 11
• Increase in risk for coronary heart disease by working for a disliked boss: 17%
• Rank of “feeling unappreciated” among reasons for leaving a job: 1

Steven Green is the founder of PollStream Inc., – a leading provider of interactive engagement and community building solutions. Steven built PollStream with the intention of helping global companies to engage their customers and employees in measurable and meaningful two-way dialogue. As a result he has become a valuable resource to key decision makers as they explore the growing field of online dialogue and social media. With an impressive roster of clients, such as The US Navy, TD Bank, GE Capital, and Best Buy, Steven continues to grow PollStream’s reputation as an innovator of online solutions designed to segment, engage and inform. He has a BA from McGill University in Montreal and a Social Work degree from York University in Toronto.