Perceived organizational support and work anniversaries
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by Rick Joi Rick Joi is the founder of The Workiversary Group and author of the award‑winning book, Inspiring Work Anniversaries. |
Perceived organizational support is wonkier than purpose and belonging and not something most people think about, but it’s a big part of the value that organizations get when they celebrate work anniversaries well.
It’s defined by the pioneers in the field as “the extent to which employees believe that their organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being.” (link)
In simpler terms, it’s the answer to the question:
Do employees feel supported by the organization?
Note that the question isn’t whether employees are supported but whether they feel supported. An organization might offer all kinds of incentives, perks, and rewards for achievement, but that doesn’t matter if its employees feel that the organization doesn’t value or care about them.
The benefits of perceived organizational support
While not a commonly discussed topic outside the industrial and organizational psychology world, this concept is widely studied. A published literature review of seventy scientific papers concluded that perceived organizational support improved employee attitudes, employee behavior (including reduced attrition and absenteeism), and organizational performance:
There is abundant research on outcome variables of perceived organizational support. The literature analysis showed that the outcome variables of perceived organizational support could be divided into job attitudes, job behaviors, and organizational performance. Among them, attitude-related variables include affective commitment, job satisfaction, positive emotions, and organizational trust and willingness to stay or leave; behavior-related variables include organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover behavior, and withdrawal [absenteeism and attrition] behavior; organizational performance includes relationship performance and task performance. (link)
How it works is straightforward: if employees feel supported by their organization, they behave more as though they have a social relationship with the organization rather than as though it’s a purely economic relationship.
An economic relationship is characterized by the employee—typically acting on behavior modeled by the organization—always asking what’s in it for me?
But the social relationship encouraged by perceived organizational support is one marked by trust that the organization will reward extra effort, without the need for an explicit understanding of how or when, because the organization has demonstrated that it’s worthy of that trust.
The role of work anniversaries in fostering perceived organizational support
Clearly, daily interactions within the team and with managers play the biggest role in determining the level of organizational support an employee perceives, but work anniversaries can provide a significant push—in either direction.
A forgotten work anniversary—or one that conveys that acknowledging the work anniversary was an unwanted chore—can trigger an employee who is unsure of how supported they are to think the organization doesn’t care about them.
Or it can go the other way. A genuinely appreciative acknowledgment of the employee’s contributions to the organization over the past year can greatly reassure an employee who is worried about how they’re perceived—and strengthen the perceived organizational support even for employees who aren’t on the fence.
The impact of work anniversaries can be indirect as well. Employees, seeing a colleague they have a lot of respect for being ignored on their work anniversary, may well say to themselves, if even that amazing employee doesn’t have the organization’s support, then surely I’m on shaky ground.
For maximal value when celebrating work anniversaries, boost perceived organizational support by actively emphasizing that the employee is a highly valued member of the team—and that the organization is fully committed to them
How work anniversaries can boost perceived organizational support
On each employee’s work anniversary, authentically express—with details—how the employee is a uniquely valued member of the team. Say it. Write it. Smile it genuinely. Hug them, pat them on the back, or shake their hand (as appropriate).
Remind them of their contributions from the past year. Imagine out loud what remarkable things wouldn’t have happened without them. Express gratitude that they’re on the team and that you and the organization are lucky to start another lap around the sun with them.
Show your appreciation indirectly by putting a suitable amount of thought and/or effort into other aspects of celebrating their work anniversary.
Most important, do it all because you genuinely value them, not because of the science at the beginning of this section saying that it will boost performance. It’s your intent that will be perceived. The specific details matter less than the genuine feeling behind them.