The Recognition of Researchers within and beyond the Borders of the Organization
Organizations have to face the growing issue of employee recognition, as recently shown in the French news. Employees expect recognition at work and researchers, who are the archetypes of knowledge workers, are no exception. Studying the recognition of researchers seems increasingly necessary since a growing number of people are entering the knowledge economy in general, and the profession of researchers in particular is evolving, which is tending to change the nature of relationships at work. Moreover, even though the concept of recognition is a high motivation factor, it is still understudied, which restricts the understanding of what are the real issues at stake as well as the possible organizational responses to employee expectations. This paper focuses on the concept of employee recognition as a way of better understanding the expectations of researchers and the possible actions that organizations can take. Our study is based on two research centers—one in the public sector and the other in the private sector—in which 50 interviews were conducted. The analysis of the data was conducted according to the conceptual framework developed by Brun and Dugas (2005) and highlighted the fact that sources of recognition are multifaceted (manager, management, organization, colleagues, peers) and complementary, but also go beyond the borders of the organizations in which researchers work. These diverse forms of recognition must take into account the reality of the work done by researchers. An organizational context that takes into account the specifics of research work are essential for the better recognition of researchers. The recognition of employees within an organization should consider not only the forms of recognition but also the sources, which might sometimes go beyond the borders of the organization.