In my doctoral research on why managers use or don’t use recognition with their employees, I found that the top variable distinguishing those managers who use recognition was that they felt it was their responsibility—not corporate’s or Human Resources’—to create the motivational environment for their people. They truly believed that recognizing their deserving employees played an integral part in how those workers felt about their jobs.
This finding coincides with what my research shows are the most important ways that employees prefer to be recognized when they do good work—that is, simple day-to-day behaviors that any managers can express with their employees, the most important of which is praise.
The best praise is done soon, specifically, sincerely, personally, positively, and proactively. In a matter of seconds, a simple praise conveys “I saw what you did. I appreciate it, here’s why it’s important, and here’s how it makes me feel”—a lot of punch in a small package.
Four of the top ten categories of motivators reported by employees in my research are forms of praise, and these categories make up the four sections in Part I: personal praise, written praise, electronic praise, and public praise. Now, you might say, “Are these really different types of praise? Don’t they all have the same effect?” This was my initial thought, too, but I learned that these types of praise are in fact distinct from one another. Praising someone in person means something different to that person than what writing him or her a note means, and these forms of praise are both different from praising the person in public. To get the maximum impact out of this simple behavior, vary the forms you use and use them all frequently.
Research by Dr. Gerald Graham of Wichita State University supports these observations. In multiple studies, he found that employees preferred personalized, instant recognition from their direct supervisors more than any other kind of motivation. In fact, in another survey of American workers, 63 percent of the respondents ranked “a pat on the back” as a meaningful incentive.
In Graham’s studies of employees’ perceptions, manager-initiated rewards for performance were used least often, and company-initiated rewards for presence (that is, rewards based simply on being in the organization) occurred most often. Dr. Graham concluded, “It appears that the techniques that have the greatest motivational impact are practiced the least, even though they are easier and less expensive to use.”
Graham’s study determined the top five motivating techniques reported by employees to be:
1. The manager personally congratulates employees who do a good job.
2. The manager writes personal notes about good performance.
3. The organization uses performance as the basis for promotion.
4. The manager publicly recognizes employees for good performance.
5. The manager holds morale-building meetings to celebrate success.
Ideally you should vary the ways you recognize your staff while still trying to do things on a day-to-day basis. For example, Robin Horder-Koop, vice president of corporate relations at Amway Corporation, the distributor of house- and personal-care products and other goods in Ada, MI, uses these inexpensive ways to recognize the 200 people who work for her on a day-today basis:
• On days when some workloads are light, the department’s employees help workers in other departments. After accumulating eight hours of such work, employees get a thank-you note from Horder-Koop. Additional time earns a luncheon with company officials in the executive dining room.
• All workers are recognized on a rotating basis. Each month, photos of different employees are displayed on a bulletin board along with comments from their coworkers about why they are good colleagues.
• Horder-Koop sends thank-you notes to employees’ homes when they do outstanding work. When someone works a lot of overtime or travels extensively, she sends a note to the family thanking them for their support.
• At corporate meetings, employees play games such as Win, Lose, or Draw and The Price Is Right, using questions about the company’s products. Winners get prizes such as tote bags and T-shirts.
Other inexpensive ideas Horder-Koop uses to recognize employees include giving flowers to employees who are commended in customers’ letters, having supervisors park employees’ cars one day a month, and designating days when workers can come in late or wear casual clothes to the office.
According to Harvard professor and management consultant Rosabeth Moss Kanter, “Recognition—saying thank you in public and perhaps giving a tangible gift along with the words—has multiple functions beyond simple human courtesy. To the employee, recognition signifies that someone noticed and someone cares. To the rest of the organization, recognition creates role models—heroes—and communicates the standards, saying: ‘These are the kinds of things that constitute great performance around here.’” Following are some guidelines Kanter offers for successfully recognizing employees:
PRINCIPLE 1: Emphasize success rather than failure. You tend to miss the positives if you are busily searching for the negatives.
PRINCIPLE 2: Deliver recognition and reward in an open and publicized way. If not made public, recognition loses much of its impact and much of the purpose for which it is provided.
PRINCIPLE 3: Deliver recognition in a personal and honest manner. Avoid providing recognition that is too “slick” or overproduced.
PRINCIPLE 4: Tailor your recognition and reward to the unique needs of the people involved. Having many recognition and reward options will enable management to acknowledge accomplishment in ways that are appropriate to the particulars of a given situation.
PRINCIPLE 5: Timing is crucial. Recognize contribution throughout a project. Reward contribution close to the time an achievement is realized. Delays weaken the impact of most rewards.
PRINCIPLE 6: Strive for a clear, unambiguous, and well-communicated connection between accomplishments and rewards. Be sure people understand why they receive awards and the criteria used to determine awards.
PRINCIPLE 7: Recognize recognition. That is, recognize people who recognize others for doing what is best for the company.
The most important type of recognition is that which occurs on a day-to-day basis—where the rubber meets the road. In my research with employees, 99.4 percent reported it was somewhat, very, or extremely important for them to be recognized by their managers when they did good work, and 73 percent expected recognition to occur either immediately or soon thereafter. Personal praise is generally considered to be the most important, and employees rank four forms of personal praise thus: “being personally thanked for doing good work” (88 percent); “being given a verbal praising” (86 percent); “being sought out by a manager to be commended” (82 percent); and “praising an employee for good work in front of another person” (61 percent).
The gap between the amount of praise managers think they give their employees and the amount employees report receiving is unfortunately wide. Bob Levoy, former president of Success Dynamics, Inc., reports: “I’ve asked more than 2,500 doctors to rank on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = never, 5 = always) the following statement: ‘I let my employees know when they’re doing a good job.’ Their average response is 4.4. I then asked their staff members to rank this statement: ‘The doctor lets me know when I’m doing a good job,’ and their average response is only 1.7. This difference between what doctors say they give and what employees say they get is often the underlying cause of employee resentment, diminished productivity, and turnover. This ‘feedback gap’ is present in almost every manager-employee relationship.”
How do you close that gap? Management consultant Marshall Goldsmith offers the following advice:
One of my clients who was using 360-degree feedback scored very low in the area of “Provides Adequate Positive Recognition.” What he did to improve was a great strategy for leaders everywhere.
First, he listed the key groups of people that impacted his life: his friends, family, direct reports, colleagues, and customers. Then he listed the names of each of the people who were in that group. Then twice a week, once on Wednesday and once on Friday, he would look at the list and ask himself, “Did anyone on this page do anything I should recognize?” If they did, he’d send them a little note, an e-mail, or a voice mail to say thank you. He didn’t do anything that took more than a couple of minutes. If nobody on the list did something he should recognize, he did nothing. He didn’t want to appear to be false, to be a phony.
By following this simple technique, in one year he went from a 6 percentile in giving recognition to a 94 percentile. I have recommended this strategy to many leaders and have never seen it not work. It can help you, too, to do a great job in providing more positive recognition to those that are most important to you in your life.
It’s the daily interactions that add up to define our relationships at work. It’s the little things that managers do or do not do that can end up making a big difference in how others feel about working with and for them and about being a part of the organization. A systematic focus on the positives serves as a foundation and buffer to negative challenges—problems, complaints, stress, and so on.
Although most positive day-to-day interactions are apt to be smaller in focus, with little or no cost, with some thought and planning you can be prepared to do more significant things, as well. For example, if someone closes a big sale or finishes a significant project, you can ask your president or CEO to phone the person to personally thank him or her. While you might not be able to do that every day, it’s an out-of-the-ordinary yet simple form of special thanks you can call upon.
Remember: The best personal praise is timely, sincere, and specific. Create time to connect with each of your employees—even if it’s over coffee or lunch—to see how they are doing and to thank them for all they’ve done. You could even, on occasion, personally praise each of your employees when your staff gets together for a meeting. (If you use this tactic, make sure you find something positive to say about everyone present so that no one feels left out.)
You can praise employees directly, in front of others, or when they are not around (a concept known as “positive gossip”) knowing that this indirect praise will get back to them. For some employees, indirect recognition is the most credible because it is done without any expectation in return. It essentially says: “My boss must have thought what I did was important to have brought it up to the entire management team!”
Try working sincere thanks into your daily activities. For example, make it a habit to greet people with 100 percent focus, as if you had all the time in the world for them, even if you only have a few minutes. Give them your undivided attention; if that is not possible, tell them that you’re distracted and would like to get back to them when you can better focus on them, their needs, and your conversation.
When people leave the office at the end of the day, say goodbye and thank them for the effort they made that day. When asking employees about great managers they have worked for, more than one person has told me how such a manager would thank them for being there every day before they went home. A simple courtesy, yes, but one that employees noted and valued. Nothing beats simple, day-to-day recognition for building a foundation of trust and goodwill.
A survey by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources found that recognition activities contributed significantly to employees’ job satisfaction. Most respondents said they highly valued day-to-day recognition from their supervisors, peers, and team members. Other findings from the survey include:
• 68 percent of the respondents said it was important to believe that their work was appreciated by others.
• 67 percent agreed that most people need appreciation for their work.
• 63 percent agreed that most people would like more recognition for their work.
• Only 8 percent thought that people should not look for praise for their work efforts.
Nancy Branton, of People Potential Group, Inc., in Woodbury, MN, and project manager for the survey, says, “Recognition is more important now than in the past. Employees increasingly believe that their job satisfaction depends on acknowledgment of work performance as well as on adequate salary. This is especially true of employees who are highly interested in their work and take satisfaction in their achievements.”
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Managers at Yell UK, the print-, online-, and phone-based product and service provider based in Reading, show immediate appreciation by saying thank you to employees for doing a good job.
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Hugh Fleming of Chick-fil-A’s Spotsylvania Mall restaurant in Fredricksburg, VA, tries to catch people doing something right every day and praise them on the spot.
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At Domino’s Pizza headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI, Eric Schmaltz tries to acknowledge at least five people every day, whether an employee or customer.
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Nikki Burns, a manager at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, OH, says she tries to say thank you to every employee as he or she leaves for the day.
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Organizations can greatly influence the use of positive recognition on a daily basis by providing training, tools, activities, and programs to foster that behavior, examples of which are provided throughout this book.
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The Tennant Company, a manufacturer in Minneapolis, has a Positive Feedback Committee that each year sponsors a Positive Feedback Day, on which all employees receive “That-A-Way” notepads, pens printed with the phrase “Positive Strokes Only,” balloons, and signs. At holiday time, the committee sponsors an open house with cider and cookies and invites employees to drop by at scheduled breaks.
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ASAP-CUBED:
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE PRAISE
As Soon
As Sincere
As Specific
As Personal
As Positive
As Practical
... as possible!
When Greg Peel, a zone manager for Paychex in Dallas, TX, sees an employee working really hard, he calls that person’s mother and thanks her.
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Hyler Bracey, former president and CEO of the Atlanta Consulting Group, places five coins in one of his pockets each day. During the day, he transfers a coin to his other pocket every time he recognizes an employee for good work. That technique has helped him make praise a habit.
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One store manager for CVS Drug Stores, based in Woonsocket, RI, brings a silver dollar to work on Monday mornings and gives it to a supervisor, who is asked to praise one of his employees and then hand the coin off to another supervisor. If the coin gets around to all the supervisors by the end of the week, the manager brings in doughnuts to the supervisors’ meeting.
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Top officers in several branches of the military use coin medallions as personal recognition items. One bank president gold plates quarters and hands them to deserving employees. Other companies have used wooden nickels, regular nickels, or even green glass pebbles as symbolic recognition items for work well done.
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A task-oriented, top manager at Qwest Communications in Denver reminds himself to recognize others by listing his employees’ names on his to-do list each week. Then he crosses names off the list when he has had a chance to acknowledge those people for some aspect of their performance or behavior, such as reaching project milestones or delivering exceptional customer service. He says it’s his way to “turn the people aspect of my job into manageable tasks I can focus on each week.”
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Former Baltimore Orioles manager Ray Miller didn’t get much personalized attention from his coaches as a minor league pitcher back in the ’60s and ’70s. “The way I was treated hurt me,” he recalls. Miller learned from experience that paying attention to players is important, whether they are performing well or not. To be sure that he communicates with all players, he keeps a “talk-to” list on a yellow legal pad. “Just talking really matters,” he says. “Take Cal Ripken. If he is playing great and for some reason you don’t talk for four or five days, he looks at you and says, ‘What’s wrong?’” Miller has learned an important lesson: Feedback and recognition go a long way.
Store managers at the recently closed St. Ann-Macy’s department store, in St. Louis, MO, used to go to each employee at the end of the day to see what went well for them that day, rather than wait for a weekly or monthly report. Those positive items were worked into the next morning’s store rally. “It was a very effective way to reinforce good news on a timely basis and charge employees up to do their best every single day,” said Dan Eppler, merchandise sales manager for the company.
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Joe DeLuce, director of recreation for Champaign Park District in Champaign, IL, says it’s important to bring up the topic of praise with your staff: “In our department staff meetings we recently asked everyone to say when they last thanked someone. Every one of the 30 people in the room talked about how they had thanked one of their staff or someone else in our department that day or within the last week. One staff member talked about one of her staff members going above and beyond, and since that staff person was in the room, it became very emotional. We talked about how important it is to thank people for doing outstanding work and that we want to be a department that appreciates others.”
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Robert Maurer, in his book One Small Step Can Change Your Life, describes working with a reluctant manager, Michael, to get him to start praising his employees:
“I asked him to imagine giving a person from his department a specific, detailed compliment in an enthusiastic tone of voice, as if there were no problems at all with this person’s work. He was to imagine how he would stand in front of the person, how it would feel to approach the person with a relaxed, open posture, how his voice would sound, and what any ambient sounds or smells there might be.
“I wanted Michael to start with compliments for a couple of reasons. Like most people, Michael found it easier to give criticism than compliments. But I also knew that a likely result of letting trouble in his department percolate for too long was that Michael would see his employees as nothing but a collection of problems. And from another perspective, psychological research clearly shows that people who feel underappreciated tend to resent criticism and ignore the advice they’re given. By practicing giving compliments, Michael was not only learning to feel comfortable doing something that felt unnatural to him. He was also developing a skill that would increase the satisfaction and productivity of his employees.
“The small, active steps of mental rehearsal taught Michael a new set of skills, as well as a sense of the ease and reward of offering praise. At the end of three months, Michael found himself frequently stopping in hallways to give 15- or 20-second recognition to deserving employees.”
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According to Phebe Farrow Port, senior vice president of Estee Lauder, founder Leonard Lauder spent a limited amount of time with executives on store visits, preferring to meet with floor people. Phebe says, “One day, I saw him reach across a counter and say, ‘Sorry to interrupt. My name is Leonard Lauder. I hear you are one of the beauty advisors. Thank you for everything you are doing for Estee Lauder.’” As they walked away on one such occasion, Phebe said, “Mr. Lauder, you’re so good at this.” He said, “I put myself on a quota of three thank yous a day years ago. I suggest you do the same.” Phebe adds, “Everywhere the man goes, he writes a personal note to whomever he meets.”
Written praise, considered by employees to be the next most valued type of praise, comes in several varieties. Here is how employees ranked different forms in terms of importance: “letters of praise are placed in the employee’s personnel file” (72 percent); “being given written praise” (61 percent); “being given a written note of thanks” (59 percent); and “being given a thank-you card” (48 percent).
A survey by the International Association of Administrative Professionals revealed that as many as 30 percent of professional secretaries would be happy with a simple letter of appreciation from their managers, but only 7 percent of respondents reported having ever received such a letter. In another study, positive written communication was found to be very important in motivating employees; however, this technique was used by only 24 percent of managers.
As part of its “Fat Cat Award,” First Data Resources, a data processing services company in Omaha, NE, includes a letter of appreciation from the CEO and senior management, e-mails, and notes from peers.
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• Make a thank-you card by hand.
• Post a thank-you note on the employee’s office door.
• Write a “letter of praise” to employees to recognize their specific contributions and accomplishments; send a copy to your boss or higher managers and to the personnel department.
• Provide managers with specially printed packets of thank-you cards to hand out to employees who do exceptional work.
• Ask your boss, a very senior manager, or the CEO to send a letter of acknowledgment or thanks to individuals or groups who make significant contributions.
Hallmark Financial, a Dallas-based insurance firm, prints recognition cards listing company values, and gives them to management to give to employees “on the spot” when the employees have demonstrated the values in action. The cards have space for the names of the giver and receiver, the date, and an explanation of why the card was given.
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Premier Travel Inn, located in London, UK, sends a postcard to individuals and teams after they have achieved great results or have demonstrated desired behaviors. One is “You’re a Star,” which is handwritten so that it is personal. Another is “The Great Leap Forward Award,” given to a team member or a hotel that has made significant improvements in the business. The national operations director gives the letter to the individual, along with a toy kangaroo.
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Sheryl Currao, proprietor of Bella Vita Salon & Day Spa in North Andover, MA—one of the fastest-growing salons/spas in America—doesn’t get her employees together very often, but when she does, she takes time to write one paragraph about each one stating what she most values about that person. She reads each message in front of the entire staff.
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When an employee leaves Alberta Health Services in Calgary, Alberta, leaders encourage colleagues to share farewell wishes in keepsake cards—including stories, humorous thoughts, quotes, or reflections of years past—to be placed in a commemorative leather box and presented to the departing employee.
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Writing notes at the end of the day to employees who have performed well is an effective recognition strategy, claims Steve Wittert, general manager and COO of Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in San Diego. Wittert finds that his days are so busy that he seldom has time to personally recognize his staff. Instead, he keeps a stack of note cards on his desk, and when the pace slows down at the end of the day, he takes a few minutes to jot personal notes to the individuals who made a difference that day.
“At the end of each year, I write an individual letter to each of my employees, specifically listing highlights of their performance that I was proud of over the past year. This takes less time than you might think, and the impact on employees is more significant than you might imagine!”
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Joe Floren, former communications manager for Tektronix, Inc., a manufacturer of oscilloscopes and other electronic instruments, located in Beaverton, OR, likes to tell the story of the “You Done Good Award.” Floren recalls having coffee a number of years ago with his boss, a vice president. The boss said he’d been mulling over a problem stemming from the company’s rapid growth. He thought the company was getting so big that it needed a formal recognition program. He had read some personnel handbooks on the subject and began telling Floren about several variations on the gold watch traditionally given for good work.
The boss’s proposition sounded ludicrous to Floren. So he challenged Floren to come up with something better. Floren suggested drawing up a card called the “You Done Good Award” and letting employees give it to fellow employees.
To his surprise, the vice president agreed. Floren had some note cards printed and started distributing them. They caught on, and the informal awards have become part of life in the company. “Even though people say nice things to you,” Floren says, “it means something more when people take the time to write their name on a piece of paper and say it. Employees usually post them next to their desks.”
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Janis Allen, owner of Performance Leadership Consulting in Brevard, NC, tells the story of a group of officers she was training in the Department of the Army. One person in particular, a colonel, showed great resistance to the use of any reinforcers. A week or so after the seminar, the colonel’s manager—a general—wanted to praise him for his handling of an important presentation. The general found a piece of yellow construction paper, folded it in half, and wrote “Bravo” on the front. Then he wrote his reinforcing remarks inside.
The colonel was called in, praised, and given the card. “He took it and read it,” Allen says, “and didn’t even look up when he finished. He just stood up abruptly without making eye contact, turned, and walked out of the office.” The general thought, “Wow, I’ve done something wrong now.” He thought maybe he had offended the colonel.
However, when the general later went to check on the colonel, he found that he had stopped at every office on the way out and was showing off the “Bravo” card. He was smiling and everybody was congratulating him.
The colonel subsequently printed his own recognition cards with “Wonderful” on the front. They became his signature reinforcers.
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At Sea World San Diego, team leaders give “spotlight cards” to employees when they see them doing something well. They write down what they observed and what they liked about it, get at least two other leaders or supervisors to sign the card, and then present it to the employee. A copy is also posted on the employee bulletin board.
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When Kelly McNamara worked for Raytheon Aircraft Company, now a part of Hawker Beechcraft, she wanted to cut down on all the red tape involved in rewarding an employee. So she and her team brought back an award—employee-to-employee thank-you notes featuring the “Beechcraft Busy Bee” cartoon (used many years ago by Beechcraft, a company that Raytheon acquired in the early 1980s)—which could be given to anyone by anyone in the company with no approval required.
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In Marietta, GA, Wellstar Health System created a simple peer-to-peer leadership recognition program called “The Seven Attributes of Stars.” According to Wellstar, these attributes are: communicating, global thinking, people-developing, lifelong learning, innovating, goal-achieving, and service-leading. Managers are given printed notepads and asked to check off the attributes that are embodied by fellow leaders and describe why they should be recognized for them. Any leader who is recognized for five or more attributes is publicly acknowledged at the next quarterly leadership meeting and gets to select a book from among five choices.
When it comes to recognizing employees, most companies have trouble holding their managers accountable. After all, how can you force people to be nice to their employees? Plus, if you do make them do something they don’t want to do, won’t they resent it and undermine your effort anyway?
They didn’t think so at Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo, MI, once ranked as one of the Best Companies to Work For by Fortune magazine. The organization decided to stop focusing on the small number of people who do not conform to their expectations and to start focusing on, recognizing, and rewarding the 95 percent who are doing good work. It took some four years to ingrain this philosophy, but a systematic focus on their recognition practices has clearly made them an employer of choice.
For example, they asked all managers to write 12 thank-you notes per quarter, and to show them to their own managers as proof that they were indeed recognizing their employees. Additionally, human resources did random spot-checks on managers, asking to see copies of thank-you notes, and if a manager didn’t have them, he or she was asked to schedule a “little talk” with the senior leader of the group. They’ve never had to schedule more than one talk before managers quickly got the message that the organization was serious about this activity.
MAKE USE OF NEWSPAPERS TO PRAISE EMPLOYEES PUBLICLY
• Write and publish a personal ad or publicity article in the local newspaper or company publication praising the person for a job well done.
• Send information about an accomplishment to the appropriate trade publication and the individual’s hometown newspaper.
• Take out a full-page advertisement in a local newspaper every year and thank every employee by name for his or her contribution.
Better yet, managers who started writing notes quickly discovered that they were being rewarded by their employees for those very notes. Now, new leaders in the organization are oriented to the practice from the very start of their jobs.
The thank-you note program has since expanded so that managers now send notes to employees’ families or even to their children (sometimes with coupons for ice cream so they can take their parents out), and employees are increasingly writing more thank-you notes to their peers. As a result of all this focus (and related activities), Bronson Healthcare Group’s turnover has dropped drastically, and they now have a waiting list for employees who want to work at the hospital. They have also been named a “best practice” in several national databases for nurse retention, as well as listed on the Working Mother 100 Best Companies lists.
Following are other real-life examples of effective written recognition.
Markeeta Graban, Health Services access manager for Washtenaw (MI) Community Health Organization, reports: “It’s really true that anything can be a significant form of recognition. Over three years ago I drew a star on a piece of scrap paper, colored it, and gave it to someone for helping me out that day. They in turn gave it to someone else. It took on special significance with each use. Now we have it on a magnetic backing and pass it on to someone who has helped or is having a rough day. People love it!”
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“We tried to emphasize peer-to-peer recognition on our Organizational Development Team,” reports Debbie Liles, former supervisor of OD at EMC Mortgage Corporation, and now director of corporate education at Carter BloodCare in Bedford, TX. One of the ways they did it was by using a form called the Appreciation/Recognition Form. Teammates completed the form when they observed someone exhibiting the behavior(s) the company valued. These were deposited in a beautifully decorated box throughout the month. At every monthly team meeting, all the certificates were read aloud. Certificate recipients got to pick their favorite candy bars or healthy snacks from the reward grab bag.
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A more informal way that they recognized/appreciated team members was through “Notes to My Terrific Teammate.” They posted notes on colored paper on their teammates’ walls when they were not around, so they would be pleasantly surprised by the latest “fan mail.” When the sheets were filled up, more sheets were passed out.
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CalPERS, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, based in Sacramento, uses rock-shaped “Steady as a Rock” note cards as well as mounted pass-around rocks to recognize behind-the-scenes daily performance by coworkers. The New England Aquarium allows employees to recognize coworkers with a “thank-you cod” (a card shaped like a codfish)—a play on the New England accent. “Half the card goes to the employee and the other half goes into a quarterly lottery for gift certificates for paid time off, the company store, and local restaurants,” reports Linda Hower Bates, learning technologist for Gilbane Building Company in Providence, RI.
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Ginny Heard, supervisor of member correspondence at an AARP office in Lakewood, CA, has a simple yet effective recognition technique she developed when previously employed by Airborne Express. She cut an apple out of construction paper, wrote “Look for Teachable Moments” on it, and used the note as an icebreaker for discussing learning points or lessons in an employee’s job performance. The award became very popular, and many other managers followed her lead. Everyone liked receiving the apples, and the notes became collectibles.
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If one of Marty Stowe’s employees at the New England Regional Office for Paychex in Boston was working extremely hard, Stowe—now a vice president for Paychex in Rochester, NY—sent a handwritten note to inform his or her spouse. If this employee really outdid him- or herself, Stowe gave the husband and wife a gift certificate for dinner for two.
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At Lands’ End in Dodgeville, WI, former CEO Mike Smith personally reviewed all his mail. If he found a letter from a customer who mentioned an employee by name, he jotted a simple note to the employee and forwarded a copy of the letter to him or her. Employees loved these personal kudos from the CEO and posted them in their work cubicles.
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Jimmy Collins, former president of Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based restaurant chain, writes personal notes of thanks on P&L sheets that he returns to owner-operators.
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Doubt that little acts of recognition mean a lot? In her book What I Saw at the Revolution, President Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter Peggy Noonan writes about a personal note she received from the president. She had been writing for him for four months, and had not yet met him, when one day President Reagan wrote “Very Good” on one of her speech drafts. First she stared at it. Then she took a pair of scissors and cut it off and taped it to her blouse, like a second-grader with a star. All day, people noticed it and looked at her and she beamed back at them.
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Joan Padgett, Ph.D., of the Office of Workforce Development & Training at Veterans’ Medical Center in Dayton, OH, reports, “I recently decided to take the time to give a welcome card to a new employee and wrote a personal note, saying, ‘At the end of some days you’ll feel elated; after some you’ll feel completely drained; but may you always leave your office knowing you contributed to our organization.’ The employee was thrilled and said she would keep the card always. Her emotional response convinced me of the value of giving cards to thank, congratulate, welcome, and celebrate employees.”
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Angela Gann, the national administrator of compliance for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA, sends personal notes to anyone she interviews for a job, but saves a really special greeting for the new hire, decorating the person’s workstation on the first morning with glitter stars or banners.
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The San Francisco Business Times had paper tablets printed with different headlines, such as “Saved the Day,” “Bit the Bullet,” and “Went Above and Beyond,” which they gave to employees who did an exceptional job. Soon, everyone had lots of the notes, and people were feeling more appreciated.
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John Plunkett, director of employment and training for Cobb Electric Membership Corporation in Marietta, GA, says, “People love to collect other people’s business cards. Simply carry a supply of your cards with you and as you ‘catch people doing something right,’ immediately write ‘Thanks,’ ‘Good job,’ ‘Keep it up,’ and what they specifically did in two to three words. Put the person’s name on the card and sign it.”
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“An engineer on my staff spent an extended amount of time on the road doing environmental evaluations of companies,” reports Michael L. Horvath, director of special projects for FirstEnergy Corporation, headquartered in Akron, OH. “I sent a letter to his three school-age children explaining why their dad was gone so much lately and that he was doing special ‘secret agent’ work that was very important for our company. His wife called the next day to say how excited their kids were that Dad was a ‘secret agent!’”
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The “Reward of Excellence” program at Herbalife, the health and nutrition company based in Los Angeles, uses two-part cards, called “WOW!” cards, to recognize employees. Employees fill them out to praise coworkers for service, teamwork, and so on. One part goes to the honoree, the other goes into a recognition box, and the contents are reviewed each month by a six-member recognition committee. The committee selects the best “WOW!” card employee and posts the card on the “WOW!” bulletin board. The winner then gets points toward merchandise purchases, as well as raffle tickets for a cruise drawing, which is held at the end of every six months. All honorees are also automatically entered in the company’s “All Star” program for additional recognition and visibility.
To make the program as successful as possible, Herbalife started with a three-month trial period, during which they collected feedback and suggestions. For example, when they discovered that employees didn’t like paying shipping and handling for the merchandise they selected, the company built those amounts into the awards and slightly increased the number of points required. Besides increasing recognition, other benefits emerged, as well. Ana Franklin, senior manager of the Order Support Department, identified three: (1) the program helped employees set more specific goals and provided systematic tracking of results; (2) it costs less than previous programs, yet has a longer-term impact, replacing what had previously been a hit-and-miss approach (such as occasional distribution of gas cards and gift certificates); and (3) employees can now include their families in selecting merchandise, which is an added motivational incentive.
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Jeffrey S. Wells, former senior vice president of Human Resources for Circuit City Stores, Inc., had his administrative assistant place note cards on his desk each month for him to write personal notes to employees who had anniversaries with the company. Don Eggleston, VP, Mission Values at SSM Health Care in St. Louis, MO, says, “I mark my calendar and then send cards or flowers to employees on the anniversary of important events in their lives. For example, I’ve sent cards on the anniversary of a parent’s death or for a child’s graduation or birthday. These are subtle ways of letting employees know I’m interested without prying into their lives. After all, we’re working with human beings, and we can all be more effective and sensitive if we understand one another better.”
Electronic praise is similar to written praise, but it is transmitted more readily and often with less effort than the latter. Praising via e-mail, voice mail, cell phone, pager, fax, or other forms of technology is increasingly important to today’s employees, who are spending more and more time on “electronic leashes,” interfacing more with their computers and less with their bosses or coworkers. Although today’s office technology can make us more efficient, it also tends to have an alienating effect, creating more distance in work relationships and more stress as we are increasingly expected to be “available” 24/7.
A recent study by Pitney Bowes on messaging tools and practices reveals that U.S. workers are now receiving over 200 messages per day—more than ever before. What’s the impact of this constant bombardment of messages and increased use of office technology? How can managers best recognize employee performance when an employee may not even have physical contact with his or her manager for weeks or months at a time?
Managers must take a proactive role in fostering a sense of teamwork by establishing regular, mutually agreed-upon communication times. Telephone calls, e-mail, teleconferences, videoconferences, and chat areas can all be conducted at an agreed-upon time. Additionally, message boards can be used for ongoing communication about progress on critical aspects of teamwork. Communicating in these ways gives virtual employees the opportunity to exchange ideas with team members, talk about problems, discuss ways to improve, evaluate the team’s progress, share ideas, get feedback, brainstorm new ideas, discuss strategies, and acknowledge success.
For these reasons, it is increasingly important to use technology in positive ways to reinforce good work and encourage the human spirit. Employees increasingly perceive electronic praise as a critical motivator in their jobs. For example, in research I’ve conducted, over 70 percent of employees indicate that having a positive e-mail forwarded to them is very or extremely important to them, followed by “being copied on positive e-mail messages” (65 percent); “being given a praising via e-mail” (43 percent); and “being given a praising on voice mail” (26 percent).
Here’s some additional advice that can help keep the human element at work even as we make a greater use of technology:
1. GET TO KNOW PEOPLE BEFORE YOU COMMUNICATE ELECTRONICALLY. All rapport comes from shared experiences. Trust and respect are difficult to establish through the exclusive use of electronic exchanges. Since an estimated 90 percent of all communication occurs at the nonverbal level, what you don’t see in your interactions might hurt your relationships.
2. BE AWARE OF TECHNOLOGY’S LIMITATIONS WHEN YOU COMMUNICATE. Don’t have electronic communication replace a personal meeting just for the efficiency of it. Think of when it works well to use voice mail or e-mail, for example, and when a personal meeting would be better. Avoid the use of electronic communication for dealing with sensitive or complex issues, which would be better dealt with in face-to-face interaction.
3. USE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION TO ENHANCE RELATIONSHIPS. I know one manager who makes a point of using his cell phone to leave thank-you voice mails for others as he commutes home every evening, reflecting on the day’s events. He keeps his messages 100 percent positive and avoids rolling them over into work problems or additional assignments. I know another manager who copies his manager on all complimentary e-mails he sends to any of his employees. When it comes time for performance reviews and salary actions, his manager always agrees with his recommendations because he’s been kept in the loop the entire year.
4. USE TECHNOLOGY TO EXPAND YOUR SCOPE OF RECOGNITION. In discussions and decision making, technology can help you include others who might have been cumbersome to incorporate in the past. For example, Home Depot has weekly satellite feeds to every store that they call “Breakfast with Bernie and Arthur,” their chairman and CEO. It’s a chance for everyone to hear what’s new and how things are going. A.G. Edwards, the financial services company, has a weekly audio conference that includes every employee online. I know of another company that audiotapes a monthly message to employees, which they can listen to at their convenience. Web chats, message boards, and dedicated phone lines for employee access to top management are other possibilities companies are using today to keep employees more connected and to allow them to play an integral role in their organizations.
5. USE THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY TO AMPLIFY GOOD NEWS. Find ways to pass on positive information to your staff, such as forwarding them the news or publicly thanking them via e-mail. At a Hughes Network Systems office in San Diego, for example, they use an “Applause” electronic pop-up bulletin board on their intranet system, to which any employee can post thanks and recognition to any other employee. Employees get to see the latest praise each time they log on to their computers. In these days of relentless pressure and change in most organizations, hearing what’s going well becomes a salve to relieve our stress and frustrations. Use technology to highlight any good news as it occurs, and don’t forget to use e-mail and voice mail to leave a positive word of thanks.
Since there tends to be a fine line between stress and excitement in most jobs today, a positive use of technology can go a long way toward creating more positive work relationships and a more human and supportive work environment.
When Katherine A. Kawamoto directed the contract management group at NCR, a technology company based in Duluth, GA, she planned when and to whom to send electronic anniversary and birthday cards up to a year in advance.
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At a division of General Mills in Plymouth, MN, photos of top achievers are posted on their website as “champions.”
Chris Higgins, senior vice president of project planning at Bank of America’s Services Division in Virginia, says, “It is so important to give everyone credit. I always try to find out who is going above and beyond the call of duty. My team is usually spread out over the country, so I wander over the telephone wires or pop in unexpectedly on conference calls. It is not a huge effort; it mainly takes discipline, but has tremendous payoff.”
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At Business First in Louisville, KY, the newspaper’s advertising department sends a broadcast voice mail daily with a motivational message, joke, success story, or whatever helps the team get excited about its workday.
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Edward Nickel, regional training and development manager for Nordstrom, Inc., in Oak Brook, IL, reports that some Nordstrom stores recognize employees over the store intercom system before the store opens by sharing great letters they have received from customers about exemplary service. Letters are then posted on an employee bulletin board for all to read. Each store manager has his or her own routine, but there is never a dearth of material, and hearing the examples motivates other employees to do the same.
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Fargo Electronics, based in Eden Prairie, MN, uses an electronic newsletter to keep in touch with employees. Information about sales and production figures, customer feedback, and profit-sharing updates with employees are shared daily. At the end of each workday, department heads send information into the company’s e-mail system.
In my research, public praise was ranked as one of the top recognition preferences by today’s employees. This included the following items being ranked as either very or extremely important to them: “customer letters are publicly shared or posted” (62 percent); “employee is praised in a department/company meeting” (54 percent); “employee is recognized at a company awards ceremony” (46 percent); and “employee is acknowledged in the company newsletter” (39 percent). This supports other research that indicates that 76 percent of American workers rank recognition at a company meeting as a meaningful incentive.
Most employees perceive the use of public recognition as highly desirable. Performance management consultant Janis Allen notes that it’s easy to leverage positive feedback when you hear it by passing it on to others. “When someone says something good about another person and I tell that person about it,” Allen says, “she seems to get more reinforcement value from it than if she had received the compliment firsthand.”
There is almost an endless variety of ways to acknowledge employees publicly. Sharing good news such as positive letters from customers at the beginning of a staff meeting or posting them on a “Good News Bulletin Board” along with other positive information from members of the department can be effective. For example, at the end of staff meetings, employees of Mom’s Landscaping & Design in Chanhassen, MN, share a “Well Done” about someone who has helped them.
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Merchant Alliance Group, a wholesale merchant services company based in Columbia, MD, has a large dry-erase board hanging in the office, and each time a team member signs a new account, their name is added to the board.
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Yell UK, the print-, online-, and phone-centered product and service provider based in Reading, UK, gives rewards or mementos at presentations in front of colleagues.
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Sentinel Printing Co., Inc., of St. Cloud, MN, uses a fun and colorful wall display to recognize people’s achievements. It’s part of the “Great Catch” program. Names are put on the board with a “thanks for the great catch.” Supervisors receive information about the employee, and some of those employees can become an “Employee of the Month.”
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Camelback Hyundai-Kia dealership in Phoenix, AZ, focuses its monthly meetings on sharing goals and results, and on publicly recognizing employees who have been nominated by customers or other employees for good service. You could even bring in key customers to your organization to acknowledge deserving employees and send a powerful message about the importance of customer service.
Dr. JoAnne Pitera Studer, president of Performance Consulting, in The Village, FL, suggests putting a flip chart next to the elevator door where people can list thank yous and successes for all to see. Pitera also recommends soliciting and announcing nominations for recognition awards for outstanding efforts at department meetings, perhaps in conjunction with a drawing for gifts or money.
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You can even create a “wall of fame” to show appreciation for top achievers, as they do at the headquarters of KPC. You can take time at the beginning of department or companywide meetings to recognize employees, as they do at Honeywell Inc.’s industrial fibers plant in Moncure, NC, where employees exchange public praising as part of morning plantwide meetings. Or you can use the end of meetings for employee recognition. Norman Groh, a regional manager at a Xerox Corporation office in Phoenix, AZ, ends his management staff meetings on a high note by asking that all managers share one thing they have done to thank their employees since they last met. Besides generating a surge of energy and an exchange of practical ideas, he gives them broader visibility by putting the stories in the employee newsletter.
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Allowing employees to acknowledge one another at group meetings can also be very effective. Petro Canada, a large energy company based in Calgary, Alberta, hosts “bragging sessions” to allow employees to share with upper management progress they are making toward goals. The meetings have a fun and celebratory feel and generate high energy to continue efforts.
Many companies have a year-end awards banquet, which of course provides lots of opportunities to spotlight individuals and groups. You can bring such ceremonies alive with stories about people’s successes and the obstacles they had to overcome to achieve their goals. Tag on to any holiday celebrations you have planned some extra time to thank your staff for their dedication and performance. Look to the future as well, and share the signs you’ve seen of good things to come.
Most organizations also use company newsletters to recognize employees for a wide range of performance, to thank project teams, and even to share information about employee interests and hobbies.
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A division of Hewlett-Packard in San Diego held a day of appreciation for an exceptional employee, computer scientist Jennifer Wallick. Fellow employees reserved ten-minute time slots to visit her, present her with flowers, and thank her for something she had done for them. She was praised every 15 minutes throughout the day.
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Peter Economy reports that when he worked as a manager for the City of San Diego Housing Commission, all participants at weeklong management-training workshops would write down one positive thing on an index card for every other person in the session, an activity they called a “strength barrage.” Each individual would then receive his or her index cards and read what everyone else had to say about them out loud.
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Connie Maxwell, owner of Chez Connie’s in Des Moines, IA, says of her prior work with the West Des Moines Community Schools, “I posted notes from other departments that had something positive to say about any of us; this way, people who worked with me were more inclined to write one to someone else, so there’s a mutual sharing of thanks. It became a point of pride to have a note that one wrote posted.”
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When she worked for Time Warner in Milwaukee, Noelle Sment used an effective stress strategy: a “Bad Day Board,” which was a list of everyone’s names with a magnet that could be moved to indicate who was under a lot of stress, experiencing personal problems, struggling with difficult customers, etc. Initially meant to serve as a warning system for others, the group soon started cheering up anyone who was having a “bad day,” and having a lot of fun in the process!
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Xerox Corporation, headquartered in Norwalk, CT, gives Bellringer Awards: When an employee is recognized, a bell is rung in the corridor. Pacific Gas & Electric rings a ship’s bell every time someone makes a noteworthy achievement. And the special markets department at Workman Publishing in New York City uses an inexpensive party noisemaker when any employee wants to share good news with the group. Everyone within earshot comes running.
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Chris Giangrasso, VP of Human Resources and Communications for Arkema Inc., a Philadelphia, PA–based chemicals manufacturer, suggests organizing a day of appreciation for a worthy person. When he worked for Aramark, which provides food and leisure services and textile rentals, the company scheduled a day in honor of the person (for example, Bob Jones Day), and sent a notice to all employees announcing the date and the reason for the honor. The honoree enjoyed all sorts of frills, such as computer banners and a free lunch.
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Chris Ortiz, at NASA’s Ames Research Center, reports: “After reading 1001 Ways to Reward Employees, I created an award for all my team members who helped me. I call it my Thanks-a-Million Award. It contains a thank-you note taped to ten 100 Grand candy bars. Recipients break them up and pass them on to others who have helped them.”
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The president of a teacher’s union in Vancouver explains that when he worked in the construction industry, what started as a joke became a coveted honor each workday. One morning, a foreman placed a yellow rubber ducky on the desk of a person who had done a great job the previous day. The tradition continued and soon everyone looked forward to seeing who would receive the day’s honor.
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A government contractor based in Pensacola, FL, tells us, “I’m the maintenance manager supervising 64 jet mechanics for a company that contracts out to the U.S. Navy’s flight school. These rough-and-tough men love it when I tape a pinwheel or a balloon to a plane they’re working on, signifying that the jet engine has passed every test with flying colors.”
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SOUND... YOUR NAME
• Use the person’s first name when delivering a compliment.
• Greet employees by name when you pass their desks or in the hall.
• When discussing an employee’s ideas with other people, make sure you credit the employee.
• Acknowledge individual achievements by using employees’ names when preparing status reports.
• Name a continuing recognition award after an outstanding employee.
• Ask five people in your department or company to go up to the person during the day and say, “[Your name] asked me to thank you for [the task or achievement]. Good job!”
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At San Francisco–based Jossey-Bass, Inc., a division of publisher John Wiley & Sons, all employees have nameplates from their first day on the job. They are made with an etching machine and slipped into a slot on the employee’s door or desk. This not only makes newcomers feel welcome, but also helps their colleagues to remember their names.
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Whenever possible, allow employees to connect their names with their work. Home Depot posts workers’ names on signs, such as “This aisle maintained by Jerry Olson.”
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At a Bloomington, IN, hospital cafeteria, sandwiches are named in honor of the “Employees of the Month” and those who have received the most commendations from patients. Items stay on the menu for six months.
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Wells Fargo Bank has developed some unusual no-cost rewards, such as renaming an item in the cafeteria after a deserving employee or presenting a bag of fertilizer supplied by the keepers of the Wells Fargo stagecoach horses.
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All employees at Apple Computer in Cupertino, CA, who worked on the first Macintosh computer had their signatures placed on the inside of the product. Employees at Cooper Tire & Rubber Company of Findlay, OH, are allowed to stamp their names on the inside of the tires they produce so they can be recognized for their contributions.
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When Southwest Airlines achieved the best on-time performance and baggage-handling, and the fewest complaints per customer for the fifth year in a row, it dedicated an airplane to all its 25,000 employees and placed all of their names on the outside of the overhead bins.
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Federal Express in Memphis used to inscribe the name of an employee’s child in large letters on the nose of each new airplane it purchased. The company held a lottery to select the name and flew the child’s family to the manufacturing plant for the christening.
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Ford Motor Company, AT&T, and Meridian Health in New Jersey use their employees in commercials.
In the Electro-Optics Division of Honeywell, Inc., in Minneapolis, financial difficulties were causing a serious dip in morale, which was leading to additional problems. The company needed to turn the situation around, but had to do so on a very low budget, given the state of the division. Seeking a creative solution, managers developed a recognition program called Great Performers. “The division was looking for top performance from its employees,” says Deborah van Rooyen, program director, “and that got me thinking that top performance comes from top performers, and that got me thinking about top performers everyone is familiar with.”
Van Rooyen spent a month in the local library researching the lives of great performers in politics, education, social work, business, science, and the arts. All the people she studied had one characteristic in common: They succeeded by overcoming obstacles.
Van Rooyen’s idea was to put together a program in which these people’s well-known accomplishments would be celebrated alongside those of division employees. She hoped that the possibility of being named a Great Performer would inspire employees to put forth their best efforts.
“Turnaround begins with small accomplishments,” Van Rooyen says, “so we wanted to convey the idea that every job is important. For example, we wanted to encourage secretaries to type a letter only once, and to encourage employees in the shipping department to be careful enough that nothing would get broken, and so forth.”
Management accepted the idea, and Van Rooyen worked with the division’s staff to finalize the list of 40 celebrity Great Performers, being careful to include men, women, minorities, and teams.
• Present “State of the Place” reports periodically to your employees, acknowledging the work and contributions of individuals and groups.
• Establish a place to display memos, posters, photos, and so on, recognizing progress toward goals and thanking individual employees for their help.
A teaser campaign then followed featuring the celebrity Great Performers with memorable quotes. Employees were invited to nominate Great Performers in the company and were asked to explain the reasons for their nominations. A committee of volunteers reviewed the nominees. All were given pins in the shape of the letter G (for great) and the committee selected five employees they thought best exemplified the spirit of the program. These winners were interviewed, and stories were created to use on posters that looked just like the ones featuring the celebrities. Each included the employee’s photo, a quote, and a description of the employee’s achievements and contributions.
“The posters were a visible way to help boost self-esteem,” says Chuck Madaglia, division public relations manager. “The idea was to catch employees doing something right and get them feeling good about themselves.”
The response was overwhelmingly positive. The Great Performers became corporate celebrities overnight, and everyone wanted to be one. Many more individuals had the chance: Five new employees were selected each month during the year the program was in place. Morale improved dramatically, and the ongoing program encouraged employees to make changes in work habits, make successful proposal bids, begin recycling scrap, and improve quality control. Within six months, the division was in the black, thanks in part to the success of the program.
• Introduce top management to individuals and groups who have made significant contributions.
• Use charts or posters to show how well an employee or group is performing.
• Develop a Behind the Scenes Award for those whose actions are not usually in the limelight.
• Name a space after an employee and put up a sign (The Suzy Jones Corridor, for example).
• Honor peers who have helped you by recognizing them at meetings. Mention the outstanding work or idea brought to your attention by an employee during your staff meetings or at meetings with your peers and managers.
• Recognize people who recognize others.
Bob Gaundi, Human Resources manager of Mental Health Systems in San Diego, says: “Certainly recognition from supervisors is important, but praise from fellow employees is of the highest order, so we allow employees to recognize coworkers through a monthly newsletter. We ask employees to write a short statement about laudable efforts they witness from fellow employees. All of the examples are published in a special section of our monthly newsletter. Employees always turn to this section first!”
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At Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk, CT, the company newsletter overflows with news of accomplishments, customer comments, and employee contests, such as the offer of a $5 reward to the first employee who deciphered the meaning of a performance chart that measured some aspect of the store’s operation.
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Jackson, MI, Chick-fil-A marketing director Tara Hayes produces a newsletter highlighting individual accomplishments both at work and in the community. She also includes feature stories about deserving teams.
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At Label House Group Limited, a medium-size brand identity and packaging solution company located in Trinidad and Tobago, one of the most frequent ways of recognizing employees is through the internal newsletter, under the heading “Caught You Doing Something Right,” according to Shelly-Ann Jaggarnath, Human Resources officer for the company. On a quarterly basis, employees caught exhibiting the desired behaviors and attitudes, or going beyond the call of duty, are profiled in the newsletter and given small tokens of recognition, such as cooler bags.
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The H. J. Heinz food company, based in Pittsburgh, PA, routinely shares information about employees at all levels of the organization in its internal publications and annual reports, including personal details about their lives, their off-the-job pursuits, and even their poetry. At Tandus Flooring, Inc., a carpet manufacturer in Dalton, GA, the company recognizes and lists the achievements of employees’ children in its newsletter.
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Publix Super Markets, based in Lakeland, FL, publishes a biweekly bulletin that lists the births, deaths, marriages, and serious illnesses of employees and their families. For more than 20 years, the president sent personalized cards to the families of everyone listed in the bulletin.
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Chuck King of the East Longview and Longview Mall Chick-filA’s in Longview, TX, highlights employee success in the local newspaper and offers Chick-fil-A sandwiches to all students who provide proof of perfect school attendance.
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At Claire’s in Wood Dale, IL, district managers reward a manager by working his or her store on a Saturday. The regional managers also have a traveling trophy cup, which they fill with goodies (and items related to the award) as it is passed from one district manager to another.
CAPTURE THE MOMENT
• Create a Hall of Fame wall with photos of outstanding employees.
• Take a photo of the person being congratulated by his or her boss’s boss. Place photographs of top performers in the lobby.
• Make a photo collage about a successful project that shows the people who worked on it, its stages of development, and its completion and presentation.
• Create a “yearbook” to be displayed in the lobby that contains everybody’s photograph, along with his or her best achievement of the year.
• Create a “Good Tries” booklet to recognize those whose innovations didn’t achieve full potential. Be sure to include what was learned during the project so that this information can benefit others.
At Kragen Auto Parts, based in Phoenix, AZ, the president and other top executives served dinner to all store managers at their annual meeting as thanks for a job well done.
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Resident Home Corporation, a nonprofit agency that supports individuals with developmental disabilities in Cincinnati, sets up a quarterly car wash for its 200 employees (and the general public) on a Friday when they are getting their paychecks. “We feel that this is a great motivating tool that the administrative team will take three hours of their day to serve them like they serve others,” says Larry Mullins, Human Resources director. “We also feel this is a great way to show the general public around us that we are a great organization to work for, and it gives us time to discuss with them what we are about—important aspects for a nonprofit agency that depends on financial and volunteer support from the local community.” RHC also hosts “Massage Days” twice a year, when they bring in a massage therapist and allow employees to sign up for I5-minute slots.
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When Norwest Banks (now a part of Wells Fargo) hosted a sales and service conference in Orlando, FL, all the executives lined up on the sidewalk and applauded employees as they disembarked from the buses and entered the resort. “It really made everyone feel very special,” reported Victoria Gomez, a bank vice president from Columbia, MD.
The use of personal and social reinforcers is reported as being highly desirable by most employees. As performance management consultant Janis Allen says, “Surprisingly, many people say they wish their organizations would give fewer tangibles and use more social reinforcers. Most people are hungry for somebody to simply look them in the eye and say, ‘I like the way you do that.’”
She goes on to state: “If people receive social reinforcement on the 4:1 ratio (a minimum of four socials to one tangible) and receive reinforcers for behaviors, not only results, they will view the tangible as a symbolic representation of appreciation. Then tangibles become items which serve as reminders of the social reinforcement they have already received. A tangible reinforcer carries the most impact when it symbolizes the recognized behavior or result.”
Recognition at a company meeting was ranked by 76 percent of American workers in a recent survey as a positive, meaningful incentive and was deemed most important by workers aged 24–34 and 35–44.
At GreenPages, a technology solutions provider in Kittery, ME, each sales team picks a support person of the month and each support team picks a salesperson of the month. Then members of each team speak a few words about the person they have selected at their monthly meeting.
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Employees at Oregon-based Flying Pie Pizzeria restaurants complete a Verbal Comment Card when they hear or have a particularly energetic or successful conversation, usually, but not always, with a customer. The best of these conversations are published in a flyer stapled to paychecks, and are featured in the margins of the restaurant’s 16-page menu.
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SGI and Netscape, high technology companies, in Mountain View, CA, have employee “rant” websites and newsgroups that their CEOs view every day. American Express Travel in Philadelphia, PA, has an employee hotline so employees can leave messages for the CEO.
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Every four to five years, new store managers of J. C. Penney Corporation, headquartered in Dallas, TX, are “affirmed” in a ceremony of store managers held at over a dozen locations across the country. During the ceremony a pledge is given to the founding principles of the company, and at the conclusion each newly affirmed associate receives an HCSC pin, standing for Honor, Confidence, Service, and Cooperation.
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According to Robert Voyles, vice president for marketing services for Carlson Marketing Group in Minneapolis, “One way of ensuring that people are happier at work is to make sure they have friends at the company.” That is one of the reasons for the company’s referral program for new hires. Workers are offered a small reward when someone they referred is hired, then a larger one when the new person completes several months on the job. “When someone recommends someone else, they take pride in—and feel responsible for—that person’s work. If the new person messes up, it’s a reflection on the person that recommended them,” says Voyles.
As part of Chicago-based Hyatt Hotel Corporation’s “In Touch Day,” all 375-plus headquarters employees—from mail room to executive suite—went to Hyatt properties around the country to provide guest services. Jim Evans, vice president of sales, spent several hours hailing taxis, loading luggage, and collecting tips at the front door of the Hyatt Regency Chicago, and Darryl Hartley-Leonard, president of Hyatt, served lunch in the employee cafeteria, hailed cabs, checked in guests at the front desk, and tended bar. Said Hartley-Leonard: “We’re all working toward the same goal, but we corporate people forget what it’s like. After a day like this, we know what on-line workers really go through.”
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One day a year all white-collar manufacturing employees work on the production lines at Mary Kay, Inc.
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To demonstrate their trust in employees, once a year all managers at Quad/Graphics in Pewaukee, WI, left the plant for 24 hours for the “Spring Fling and Management Sneak,” leaving normal printing operations to continue without the presence of any managers. The managers held meetings and then went to the Milwaukee Art Museum. The company subsequently expanded the event into a twoday, three-evening affair, including seminars that were offered for managers at a local college. During the entire period of time, none of the managers is to set foot inside the printing plants unless an employee makes a request for emergency help. No manager has ever been called in.
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One night a year during the Christmas holiday, The Walt Disney Company opens Disneyland to employees and their families only. Concessions and rides are run by upper management, who dress in costumes. In addition to being a lot of fun, this practice allows employees to experience the theme park from the customers’ perspective. There are a multitude of other programs designed to build a sense of camaraderie and of identification with the organization, including peer recognition programs and root beer floats at informal recognition parties. Such practices and philosophies have made employee and customer satisfaction among the highest in the industry and are the cornerstone of the company’s success.
Some of the best forms of recognition cost nothing at all! A sincere word of thanks from the right person at the right time can mean more to most employees than a raise, a formal award, or an entire collection of certificates or plaques. Part of the power of such rewards comes from the fact that someone took the time to care—not only to notice the achievement, but to seek out the person and personally deliver a praising in a timely manner.
Research by Dr. Gerald Graham throughout the U.S. revealed that the type of reward most preferred by employees was personalized, “spur-of-the-moment recognition from their direct supervisors.”
Since several studies on employees have shown that the greatest influence on job satisfaction is the supervisor, any manager has all the ingredients for achieving a high degree of satisfaction—and corresponding level of performance—with his or her employees.
Instead of giving toys or trinkets for recognition, the IRS Service Center in Nashville, TN, acknowledges contributions with a simple thank you and handshake at Employee Recognition events.
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At Sprint, the telecommunications firm based in Overland Park, KS, some executives use noncash awards to motivate sales representatives to sell a new product or try a new sales approach.
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Katie Freeland, executive director at Stones Crossing Senior Living Community in Greenwood, IN, does not return to her office from walking around the workplace until she has noticed at least five things that her staff has done well and has acknowledged them for those things. After each praising, she closes a finger on one hand to track her progress and returns to her office only after she has made a fist.
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Lori Schaper, Sports Area manager for Disney Sports Attractions in Lake Buena Vista, FL, starts each staff meeting by polling the group for three things that are going well. They don’t go on to the next item on their agenda until three positive items are identified.
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Todd Atwood, training manager at Rally’s Hamburgers, Inc., the fast-food restaurant chain based in Tampa, FL, makes a point of introducing himself to and learning the names of every employee in each branch he visits.
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Dion McInnis takes a “morning walk-around” through his department at the University of Houston–Clear Lake (TX), briefly visiting each person, saying a simple hello, asking a question about work, or chatting about what is going on in their lives. “It reminds them that I appreciate who they are,” says McInnis, an associate vice president of fund-raising and relationship building. On annual reviews, he states his appreciation for each person’s work. He also uses meetings and e-mails to offer personalized thank yous. continuously focused on recognition: Every evening she makes a list of the individuals she thanked that day. This practice makes her reflect on her interactions and helps identify ongoing opportunities to acknowledge others.
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Sara Cohen, Activities Coordinator for Brentmoor Retirement Community in St. Louis, MO, has a technique that keeps her
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Sierra View District Hospital in Porterville, CA, initially provided recognition tools for managers to use for a year. During the second year, they required managers to use a certain number of them. Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo, MI, requires every manager to use a dozen thank-you notes each quarter and provide copies of those notes to their managers. HR conducts “spot checks” and if a manager is behind, they set up a meeting with the manager’s senior leader. They have never had to set up a second meeting with any manager. AAA of Southern California uses 360-degree feedback from employees to rate managers on how well they provide recognition and encouragement. The quantitative scores translate into how one third of the managers’ annual bonuses are calculated.
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At Allied Signal’s Industrial Fibers plant in Moncure, NC, every piece of large equipment—including mammoth steam boilers and air compressors—is assigned an employee “owner.” Ownership is acknowledged by large signs attached to each machine that spell out in large letters “This steam boiler owned by...” with the employee’s name added.
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When the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York, asked its 400 housekeepers how management could better recognize them for the great job they do, one of the top responses was, “Have managers use our names.”
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Flight attendant Sandy Poole remembers meeting then Southwest Airlines president Herb Kelleher one day and speaking with him for a few minutes. Said Poole, “Six months later I was walking down the hall at headquarters and he said, ‘Hi, Sandy Poole. How’s the new job?’ And that was just so flabbergasting. And you do feel important, it really makes a difference.”
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Capital One’s credit card call center in Tampa, FL, recognizes employees’ birthdays and anniversaries by placing Styrofoam cakes above the people’s cubicles during the month of the celebration.
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Agencies of QSource, the Memphis-based nonprofit health care management expert, post thank-you letters from patients on a “Brag Board.” They have also painted a bare-branched tree on a wall. Every time someone does something exceptional or receives a letter of thanks from a patient or family, that staff member’s name and the date are put onto a golden leaf and attached to a branch.
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Josh Parker, a regional manager for the Newark, CA, branch of Pro Staff Personnel Services, said he would disco dance on the desktop if the staff met specific quarterly goals. They met the goal, and he danced as promised. Marcia Amant, Call Center supervisor in the customer care division of VSP, the country’s leading vision service provider based in Rancho Cordova, CA, “does a little dance” to thank employees for something special they have done. For both Parker and Amant, dancing at work has become a tradition.
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To recognize those who take extra effort to cover for vacationing coworkers, the Donaghey Student Center at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, AR, gives a special award for “going above and beyond the call of duty to see that this office did not collapse in the absence of [vacationing employee’s name]. We recognize his/her contributions to the successful and smooth operation of this office.”
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Many service providers who want to sell their services to the general public are willing to give short previews to company employees for little or no cost. For example, at Tassani Communications, Inc., in Chicago, employees can attend “Food for Thought” brown-bag lunches and listen to lectures on topics such as stress management, time management, or crime prevention. San Diego–based Great American Bank reserved a conference room for its own employees and those of neighboring businesses to attend Weight Watchers and Smoke Enders programs.
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Alexandra Watkins, founder and creative director of Eat My Words, a “naming” firm in San Francisco, bartered with clients and collected products that would make suitable gifts for the holidays. “Many of our smaller clients were cash-poor,” says Ms. Watkins, who in lieu of payments took bottles of vodka, bags of coffee, and gift cards, which she in turn gave to other clients. Watkins accepted 25 percent of her payments through in-kind trade that year, up 5 percent from the previous year.
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When Ricki Snider worked for life insurance company Fortis Advisors, now known as Ageas, they used the “Keys to Excellence” to thank people for doing a good job. The keys were made of construction paper. The recipient received the key with a “thanks” written on it; the giver would save a tab from the key and submit his or her name and that of the recipient to Human Resources. There were separate monthly drawings for all key recipients and for all key givers. Nominal prizes, such as a $50 gift certificate, were awarded, but the buzz was about the keys themselves, which were visibly lined up in people’s offices.
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Managers in the diagnostic imaging department of Presbyterian Hospital in Greenville, TX, use a Top 2 format—similar to the Top 10 made famous by late-night TV host David Letterman—to praise staff members via e-mail. Every day, managers e-mail “Two things we love about you” to staff members.
Ray Williams, an employee of the San Diego County Fair, remembers a practice in business in which someone would praise another person by saying, “I’ve got a GL for you.” The GL stood for “Good Last.” The idea was that the first person would say something positive they had heard about the second person in exchange for the second person saying something positive they had heard about the first person.
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Amy Watner-Freeman, director of Human Resources for Community Health Alliance of Pasadena, in Pasadena, CA, was once promoted and found herself managing a man who felt he should have gotten the promotion. “He made my life miserable, constantly interrupting and undermining everything I was trying to do.” After several weeks of this, Amy found a solution: She wrote a letter to the man’s wife telling her how honored she was to be working with her husband, how much knowledge and experience he had, and how much she looked forward to working with and learning from him. She also expressed what an important role he played on the team and how much she valued his being a part of the group. “The day after sending this letter, the man brought in a plate of chocolate chip cookies that his wife had baked and I never had a single problem with him thereafter!”
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According to Sonya Parham, assistant manager for Human Resources Development at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL, they give a “pat on the back” award to employees who do an outstanding job (and they send a notice of the award to the employee’s file). They also award breakfast on Fridays for the employee of the month and for excellent service recognition and other notable deeds.
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“People love to collect others’ business cards,” John Plunkett, director of employment and training for Cobb Electric Membership Corporation in Marietta, GA, says. “Simply carry a supply of your cards with you and as you ‘catch people doing something right,’ immediately write ‘Thanks,’ ‘Good job,’ ‘Keep it up’ and specifically what they did in two to three words. Put the person’s name on the card and sign it.”
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Put a top performer’s name in lights. At Metro Auto in Pomona, CA, the name of the employee of the month is put up on the electronic billboard over the dealership. A similar idea was used at a downtown Philadelphia skyscraper with an electric message board on all four sides that takes up the top third of the building, which honored the head of the local school system: “Philadelphia congrats Dr. Constance Clayton on 10 years.”
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Bell Atlantic’s cellular telephone division in Philadelphia, PA, names cell sites after top employees.
Sam Colin, founder of Colin Service Systems located in White Plains, NY, used to go around handing out Life Savers candy to employees. That early tradition has developed into a lasting philosophy of recognizing employees that today includes the selection by coworkers of such distinctions as “most helpful employee” and “nicest employee.” Coworkers vote for the employees they think should win those awards, and presentations are made by executives.
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At General Electric’s Medical Group some managers call their version of frequent recognition an “attaboy” system.
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The Marriott Corporation, based in Washington, DC, honors 15 to 20 people a year with its J. Willard Marriott Award of Excellence, an engraved medallion bearing the likeness of Mr. Marriott and the words expressing the basic values of the company: dedication, achievement, character, ideals, effort, and perseverance. According to Gerald C. Baumer, vice president of employee communications and creative services, selection is based on remarks made by the nominator and on the individual’s length of service. Award winners represent a cross section of Marriott’s workforce: dishwashers, chefs, housekeepers, merchandise managers, and so on. The Marriott award is presented at an annual awards banquet in Washington, DC, attended by honorees, spouses, nominators, and top executives. “We want other employees to look up to these people,” Baumer says.
At General Mills, headquartered in Minneapolis, new employees can pick a work of art for their own office from a large collection. Similarly, those who work in individual offices pick their own furnishings and works of art at Mary Kay, Inc.
As was evident in the last section, there are many highly effective forms of recognition that cost nothing. If you expand the available budget from nothing to a nominal amount (say, under $20), the number of potential reinforcers greatly increases. If the amount available increases to $50, an even wider range of reinforcers are possible. For a modest amount of time, energy, and thoughtfulness, any manager can deliver a unique and truly memorable employee reward. This section provides a collection of effective low-budget, low-cost rewards.
