WorldatWork.org recently published a thirty page paper entitled Trends in Employee Recognition 2011 that includes the results of a survey conducted in January of this year. I would like to share some of the highlights in this paper with readers this week along with some of my experiences with recognition programs this year.
Employee Recognition Programs for Multiple Purposes
More and more companies are finding that employee recognition award programs can be used for many reasons. The most common type of recognition program is one used for service awards or employee loyalty. However, the average number of programs offered by a single company is currently four. The chart to the right shows the most common reasons for organizations using recognition awards. I would have to agree with the popularity of employee recognition program rewarding above and beyond performance and peer to peer nominations. Aside from these two categories, I have also seen a growing number of employees being recognized and rewarded for submitting their suggestions and innovative ideas.
The World at Work survey showed that many companies are trying out newer programs that can have a more direct impact on the bottom line. A majority of these kinds of programs have only been established in the past few years. Length of service award programs have been around for decades and the same principles that make these programs successful is being tried out in new arenas. I feel that this is not just a trend for 2011 but that we will continue to see more diversity in recognition programs as organizations recognize people for meeting desired goals.
Employee Recognition Program Communication
Communicating a recognition award program is something I am passionate about. If people do not know about a program, they are far less likely to participate and the program will not be as successful. The World at Work paper found that the most common way to communicate a recognition program was to do so electronically. I appreciate it when clients have email addresses for recipients and the company can have an environmentally friendly recognition program with no paper associated with the program. When this is not feasible, organizations can use the company newsletter, employee orientation and a plethora of printed supplements to get word out.
Recognition Award Program Budgets
According to the survey, the average amount of budget that a recognition program has varies between one and three percent of the payroll budget. The majority of respondents, however, reported using exactly one percent of their payroll budget on the recognition award program. I found it interesting how budgets were distributed across departments within in an organization. About half of respondents noted that budget for their recognition included some centralized and some department-specific amounts. I see this in companies where one department is has a specific initiative that includes recognition and rewards. For instance, a sales team may receive a recognition award for reaching a sales threshold or special sales-related milestone. The recognition program budget used throughout the company is usually for length of service awards.
Recognition Program Success
Companies use several different metrics to determine the impact or success of a recognition program including employee satisfaction, participation rates, number of nominations, employee turnover and productivity and customer surveys. It was interesting for me to see that the same metrics I provide clients helped those in the survey to determine the success of their recognition programs.
One of the highlights for me when reading through this paper was the information discovered about employee turnover. The survey found that organizations with a turnover rate between zero and five percent had more programs in place compared to medium or high turnover companies. When a company recognizes employees and has a formal strategy in place, it is possible to manage employee retention.
I hope that you have enough time to glance through the full survey of employee recognition trends that World at Work just released, it is truly insightful and can help you to make sure your recognition program is also state of the art.
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