2009 April Archive - RecognizeThis! Blog

Archive for April, 2009

Webinar * Expert Roundtable: HR as Catalyst for Positive Change in a Recession

I’m thrilled to be hosting a round-table webinar with some of the sharpest experts in the employee engagement, compensation and human capital management field.

On Thursday, 14 May, I will be leading “Ask the Experts: Using Recognition, Compensation and Human Capital Management as a Catalyst for Positive Change in a Recession” with:

* Jon Ingham, expert in Human Capital and Talent Management and author of the Strategic HCM blog and the book Strategic Human Capital Management: Creating Value through People. Jon helps businesses that already have sound approaches to people management gain further improvements in the capabilities and engagement of their people, and the effectiveness of their organisations. He also speaks, leads workshops and lectures on strategic management, change management and human resources as part of executive MBA programmes.

* Ann Bares, expert in Compensation and Total Rewards and author of the Compensation Force blog. Ann is the Managing Partner of Altura Consulting Group. She has more than 20 years of experience consulting with organizations in the areas of compensation and performance management.

This webinar will address will also feature a unique Question and Answer opportunity that will allow you to address any pressing concerns directly to the experts. You will be able to submit these questions before the webinar, or anytime throughout the presentation. You can also submit questions via comments to this blog entry or via my “Ask Derek” section at the bottom of my blog (email subscribers, click through for access).

Join us at 8:30am Pacific/11:30am Eastern/4:30pm GMT on 14 May. You can register here.

BusinessWeek, Gucci & Insight into Employee Engagement

In this excellent BusinessWeek article on employee engagement in a recession, Robert Polet, CEO of Gucci, made the statement:

“Employees need to understand both current and long-term direction, as well their role in it, to remain motivated and engaged.”

I couldn’t resist commenting to the article:

“In fact, this is a best practice we encourage through strategic recognition – tie every employee recognition directly to a strategic goal contributed to, or company value demonstrated. In this way, employees begin to understand how they, in their specific function, are contributing to the company’s success. And since you are educating in this way positively – by saying thank you – employees want to repeat those behaviors you most need to succeed. Much more on this topic here.”

Apparently, BusinessWeek thought it was a worthwhile comment as they picked it up to feature on the homepage today and for the long-term here.

The employee engagement conversation has never been more important or more dynamic. Join in via comments!

Recognition Gone Wrong * There’s Nobody Here but Me

Continuing the announcements our prize winners in the Recognition Gone Wrong contest, here’s our second place finisher with her story of wrecked recognition:

“I work for freight forwarder for the past 15 years. When I took over, there were Cargo Correction Advices (CCAs) dating back to 10 years ago. It was so out of control and no one was addressing it, so I took it upon myself to sit down with the carriers and laid down some rules of timely submissions. In the end I was able to have them waive 80% of the total CCAs still open, thus saving the company thousands of dollars. The remaining 20% we were able to work out a plan to split the difference, thus saving the company some more dollars.

To this day, my manager never acknowledged what I did. Today, I am still handling the same things, rate changes, surcharges that the carriers impose that up and down with different rates and dates of affectivity. I am on top of everything and to this date, there is no open weight or rate discrepancies. I tackle these issues right on as no one will.

When my manager has visitors from the carriers, he never brings them to the staff to introduce them. It is like we are nobody. Especially on Carrier parties, he never extends the invitation to us. I think it is important that immediate managers recognize that it is not only him but me and all the staff that work with him and for him that make him and the company successful. Making us feel that we matter is key to trust and loyalty.”

Notice in this story, the person isn’t asking for anything more than simple acknowledgment. And therein lies a powerful lesson for all managers. Often, people only want to know that you see them, you see what they do and you appreciate it. It’s like the Zulu greeting for hello, literally, “I see you.”

How could this recognition have been made right?
* First, the manager should thank the person for their efforts to save the company what seems to be significant money while instituting a simple process to ensure that money is not wasted. Praise them for taking on a task no one else seems to want to do.
* Second, the manager should be sure his manager also knows of this significant achievement. Passing praise up the chain is equally important.<
* Third, involve caring and committed employees such as this person in the activities of the company, especially those that impact on or are a result of their work. Clearly, the manager should introduce the employee to the people she works with.
* Finally, this employee is obviously a hard worker. But the company could benefit even more from her work if she were deeply engaged. Such praise, acknowledgment and inclusion could significantly raise her engagement levels.

