Here I go again, talking about one of Paul Herbert’s blog posts. I do, in reality, read other people’s, he just always seems to post something ‘on target’ when I’m getting ready to put in my blog time (thanks, Paul!). Paul’s most recent post “Implementing 'Their' Program”, touches on making sure the reward system you use in your employee recognition program allows you the flexibility and customization to make your program fit your organization’s unique needs rather than providing the same solution to every client.
He’s right that a lot of the solutions out there look pretty much the same. Even from a provider aspect we can see that. Out of necessity, we’re all checking out the competitor, making sure we are covering our bases with the same basic offerings so that we don’t lose out on a client because we don’t have some small aspect of “coolness” that their system does. It can get frustrating because we know that the success of your employee recognition program depends much more on its structure and the special uniqueness that your company brings to it than whether or not you can “like” a peer recognition post one of your coworkers submits.
As Paul asks, “…can they [the employee recognition program provider] help you determine what real recognition looks like in your company? Can they create a totally unique set of symbols and references that reinforce your particular brand of awesome?”
Based on longevity, participation levels and the continuous evolution and growth of the program itself, a the most successful employee recognition programs we’ve helped clients design and administer tend to have a completely unique look and feel to them. They are utilizing the same basic functions that a lot of our other clients (and probably a lot of our competitors’ clients) do but they use these basic offerings to create a program that is obviously customized and personalized with their company’s culture and values. Below are three easy ways to “own” your employee recognition program – now you just need to make sure the solution you choose can accomplish these aspects.
1) Post your company newsletter (and update it regularly) – You’d be surprised how many clients we talk to who don’t have a company newsletter…or any other consistent way of keeping their employees up to speed on what’s going on around the office. If you don’t have a regularly updated newsletter that you can share with your employees, at least make sure that your employee recognition program can provide an outlet for sharing news and announcements and spotlighting specific employee or company accomplishments. Some of our clients also post a list of service anniversaries, birthdays and new baby announcements so employees can send a congratulatory eCard or say something in person.
2) Focus peer recognition on your core values – make sure that you add some structure to the peer recognition portion of your employee recognition program that focuses on core values or other important aspects you want to recognize your employees for. A lot of our clients choose to utilize a more formal nomination process in which employees nominate coworkers for specific awards or report specific behaviors that embody the company’s core values in addition to having the ability to just send a coworker a casual thank you or congratulatory eCard. The more formal nominations may go through an approval process and be tied to higher level recognition and awards.
3) Take pictures, post pictures – probably the quickest way to “own” your employee recognition program is to make it instantly obvious that it’s all about your employees and the special things that happen at your company. Take pictures of the employees you are spotlighting or the events that are going on at your organization and integrate them into your employee recognition program website. Integrate profile pictures so that employees who may not see each other on a regular basis can still be familiar with what each other look like, even if they only communicate by phone or email.
These aspects alone won’t necessarily make for a successful employee recognition program but they’re a great start to ensuring that your program has the look, feel and focus of your company’s culture. Your employees will be much more likely to visit and participate in a program that is clearly relevant to them than one that looks like a cookie cutter of every other program out there.
What are some other program aspects you have found useful in “owning” your employee recognition program?