One in four UK employers are considering specific New Year reward and recognition activity in order motivate and engage employers when they return to work after the Christmas break, according to research from Edenred.

The findings, which compare employer plans for Christmas and New Year Research separately for the first time, show that one in ten companies (12 percent) have already put plans in place to deal with a perceived post Christmas performance dip through New Year recognition and reward and a similar number (13 percent) have plans under consideration.A total of 40 percent of employers think some form of recognition or reward given in the New Year would improve employee performance with a further 40 percent saying they need to be convinced it would have an impact. Only 20 percent think that New Year recognition and reward would have no impact on employee performance.While the majority of end of year reward and recognition still focuses on Christmas – 70 percent of employers say they have plans in place or are considering what they will do – the research shows for the first time the extent to which employers see the need to take practical steps to boost performance in the New Year.

Andy Philpott, sales and marketing director at Edenred, said:“Our research shows that rather than focusing only on an annual thank-you at Christmas, employers now see the New Year as a time where investment in recognition and reward can make a big difference to employee engagement and motivation. It is good to see a shift to a more strategic approach to end of year reward which balances the needs of the business to motivate employees at a notoriously sluggish time in the New Year against the need to say thanks and recognise employee performance around Christmas.”