What else would you do to make it right? Tell me in comments.

"Motivating without Money" * See Us in BusinessWeek

In the last several months, I’ve spoken with the leaders of quite a few organizations who realize the importance of implementing an Employee Stimulus Package to keep employees motivated, producing against needed objectives, and committed to the future of the company.

A recent article in Business Week, Motivating without Money, illustrates this approach well.

“These days, with layoffs rampant and companies slashing budgets across the board to weather the economic downturn, motivating employees to bring their “A” game to the office every day is harder than ever. According to a survey of nearly 80,000 employees by the Corporate Executive Board, one in every five employees now consider themselves disengaged from their job, compared with one out of ten last summer. What’s more, two out of three companies surveyed in late 2008 by market research firm Quantum Workplace had lower overall employee engagement scores compared with a year earlier.

“Small gestures can go a long way during difficult times, so many firms have recently turned to an Irish outfit called Globoforce, which designs corporate recognition programs for clients like Intuit, Procter & Gamble (PG), and Dow Chemical. Globoforce’s programs allow employees to choose a reward they want rather than co-workers or managers making the choice for them. A music lover in accounts receivable, for example, might choose tickets to a concert, while a foodie in sales might choose a $50 gift card to Whole Foods. Such freedom of choice can be much more effective than the scattershot, ad hoc recognition (think: pizza parties) that normally takes place in corporations.

“Such programs are more valuable than ever in a recession, according to a study conducted last fall by Towers Perrin that polled more than 10,000 respondents in 13 countries. (Globoforce, whose U.S. headquarters is in Boston, has closed several deals in the first quarter of 2009.) Nearly half (49%) of U.S. companies have recognition programs, according to a May 2008, study from Watson Wyatt. But those programs only target 10% of employees in the U.S., compared with 36% at European firms, the survey found, so there’s an opportunity to enlarge their scope and effectiveness.”

Do you have an effective, strategic employee recognition program
in place? If so, are you optimizing the scope and effectiveness to reach all employees in every location globally?

Recognition Gone Wrong * What’s Your Name Again?

The results of our “Recognition Gone Wrong” contest are in! I’ll be blogging this week on our first, second and third place “winners” and offering comments on how the recognition moment could have gone right.

Without further ado, here’s the story of wrecked recognition from our third-place winner:

“While working for a former employer, I won a Sales Manager of the Year Award. Out of the entire company’s sales force, approximately 130 individual managers & directors, I had the highest sales and several other major achievements that year. At the award ceremony, our company President announced the award and called me to the stage, as follows: “…and the winner is…ohhh…it’s Mr. Bill (no last name…as in Mr. Bill the Saturday Night Live cartoon character)” and he presented me with a logo windshirt and a plaque made of brass, faux wood, and felt. My last name was not spelled correctly on the plaque. I went to hang the plaque and the frame fell apart at the corners. The next year, the recipient of the same award but with lower total sales volume received $2,500 in cash, an extra week’s vacation, a trip, and a logo windshirt.”

Ouch. Let’s count the ways that went wrong:
1) Didn’t actually recognize the person as the wrong name was announced
2) Insulted the person by spelling their name incorrectly
3) Didn’t seek to know enough about the person to learn what would really be motivating and a sign of true appreciation to them

So what should have happened?
* First, be sure the recipient even wants public acknowledgement. To some, this is actually demotivating.
* Second, get the person’s name right! Two seconds of copy editing can save years of hurt.
* Third, present a reward the recipient cares about. Better yet, let him choose a personal, meaningful and relevant reward for himself from millions of options.
* Finally, make sure awards for the same achievements are fair and equitable or you will only foster resentment.

What else would you have done to make this recognition gone wrong go right? Tell me in comments.

Employee Recognition * Who Do You Involve?

