You must always remember one principle of recognition, and that is your organizational culture will drive recognition practices and recognition programs throughout your organization.
In like manner, it is the organization’s customary recognition practices and exemplary usage of your recognition programs that will drive your organizational culture.
No wonder so many organizations gear up their recognition programs to focus on recognizing people who live their values.
Look at the various ways in which you can tie recognition practices and programs to your organizational values.
Your recognition program has just gone live. But
for how long will it last?
How do you make recognition programs last?
Making recognition and reward programs last over the long term requires an
open-mindedness to the ongoing transformation of your programs.
It’s about looking for ongoing change and
constant quality improvement. Maybe breaking things even when they’re not even
broken.
But foremost, it’s about creating the future and
meeting the ongoing demands of managers and employees and evolving the
recognition experience.
Not
sure how you did with learning a foreign language at high school, if you needed
to do that. When I was trying to learn French growing up in England, it was a
matter of rote grammar drills, writing out the different verb tenses, and very
little conversational practice.
I cannot speak French today so can never claim to be fluent.
I also spent two years in my early twenties living in Belgium and
gained some Flemish language skills. However, upon returning to Canada and many
years absent with speaking Flemish, I have found out that if you don’t use a language, you lose it.
That’s why being fluent with the data gleaned from your recognition programs is such a necessary skill for you as a recognition manager or program administrator. If you don’t use it you’ll lose it.
One of the
questions I am often asked when it comes to rewards is what to reward people
with as well as when are you supposed to give those rewards.
It’s important
to remember that rewards can be tangible, monetary, or experiential in nature.
This opens the door to all kinds of creative options and ideas for what to give
to people or give them access to choose.
And broadly you
give rewards to individuals or teams whenever they reach pre-set goals, a
significant achievement, or a special service was performed.
Now let’s dig a
little deeper so you can better understand these elements.
Choosing the right awards
for your various incentive and recognition programs is never an easy task. You want
to show employees that their contributions are valued and appreciated. Awards should
match your program’s goals and celebrate employee achievements. Today’s
employees want more than the traditional award items. So here are the Top 10
Ways to Select the Right Incentive or Recognition Award to help you.
1. Clearly spell out your program purpose. Is this award for a sales campaign? Are you wanting
to get people enlisted in your health and wellness platform? Or is this a
prestigious award for the president’s excellence program? Awards must always
fit the program purpose and performance level.
2. Have employees involved and ask them. Use an employee survey to get the big picture view
of employee input. Ask them to prioritize on criteria such as the meaningfulness
and perception of various award options. Draw upon focus groups too so you can
dig deeper. Solicit the why behind each employee idea.
3. Focus on the meaningfulness factor. Employees are very clear on whether an award item is
meaningful or not. Always add onto the
award presentation. For example, who’s presenting the award? How have you
orchestrated the total award celebration experience? What elements can you make
even better?
4. Inspire and excite award recipients. Does the incentive or recognition award inspire the
recipient to do, and be, better? As you explore award items – whether tangible
gifts or symbolic awards – find out how excited employees are to receive them.
Evaluate the emotional appeal of the awards you’re thinking about.
5. Provide choice wherever you can. Giving people exciting options to decide from is a
great way to create motivation. Whether the awards are lifestyle, health and
fitness, electronics, outdoor, or experiential items, charitable donations, or gift
cards. Think choice! This factor can be especially critical with incentives.
6. Always use quality, name brand products. It can be a real let down when an award gift breaks
or stops functioning shortly after receiving it. Stick with brand name items
that are top quality. Ensure your award vendor is reputable and has a great
exchange and replacement policy. Your award speaks for you.
7. Put symbolic awards on a pedestal. Trophies and medals must be totally representative
of your organization. Look at Olympic medals and the Oscars® for what they mean
to recipients. Whatever symbolic awards you design must be an extension of the
company and your brand. They will become a treasured prize.
8. Think outside of the box for novel ideas. No need to stay with the tried and true award
selections. Dabble in creativity such as a customized portrait painting from a
family photo of a recipient. Provide an opportunity to learn something new from
an expert that the employee has mentioned such as painting or in music.
9. Move from tangible to experiential. Corporate volunteer trips to destinations around the
world appeal to younger generation employees. They can build schools or set up
wells with water access. This is a fully immersive cultural and teambuilding
experience that leaves a legacy associated with your company.
10. Choose your own adventure. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman made famous the idea of doing things before you “kick the bucket”. Have employees choose experiences that bring joy. It could be skydiving, an amazing destination experience like whale watching in Patagonia, or cooking with a chef in Paris.
As previously published by the author in Incentive Magazine.
Career milestone award or service
award recognition programs have been around for many years.
Over those years there have been
the customary plaques, symbolic crystal awards, and gold watches—and these used
to start when a person reached 25-years of service.
But as tenure reduced significantly
with economy and business changes, and retention of employees was harder to
maintain, career milestones now begin at 5 years and 5-year increments
thereafter. Today, you will find many companies now start career milestones at
an employee’s first year of service.
The reality is, whether you give an
employee something tangible or not, they always have a workplace anniversary
every single year.
How do you plan to make the next
round of your milestone recognition celebrations more meaningful and effective?
