Desk-based employees are receiving recognition and rewards more frequently than frontline and deskless workers, even as most HR leaders believe both groups have equal access to recognition opportunities, according to a new study.
The report found that 62 per cent of HR decision-makers said desk-based employees are recognised and rewarded more frequently than their deskless counterparts. At the same time, 79 per cent believed frontline and deskless employees have equal access to recognition opportunities, highlighting a gap between organisational perception and employee experience.
The disparity may be linked to the way recognition programmes are structured. According to Boostworks, many workplace recognition systems were designed around office-based environments, potentially making the contributions of employees working away from traditional offices less visible.
Recognition also appears to carry greater importance for deskless employees. Nearly 30 per cent of deskless workers said recognition matters more to them than rewards, compared with 19.5 per cent of office-based employees. However, deskless employees were recognised for achievements at around two-thirds the rate of office-based workers, while recognition for innovation occurred at roughly half the rate.
The difference extends to the impact of recognition and rewards on performance. Around 41 per cent of office-based employees said recognition motivates them to perform better, compared with 33 per cent of deskless workers. Similarly, 47 per cent of office workers said rewards improve their performance, compared with 30 per cent of deskless employees.
More than 28 per cent of deskless employees said they received no specific rewards, around 10 percentage points higher than other groups surveyed.
The research also found differences in employees’ relationships with their managers. Deskless workers were nearly four times more likely than hybrid employees and almost three times more likely than office-based employees to report having no meaningful relationship with their line manager.
Only 28 per cent of deskless employees described their relationship with their manager as a balance of support and performance management, compared with 39 per cent of office-based employees. Meanwhile, 12.7 per cent of deskless employees said their managers never checked in on their wellbeing or workplace experience.
There was also a gap in perceptions of wellbeing support. Only 31 per cent of deskless employees rated conversations about wellbeing as very supportive, compared with 51 per cent of office-based employees.
The difference was also reflected in HR leaders’ confidence in managers’ recognition capabilities. Among decision-makers overseeing office-based teams, 59 per cent were very confident in managers’ ability to recognise employees effectively. This fell to 47 per cent among those managing deskless teams and 46% among those responsible for hybrid teams.
The findings suggest that recognition and people-management practices may need to account for the different working environments of frontline and office-based employees, particularly as organisations manage increasingly distributed workforces.