If you’re intent on creating a successful employee recognition program, then who do you need to involve in the program? The answer is simple – everyone – during the planning of the program and in the program itself.

As Deborah Hildebrand said in The Best Way to Reward Employees:

“Allow employees to participate on the front-end development of the program and the associated rewards. Once the program is ready for implementation, communicate the details to all employees. Involving employees from the start creates buy-in and empowers employees with a sense of control, making it more likely that they will respond positively.”

We strongly recommend companies create a task force representative of employees from all levels across all geographic regions and divisions to ensure every voice is heard. Once the program is launched, you again want to involve 80-90% of employees so you can measure and effect culture change based on what matters to you most – seeing how your employees demonstrate your company values and achieve strategic objectives.

The research supporting this is clear:

• “Invest in the core. The key to driving productivity gains is increasing engagement among core contributors, who represent 60 percent of the typical workforce. Highly engaged employees are already working at or near their peak but are often limited by their less engaged co-workers. Focusing on engaging core contributors can improve both groups’ productivity.” – Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 2008/2009 WorkUSA Report

• “The middle 70 percent are managed differently. This group of people is enormously valuable to any company; you simply cannot function without their skills, energy, and commitment. After all, they are the majority of your employees. But everyone in the middle 70 needs to be motivated, and made to feel as if they truly belong. You do not want to lose the vast majority of your middle 70 – you want to improve them.” – Jack Welch, Winning

Who are you involving in your recognition efforts? Is your program truly strategic, or simply elitist with no true cultural impact? Join the discussion in comments.

What Type of Recognition Do YOU Need?

Have you considered the different forms of employee recognition? I don’t mean incentives vs. rewards, etc. I mean the different types of recognition employees (at all levels) need. Gallup recently released a report on Building Engagement in This Economic Crisis. James K. Harter, Ph.D, Gallup’s chief scientist of workplace management and well-being, put it this way:

“In good times, employee engagement is the difference between being good and being great. In bad times, it’s the difference between surviving and not. In good times and bad, low engagement reduces performance and profit. And under the current circumstances, many companies can’t afford to let those drop.”

So what are these different types of recognition employees need? From Gallup’s “tips to help managers keep employees focused and engaged,” I see five types of recognition:

1) Recognition of effort – what we commonly understand as recognition for employees who go above and beyond expectations.
2) Recognition of skills and talents – noticing what each employee is good at and prefers to do, then giving them the opportunity to do it.
3) Recognition of the need for focus and direction – helping employees overcome the rampant rumors and focus on what you need them to do.
4) Recognition of personal needs – showing your employees you care about their well being by taking the time to understand them and their unique needs.
5) Recognition of the need to grow and develop – understanding employee needs to continue to learn something new and follow a career path in your company.

Engauge, an employee engagement consultancy in the U.K., gives us one more type:

6) Recognition of the need to let off steam – realizing your most engaged employees are also the ones who care the most. When things don’t go as they planned, they need to let off steam and sometimes will do so in an enthusiastic if not politic manner.

What other types of recognition are there? What type of recognition do you need? Be sure to take our weekly poll.

Globoforce in the News * Global Recognition in a Recession

Globoforce and our CEO, Eric Mosley, have been much in the news lately as companies seek ways to motivate employees in this recession.

Just yesterday, The New York Post cited Eric and our client Thompson Reuters in Tools of Engagement: Employers Seek Ways to Motivate Workers Drained by the Downturn:

“Such recognition programs raise morale by simply spreading goodwill from one employee to another, says Eric Mosley, president of Globoforce, which hosts the rewards programs for Thompson Reuters, Procter & Gamble, and a rapidly growing number of others.

“Unlike bonuses and raises, which come once a year and are generally awarded by supervisors, recognition rewards can come at any time and are usually awarded by co-workers. Thomson Reuters has its program set up to reward employees when they go above and beyond the call of duty or model company values, says Robert Talmas, who runs the program. Although his company gave out both raises and bonuses in 2008, it wants employees focused on their work goals rather than all the uncertainty in the air, he says. And the rewards foster direct engagement as well — winners are handed their recognition certificates by senior managers.”

