Research released by digital gifting company Prezzee suggests a significant proportion of SMEs are losing ‘undervalued’ talent and that firms need to do more to ensure staff feel valued if they want to avoid unnecessarily losing more talented employees.

According to the research, almost a quarter of all UK SMEs acknowledge they have lost talent in the past 4-6 months as a result of making employees feel undervalued. Despite this, more than a third of HR Directors said all employees within their organisation receive the same rewards, regardless of location, job title or other factors such as interests and hobbies.

The findings also suggest company budgets set aside for rewarding staff are currently failing to achieve full potential, with two-thirds of SMEs admitting their team did not attend events or that rewards were not received how staff would like them. The research also provides an insight into why employees may not be engaging with reward schemes or events, with eight in ten respondents admitting they do not understand their employees’ interests well enough.

Commenting on the findings, Prezzee’s UK Managing Director James Malia said, “When times are tough, as they undoubtedly have been over the past two years, reward and incentive strategies are more important than ever. They’re a clear way to showcase how highly a company values its staff and, as our data reveals, when not done well it directly results in people leaving for greener pastures.”

He continued, “HR and line managers need to be one step ahead of their employees. Indeed, the future of loyalty incentives should revolve around personalised, thoughtful rewards that highlight how much businesses care about their employees. Those companies which change their ways now will find themselves in a much stronger position come 2023.”