Towers Watson and WorldatWork recently released research showing the need for change in the employee recognition programs due to the pressures put on employees who have survived layoffs and furloughs. According to the survey, sixty five percent of respondents reported their employees are working more hours over the past three years and fifty three percent expected this trend to continue over the next three years. Laurie Bienstock, North America leader of rewards consulting at Towers Watson reports, “In the short run, having employees work extra hours can increase productivity, but in the long run, extended hours can negatively affect employee well-being and retention." As a result, when the job market rebounds, Bienstock says voluntary turnover will increase. HR is being tasked in many of the companies surveyed to make significant changes in recognition programstrategies in order to help attract and retain employees. I have six simple steps for you to follow in order to increase employee engagement and set up your own social recognition program.
1) Decide if employees will have a limited number of points to reward co-workers with or if employees can recognize and reward without limits.
Usually clients of mine who are just setting up their first social recognition program will set up a per person budget that can be used for nominations during an entire quarter. When companies have enough data to determine how much money is spent on the recognition program in prior quarters, they tend to move off of the budgeted reward process and let people give peer recognition without limits. Another trend for peer to peer recognition programs is that larger companies tend to stick with the per person budget while smaller to mid-sized companies do not.
2) Select the reward categories or reasons people can cite for the employee recognition.
The most common recognition program categories include: a simple thank you, above and beyond, best practices, client or customer service excellence, extra-mile effort, great attitude, outstanding performance, teamwork, and well done. Your categories should be a reflection of your company’s core values and philosophy. People should be nominating others who exhibit the core values of your company and the social recognition program should reward people who demonstrate what the organization is all about.
3) Determine if you are going to set a reward amount for each recognition program category or if this will be flexible.
Again, this point usually goes back to whether your organization has run a peer to peer recognition program in the past. If you have data to report back on for the recognition program, then you might be able to comfortably assign a set amount of rewards associated with each of your categories. If you are just starting a social recognition program, look at each category and provide employees with a reward recommendation range. I suggest that you set the range based on what values will benefit your organization the most. If you are looking to improve customer service and customer satisfaction is your top goal, then this category should have the highest reward amount associated with it.
4) Set up managers with administrator accounts to approve social recognition program nominations.
Your approval process should allow nominations to be approved quickly. Depending on the size of the organization, you may be able to have one administrator or you may want to have the social recognition nominations go to the nominee’s direct manager for approval. In order for the employee recognition to be effective, it needs to be given as quickly as possible.
5) Find out what images or themes you want to include online and in the employee recognition emails.
Depending on your company image and branding, you might be able to come up with some great ideas for the peer to peer recognition program components. I like to use the colors from a company’s website and logo to determine what designs to use in the recognition emails. Your recognition program emails should be customized and personalized for maximum impact.
6) Plan how you will announce the new social recognition program.
Email is probably the most common way for peer to peer recognition programs to be communicated but you are not limited to just electronic messages. Posters, flyers and meetings are all great ways to spread the word about the social recognition program and the more communication you have at the onset of the program, the more likely people are to start accessing it and recognizing peers.
I was amazed at the findings in the Towers Watson and WorldatWork research; just think of working longer hours more frequently for three years straight without any reward or end in sight…that’s enough to disengage anyone just thinking about it. Ryan Johnson, CCP, Vice President of Research for WorldatWork advises, "Employees generally don't mind doing more with less especially when economic conditions are tough, but when this drags into multiple years, and they start to hear anecdotes of recovery, they become less understanding. At that point, the entire employee value proposition is crucial to retention." Increase your value to employees and help to attract and retain your best by starting a social recognition programtoday.