Premium Incentives Products also reported on our advice for creating effective global recognition programs in Charting a Course: Navigate Your Way to Global Employee Engagement.

“Traveling down the road to global program development can be a bumpy, complicated and huge undertaking. That’s why many global program experts believe that, first and foremost, the beginning step requires an overall vision: to create a global recognition culture, not just another recognition program or platform.

“Creating such a culture begins with what one recognition expert calls a key best practice: ‘Remembering that people are people, no matter where they are all over the world,’ said Eric Mosley, CEO of Globoforce, a provider of global strategic recognition solutions. ‘Successful global programs start from the premise that a company wants to treat its employees equally and to have one single goal for penetration of recognition around the world,’ he explained. ‘That culture of recognition builds on the traction of an equal number of thank you’s and rewards happening in each country—multiplying them—and links them to things that are meaningful to constituents around the world.’

“But that’s just the starting point. From here, you need to cater your program to each individual cultural nuance. ‘If you start at this point, the global program issues to be resolved predominantly revolve around understanding the culture of all these different employees, where they live, what’s important to them, what would motivate them, and how you interact with them,’ Mosley explained.”

What are you doing to raise morale and productivity among your global teams during this recession? Tell me in comments.

Employee Recognition Best Practices

Last Fall, Ascent Group released their “Reward & Recognition Program Profiles & Best Practices 2008” report. (Available for purchase here.)

Covering respondents from across industries and around the world, the report comes to many of the same conclusions Globoforce has defined as best practices based on our work with some of the world’s largest and most diverse companies.

“Recognition is about acknowledgement and appreciation for a contribution, improvement, innovation, or excellence—a message to employees that they are valued. The act of recognizing an employee affirms the values and spirit underlying the achievement. It’s also about reinforcing desired behaviors and increasing their occurrence. Attitude and performance are closely linked; the appropriate recognition at the appropriate moment will create a positive attitude that, in turn, will lead to improved performance.”

A few of Ascent’s key findings from the report include those below, with my comments to each.

“Reinforce behaviors and reward results.” This is in agreement with what I said last week that recognition is about encouraging, acknowledging and appreciating desired behaviors, then rewarding results.

“Be timely, specific and communicate!” We advocate recognizing employees in the moment – as soon after the even worthy of recognition as possible so it is clear in the mind of the employee why they are being recognized.

“Match the reward to the person and the achievement.” We’ve heard nightmare stories of recognition gone wrong. Let employees choose for themselves a personally meaningful and culturally relevant reward.

“Measure the effectiveness and impact of your reward programs.”
Ascent found nearly ¼ of respondents do not measure program success. This aligns with our own findings that 42% are not measuring their recognition program’s results in any way, leaving CEOs in the dark on the metrics of success they care about.

What are some of your best practices for effective employee recognition? Tell me in comments.

Communicating Employee Recognition to Maximize Motivation

How effectively do you communicate your recognition philosophy and strategy to your employees?

According to a recent Hay Group Study:

“Only 33% of companies believe they communicate their reward philosophy and strategy effectively to employees – yet 80% believe reward communication has an effective or very effective impact on the organization’s performance, employee satisfaction, retention and employee engagement. Few companies formally evaluate the effectiveness of their rewards communications. In fact, 39% of respondents conduct no evaluation.”

These findings remarkably mirror or own beliefs about successful communications of recognition and reward. We advocate strongly for a “Pull” vs “Push” strategy of communications as well as training for our strategic employee recognition programs.

While the “push” of communications materials and training is very important, our experience has taught us the far greater value of creating a “pull” environment in which managers and employees want to learn more about recognition and want to use a recognition program. The keys to achieving this pull momentum are:
* Gaining high-level executive sponsorship throughout the organization
* Making the program intuitive and easy to use
* Incorporating the program goals into annual personal goals and MBOs

How do you communicate recognition and reward to employees? Do they understand the full invest you are making in them and your commitment to their well-being? If not, you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to convey to your top performers their value to your organization, retaining them for greater competitive advantage today and when the market turns. Tell me in comments.

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Archive for April, 2009