Data Entry Workers Like Being Thanked for Their Work

Data entry can be a thankless job. The actual work is often repetitive, the pay is not usually great, and it may be difficult for the lower-level data entry clerk to see how his or her job contributes to the overall functioning of a company.

The trend towards data entry outsourcing may render this lackluster dynamic more possible. Anytime laborers feel disconnected from the fruits of their labor, unproductivity can result. Companies that hire a data entry service should be on the look out so that such apathy does not creep into their operations. A new study by Office Team and the International Association of Administrative Professionals, titled "Recognizing Results," shows that keeping data entry workers happy can be a smart business decision.

Administrative Staff Wants "Thank You" More Than Promotion, and Other Shocking Statistics

The Recognizing Results survey contains a number of interesting statistics that offer insight into the perspective of data entry workers, but one particular statistic stands out from the rest: administrative staff members value an in-person thank you from the boss as more important than a promotion.

According to the study, both "in-person thank you" and "boss relates your achievements to senior management" ranked ahead of "promotion," when admin staffers named what type of recognition they most crave.

In fact, lack of recognition was a major contributor to administrative staff desires to quit. Twenty three percent of respondents said lack of recognition would "very likely" result in a departure from the employer, while 43 percent called leaving because of lack of recognition would be "somewhat likely."

In this economy, the fact that 66 percent of admin staff said theyd potentially quit their job for any reason other than being fired can be considered quite stunning. But so it is.

The Recognizing Results survey also shows that recognition of data entry worker contributions may increase productivity. Twenty eight percent of respondents said recognition "greatly improves" work performance, with another 39 percent stating that recognition "somewhat improves" performance.

Recognition Is Free, But Data Entry Errors Can Be Costly

The Recognizing Results study proves that recognition of the contributions of admin staff such as data entry clerks is a prime motivational tool.

However, the responsibility for recognizing the work of data entry workers must not be left exclusively to the third-party data entry service in charge of actually managing the data entry workers. Data entry errors, after all, can seem small to the unmotivated data entry clerk making them, or even to the firm supervising the work, but such errors may prove large when an entire database is compromised.

Companies working with outsourced data entry services, then, should consider how they can recognize the data entry staff as an important part of company efforts.

Companies that do take this extra step, if the statistics included in the Recognizing Results survey are any indication, may get better quality data entry work than those companies that take data entry wokers for granted.

Sources

Bureau of Labor Statistics

OfficeTeam