Most
organizations have a formal awards program that is their “best-of-the-best”
academy awards event. These formal award programs are truly the best
performance ranking, or earned award, such as the top salesperson, or they
are nomination based and selected by a judging committee.
Often the
selected jurors are previous award recipients because they know the standard
required to become an award winner.
But
does using previous award winners as jurors who are peers of potential
award candidates lead to bias in selecting winners?
Whenever technology is involved there will always be bugs and glitches that get in the way. It’s the same with recognition and reward programs. However, for the most part the biggest problem with recognition programs is not technology. It is the people factor and how recognition programs are used. Consider these Top 10 Solutions to Typical Recognition Program Problems to help you out.
1. Poorly Planned Programs. Too many leaders launch recognition programs without a plan. Create a recognition strategy with purpose, philosophy and principles. Determine overall objectives you want to achieve with them. Then set specific, measurable goals so you know how to measure your progress. Develop an annual plan to improve the weak areas of your recognition programs.
2. No Management Participation. Start right at the top by lobbying for an executive sponsor to champion the recognition cause. Show leaders how to use the programs and provide supports. Personally commit leaders to using recognition programs. Educate managers on recognition practices and using programs. Hold managers accountable for usage and monitor program reports.
3. Lacking Consistent Usage. You have your recognition programs in place but managers and employees aren’t using them. Apathy and complacency are the enemies of using tools for what they were meant for. Set clear expectations for using the programs. Regularly communicate how to use programs and share positive examples of great recognition givers and their impact on people.
4. Inability To Recognize. Recognition programs are simply tools for giving appreciation and recognition to other people. An effective user of recognition programs must already be effective in giving recognition face-to-face. Teach people the positive behaviors associated with giving people meaningful, memorable and motivational recognition. Expect people to apply these skills first.
5. Too Achievement Focused. Some recognition programs are really reward or incentive programs labeled solely as recognition programs. That’s because rewards are being used to reinforce performance outcomes. This can create an entitlement mentality. Don’t forget to use recognition programs to express appreciation, acknowledge people, and communicate gratitude for everyone.
6. Programs Remain Unknown. Sad to say it but there are companies with recognition programs that their employees don’t even know about. I’ve seen it when we get companies to inventory all the rogue programs that exist. Create a centralized strategy with some core programs and allow local programs to continue. Now brand, communicate and promote them everywhere you can.
7. Unclear Program Expectations. Spell out the expectations for each type of recognition program. Social recognition programs connect people with each other and positive actions. Performance recognition programs reinforce positive behaviors and strategic goals. Milestone or service awards are a celebration of people’s contributions. Don’t expect the wrong things from different programs.
8. Lousy Rewards Criteria. Recognition and reward programs can create problems when criteria for rewards are not clearly determined. What one person determines is above and beyond is different for someone else. Develop clear criteria for rewards based on whether the action was once or consistently done; the degree of impact of their actions; and who and where the impact was made.
9. Big Hoopla Launch. Beware grand launching of new programs with big glitz and full of pizzazz. Ask any IT department about introducing new software and they’ll tell you there are always bugs. The best advice I can give is if you start big you will end small; if you start small you will end big. Start by piloting the program in one division first. Iron out any program glitches before going company-wide.
10. Not Creating ROI. Recognition programs can be a sitting duck for being reduced in scope or completely eliminated when seen just as a feel-good-activity. Your recognition programs must be aligned with your businesses goals and seen as a performance driver. Make sure you are fully using reports and analytics to correlate recognition with results and always calculate business impact and ROI.
Previously published by this writer in Incentive Magazine.
Recognition is a
relatively new experience in the workplace and especially using technology
driven recognition programs. Rewards were always recognition’s historical
predecessor.
The question
then is how do you evolve your current recognition programs to be ready for the
ongoing future developments of the future?
As you look at
the past, awards and rewards, especially using money to reward employees—were
viewed as the only potential motivator to increase performance
results.
The attitude was
if you want employees to work more and better, then you had to pay them with
monetary rewards when they performed at the desired level. Rewards were totally
a top-down approach from managers to employees because the whole purpose was
business focused. Manager’s focus was on paying or rewarding employees for
higher performance and then the company will get better business results and
improved profits.
In some
organizations today, there is still a perception that rewards are so much
easier to give than to be bothered with the extra care and effort required
to recognize someone.
A reward in
isolation of employee recognition, especially monetary rewards, only serves to
create an entitlement mentality that relies solely on extrinsic motivation.
Is your
organization fixated by rewards and just transacting with employees?
Isn’t it about time you
incorporated video into your recognition programs? After all, everybody else
seems to be doing so.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg implied
this when he said, “Video is a critical part of the future. It’s what our
community wants, and as long as we can make it social, I think it will end up
being a large part of our business as well.”
Check
out these statistics:
In 2019, Wyzowl found that63% of businesses were using video as a marketing tool. By the start of 2018, that had risen to 81%. Now, as we arrive in 2019, the number has increased again to 87%. (Wyzowl)
By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer Internet traffic—15 times higher than it was in 2017. (Cisco)
Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. (G2 Crowd)
On average, people spend 2.6x more time on pages with video than without. (Wistia)
83% of marketers would increase their reliance on video as a strategy if there were no obstacles like time, resources, and budget. (Buffer)
Using video in your online
recognition programs is the next best thing to being there in person.
