Findings for reward and recognition in the NHS Staff Survey

Feeling recognised and valued

Just over half of NHS staff (53.10 per cent) report being satisfied with the recognition they receive for good work. This represents a slight but continuous decrease on 2024 (53.98 per cent) and 2023 (54.67 per cent) results. 

When looking more widely at how valued and appreciated staff feel: 

• 42.95 per cent of staff report being satisfied with the extent to which their organisation values their work. This has continued to decline since 2023. 

• 67.35 per cent say that the people they work with show appreciation towards one another. This has remained broadly comparable since 2022. 

• 72.83 per cent agree that their immediate manager values the work they do. This has also remained stable for the last five years. 

Together, these findings highlight the important role that day‑to‑day recognition, team culture and line management play in shaping staff experiences of feeling valued at work.

Satisfaction with pay

Following a significant increase between 2022 and 2023, NHS staff satisfaction with pay has remained steady over the past three years. This years results showed that 32.13 per cent of staff said they are satisfied with their level of pay. 

Employers are encouraged to take an in-depth look at their individual results to look at local trends and highlight areas of success and improvement. You can do this by accessing NHS England’s interactive staff survey tool.

Background

‘We are recognised and rewarded’ is one element of the NHS People Promise and features as a summary indicator in the staff survey to support the overall picture of staff experience across the NHS.

There are five questions within the survey that contribute to the overall indicator around reward and recognition:

• satisfaction with the recognition for good work
• satisfaction with the extend to which the organisations values work
• satisfaction with levels of pay
• feeling valued and appreciated by staff
• feeling valued by their manager.

Further resources to support employers

We offer a range of support in terms of rewarding and recognising staff on our website, which you may find useful:

• Our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) hub brings together tools and resources to support employers to develop their organisations EVP or total reward offer. 

• Advice on how organisations can successfully recognise staff with  long service awards. 

• Why organisations should recognise a multigenerational workforce.  

• Information on how employers can  measure the impact of their recognition offer. 

• Resources to help organisations with understanding, promoting and communicating the value of the total employment package. 

• Reward strategy toolkit, aimed at supporting employers develop a successful reward strategy within their organisations.  

• The role of line managers  and total reward.