The problem with programs like ´employee of the month´, ´recognition lunches with executives, and awards such as pins and things to hand on the wall is both companies and employees view them as ´long in the tooth´. Many companies actually report employees ´groaning´ at the thought of another lapel pin or a lunch with a senior manager who only visits them on such occasions.
Putting Substance Into Recognition and Celebration
Making recognition and celebration part of the total reward formula of the company is increasingly making better sense to senior leadership. It makes sense to link recognition and celebration to other reward solutions. Especially important is the tie-in with the performance goals and metrics of the company. In otherwords, determining what should be recognized and celebrated is becoming a critical priority for companies that are concerned about the value they receive from recognition and celebration. Consistent with this, here are some of the suggestions we have gleaned from studies and our experience:
Evaluate Effectiveness
One problem is that senior management is increasingly assessing the value of human resource initiatives of all kinds. Value in business terms that tells them whether this is a viable use for company financial and human resources. So many times HR professionals are not able to answer the question about what the company is getting from an investment. Indeed few human resource solutions are supported by a solid logical platform. What are the reasons our company is doing this anyway? Why are we not doing something else instead? And the reason HR professionals often have trouble answering this question is because much of HR practice is determined by prevailing practice-copying the practice of others. This is much different from best practice and this is "best" for your company, not just common practice in other companies.
You get what you celebrate and recognize. And this is the heart of company ability to evaluate the effectiveness of a recognition and celebration program. For example, if the objective is to encourage achievement of goals being celebrated and recognized, what supporting evidence can the champion of the initiative provide evidence that the goals are more likely to achieve the goals with the recognition and celebration initiative than with out the initiative? And importantly is the connection between achievement of whatever goal is to be achieved and the recognition and celebration been made in the minds of employees? On business we were checking into a hotel late. The person at the desk was tired as it was late. We noticed behind the reception desk that the individual had been ´employee of the month´ for the prior month. To have a positive experience we mentioned the award. The individual was a bit surprised-then, looking at the ´award´ the comment was, "Oh, that-it was just someone´s turn at the front desk to get that". Not the stuff of which justification of an ´employee of the month´ awards is made.
So setting criteria to judge the business value of the program at the start of the program is critical. When the CEO says, "why are we doing this?" you will be able to build a business case. The business case will outline the business goals of the program, how recognition and celebration accomplishes this better than other alternatives, and what the results are compared to what they were without the initiative.
Establish Guidelines
Few people like ´rules´ that are not necessary. But recognition and celebration does need guidelines so what and who is recognized is consistent between and among employees. The issue is treating individuals similarly throughout the organization. This is not only critical from the standpoint of fairness it´s critical to the consistency of the communications message the company wants to give to the workforce wherever they are. The value of recognition and celebration comes from letting employees know what sort of outcomes and behaviors will be acknowledged through recognition and celebration. Retrospective rewards have no record of causing employees to learn what is rewarded and acknowledged as appropriate. Companies that have recognition and celebration plans, or any reward plans for that matter that acknowledge performance retrospectively have no record of adding value to the business.
The guidelines pre-announce what will be rewarded and recognized. It also provides guidance to managers and supervisors who are accountable for managing the programs on an operational basis. Programs directed by immediate supervisors and managers are proven to be more powerful than are those managed from afar. But this means the manager needs to be able to coach employees on what they need to do to gain recognition and what they need to do that deserves celebration. It´s the communications on the front end of the process that is very important. And guidelines help managers explain why certain people, teams, groups, or organizational units are recognized and celebrated and others are not. Saying to employees what is needed to receive acknowledgement and to assure employees that treatment is uniform from organization to organization.
Make Participation Enjoyable
The objective of rewards and recognition is fun. No matter how your company views the issue of enjoyment, it must be a positive experience. A recognition and celebration program should be enjoyable for all employees and not end up to be a program that merely isolates a single individual and makes them feel positive about the experience for a short period of time. One of the more important findings about rewards that are focused on generating outcomes or desired behaviors is that the process of earning the reward is as important as the actual reward itself. Making a ´management game´ of the celebration and recognition process is important. Assume, for instance, that you are granting some sort of ´traveling´ award for the department that has the best cost reduction experience in a specific month. The enjoyment is to meet periodically and share ideas with others in the department and exchanging ideas. It creates the opportunity to team up to problem solve around the goals to be achieved and celebrated.
What does the concept of ´enjoyable´ mean to your company? In some companies it is appropriate to have parties and celebrate together. One client of ours provides employees who earned a reward the chance to ´celebrate´ by providing employees chances to ´dunk´ executives at the summer company party. In many other companies, this is clearly not appropriate. But we believe stretching the normal conventions of the company for recognition and celebration is important. And finding out what the employees in the program value in terms of what they want for what they give is a positive opportunity to do something out of the ordinary.
Keep Program Flexible And Adaptable
Change is important and this is very true with recognition and celebration. We believe that at one time programs like ´employee of the month´ were new and fresh. And at one time having lunch with an executive was new and attractive. But times change and workforces are often looking for new and changing rewards from organizations. One client let the employees decide what the reward should be and when it should change. Actually having the chance to change the award added value to the recognition and celebration process. The goal is to keep attention on the program and have something new to announce and bring attention to.
What needs recognition and celebration will change. So adaptability and agility are necessary. For example, one organization recognized and celebrated only employee retirement. So what do you think was valued in this organization? It was retirement and everyone only waited for the day they could retire. They changed to reward and celebrate accomplishments while employees were working rather than just retirement from the company. So you get what you reward. And it makes no difference if it is pay, incentives, or recognition and celebration.
Some Refreshing Ideas
One key idea is that recognition and celebration is a good place to test creative reward solutions. Whether your company is creative or innovative in other reward issues, you can be creative relative to recognition and celebration. By this we mean the following key steps to adding business power to rewards: