In addition, 36% include employee engagement as a top challenge, with workers dissatisfied with their companies more willing to look elsewhere in a stronger job market.

In fact, according to Derek Irvine, vice president of client strategy and consulting at Globoforce, “A recent global research study from Globoforce's WorkHuman Research Institute and IBM's Smarter Workforce found that employees experiencing a higher level of humanity at work tend to perform better, and are less likely to quit their jobs.”

In an e-mail interview, Irvine added, “Analysis further shows that employees with less positive experiences are more than twice as likely to say they want to leave versus those with much more positive experiences (44% vs. 21%).”

And in confronting those three challenges, organizations are finding the methods that perform best in aiding both retention and financial outcomes are recognition programs tied to organizational values.

Use of such programs is growing, with 60% of organizations in 2016 having one — that's up from 50% in 2012, while the percentage of organizations with recognition programs not tied to values dropped to 21% in 2016, compared to 27% in 2012.

But companies have to be willing to devote sufficient resources to such programs for them to succeed.

According to the survey, companies that spend 1 percent or more of payroll on recognition are nearly three times as likely to rate their program as excellent (26%), compared with companies that spend less than 1% (9%), while companies that spend no budget on recognition are five times more likely to rate their program as poor, compared to companies that spend 1% or more.

In addition, those with a budget of 1% or more are 3.5 times more likely to say their program helps HR professionals attract new job candidates.

They are also nearly twice as likely to say it delivers a strong return on investment (88% versus 48%), and twice as likely to say it helps retain employees (88% versus 44%).

That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Irvine wrote, “The biggest challenge for HR professionals is to convince their organizations to get rid of outdated processes such as the annual performance reviews. HR professionals need to emphasize that HR is moving toward continuous conversations where ongoing 'check-ins' align employees behind an organization's priorities. It turns performance management into a more frequent, ongoing and more natural human exercise — building trust with organizational leaders and optimizing performance.”

But the rewards can be worth it for companies that persist.

Irvine said, “A human-centric approach within the workplace where employees are not treated as human capital but as people fosters greater humanity and creates more positive employee experiences. These are fundamental factors of employee retention and maintaining a strong employer brand…. When employees feel valued and recognized for the work they do by the leaders they work for, they are driven to devote extra discretionary energy on behalf of their companies to help them achieve greater success.”