When employees close a deal at United Franchise Connection, the franchise consulting company based in the greater Philadelphia, PA, area, they push the Easy Button to alert and remind people in the office that “that was easy.” The buttons are available from Staples Office Supplies at a minimal cost.
William Pickens, owner of Pool Covers, Inc., in Richmond, CA, often hangs a number on the wall and rewards employees who know how it is related to the business. For example, 22.5 is the average miles per gallon of the delivery truck fleet, and those who knew that received a $10 prize. Pickens says this game gets employees to think about the business and also creates camaraderie.
When newcomers start at Employers Resource Council in Mayfield Village, OH, they are asked to make their “Favorites” list. The list includes desserts, hobbies, music, sports, vacations, and so on. It’s a great way for managers to personalize giving out rewards and recognition. Similarly, when first joining RTC Relationship Marketing in Washington, DC, new employees make a wish list of things they would like to be rewarded with throughout the year. It’s called the Kudos program. When someone uses the program, they submit what they did—for whom, and why they did it—to Human Resources. Then they receive their item. The program has been used for several years and is popular with employees.
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System Improvements in Knoxville, TN, devised a fun way to incentivize timely returns from breaks during daylong meetings. At the end of each hourly break period, everyone who returns on time gets a playing card. At the end of a day, an attendee might have five to seven playing cards. They all play a round of poker, allowing people to discard cards—if they have them to discard—to improve their hands. They award nominal prizes (T-shirts, pocketknives, watches, for example) for the high hand and the low hand. Everyone has a chance to win. To simplify the process for large meetings and conferences, they reward promptness with tickets that are used in a lottery for prizes.
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VPs and other top administrators from Quincy (MA) Medical Center showed up early one morning to welcome employees to work with handshakes, smiles, and hot coffee. They did so in response to a recruiting effort by a rival hospital. “It’s just employee recognition,” said Quincy Medical chief executive Dr. Gary Gibbons, who stood outside the employee entrance from 6:30 to 8:30 A.M.
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Sharon Quinn, claims division manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, asks each of her employees what their favorite flower and color is and then, on their birthdays, gives each of them that flower in their favorite color. “It’s a simple, personal thing to do that they really seem to like,” Quinn says. “I’m on my second year of doing it and recently asked them if they’d like me to do something different, but they said, ‘No, we like the flowers!’”
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Yell UK, the print-, online-, and phone-based product and service provider based in Reading, UK, rewards with small gifts. Brainstorm Marketing in Des Moines, IA, rewards employees with movie tickets.
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Atlanta-based Corporate Resource Development, a sales and marketing company, sets off a siren to let all its coworkers know when special goals are met.
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Sarah Santos, compensation analyst for International Data Group, the Boston-based technology media firm, created an award by gluing an unopened can of Busch Lite on a gold-painted block of wood that was initially given to someone who had gone “above and beyond.” The award has been passed around for years and is now considered a great honor.
Elsie Tamayo explained how she turned around the morale, pride, and productivity of the training department when she was training director for the County of San Diego Department of Social Services. When she first started, employee morale was low and the group’s identity in the organization was weak.
Elsie met with the 13 employees in her department and asked how they wanted to be perceived by the organization. The group created its own identity as the “Training and Development Center,” created a logo, and painted it on the outside and in the lobby of their building. Everyone also got business cards for the first time with the new department logo on those cards.
Elsie then said they were going to spend one half day a month as a Reward and Recognition Day (R&R Day) in which the group would come up with things they wanted to do together. In subsequent months they did such things as taking the train to Los Angeles to visit a museum, going shopping in Tijuana, going to the zoo, and so forth. They had no budget for activities, so initially any expenses were paid for by the employees.
At each department meeting she solicited the help of one employee to come up with some type of fun way of rewarding another employee in the group. For example, to announce one employee’s promotion, the group paraded through the building; another employee was presented with an Energizer Bunny “because they kept going and going and going, helping others when needed”; someone who worked fast was awarded a toy roadrunner. She also started each department meeting by reading letters written to her praising the department or the people in it. At all times, she gave the group the latest information she had about developments in the organization.
Elsie used numbers as recognition to increase the visibility of achievements of the group. For example, the number of employees trained each month was tracked, as were cost-saving ideas, and progress was communicated throughout the organization. In the department, flip charts were hung publicly, tracking progress toward different goals, and “masters degrees” were awarded to trainers and managers who trained for 1,000 hours.
She bartered her training services with other training companies to get training slots for her group members or facilities for an off-site retreat. She also started a self-development library and positioned use of it as a reward.
She used extensive spontaneous rewards, such as quick handwritten notes or a note on a flip chart that read “you really handled the meeting well yesterday,” with specifics and why the activity was important, and then posted the flip chart on the person’s door. She often let people come in late the day after finishing a training session.
Once a week, every person was given an hour to meet with her to talk about anything they wanted to discuss. Initially many of the meetings took less than ten minutes, but over time everyone came to use the full hour. Employees would discuss results from a training session and how they could improve, problems they were having with other employees, ways to improve their skills and career potential, and so on.
She hosted a fake “marathon” with all project members, which included T-shirts and awarded “records”—actual LPs with new labels and jackets to fit the achievements of individuals in the group that were handed out during a mock marathon celebration.
All these activities were conducted with little or no budget, and throughout employees knew they still had to put in the hours needed to get their job done. Within several months the morale, excitement, pride, and energy of the department skyrocketed and the group was viewed with greater esteem by the rest of the organization.
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Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk, CT, has an Out-to-Dinner program for employees, in which dinners for two are awarded for doing something special, like coming in on one’s day off or working through a break. All the managers are authorized to award similar things, whenever they want to; some walk around with lunch coupons in their pockets so they can hand them out on the spot if they feel like it. Stew personally writes notes of gratitude to employees for jobs particularly well done and sometimes slips extra dollars in their pay envelopes.
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During Administrative Professionals’ Week all secretaries get flowers at Mary Kay, Inc.
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At Claire’s Boutiques in Wood Dale, IL, district managers work a store for a manager on a Saturday if that person is being rewarded. The regional managers have a traveling trophy cup that they fill with goodies (and items related to the award) as it is passed from one district manager to another.
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A Hewlett-Packard engineer burst into his manager’s office in Palo Alto, CA, to announce he’d just found the solution to a problem the group had been struggling with for many weeks. His manager quickly groped around his desk for some item to acknowledge the accomplishment and ended up handing the employee a banana from his lunch, with the words “Well done, congratulations!” The employee was initially puzzled, but over time the “Golden Banana Award” became one of the most prestigious honors bestowed upon an inventive employee.
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Tom Tate, program manager in the personnel and management training division of the Federal Government’s Office of Personnel Management in Washington, DC, tells the story of the “Wingspread” award. A beautiful engraved plaque was first given to the division’s “special performer” by the department head. Later, that person passed the award to another person who he felt truly deserved the award. The award came to take on great value and prestige because it came from one’s peers. A recipient can keep it as long as he or she wants or until that person discovers another “special performer.” When the award is about to be passed on, a ceremony and lunch are planned.
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Noreen Wahl, manager of Human Resources for Sherpa Corporation in San Jose, CA, emphasizes that it’s not the award as much as the recognition. “We purchased an old bowling trophy that was ugly, gaudy, and huge from a pawnshop to use as a ‘pass around’ award for spectacular results achieved. Each recipient proudly displayed it while it was theirs.”
The following list of items was generated by sales managers at American President Lines in Oakland, CA, and submitted by Laird D. Matthews, director of sales training and development for that company. Most of the items are designed to cost less than $100 and are in the complete control of local management (thus not needing corporate buyoff). Some are intended to provide a bit of humor.
Letters from manager, managing director, vice president, president
Personal phone calls from managing director, vice president, president
Parking spot for top sales rep of the month
Day off, half-day off, Friday off
Magazine subscription
Monthly rep certificate with name on plaque
Meal with staff member, vice president, or president
E-mail acknowledgment
Promotional gift, special memento
Birthday card, cake, gift
Award pins
Team dinner, team outing
Videotape of interview for training as subject matter expert
Sales rep of the month, quarter, year award
Acting sales manager
Conference attendance
Tickets to events
Bottle of wine, champagne
Training award/attendance
National accounts trip as “award-winning employee”
Tour of West Coast
Trip with account representative
Weekend trips
Open praise
Letters of recognition
Sales giveaway
Recognition lunch
Publication of recognition
Leader of the month (e.g. meetings)
Plum assignment
Increased territory
Transfer nonproducing account
One month of shoe shines
Contribution to favorite charity
Bulletin board notice
Flowers/balloons/bouquet
Dinner/night on the town with spouse
Represent company at an industry event (salesperson’s choice)
A training session at new location of choice
Overseas training trip
Sports jacket/suit
Upgrade CRT
Sales meeting acknowledgment
Top performer takes everyone to lunch
Group day-off event
Massage/facial/manicure
Round of golf
Dinner with managing director
Hot-air balloon ride
Limousine ride
Upgrade the company car
Ship ride, harbor tour
Company logo tattoo!
Gift certificate
Own office
Better office location/arrangements
Champagne brunch
$50 cash
Case of beer
Toys for kids
Select employees for presentation to visiting executives
Invite staff to home
Submit articles about staff to various company newsletters
Exposure to top management through task force or committee
Relieve personal chores for sales rep (e.g., wash car, cut lawn)
Often, effective forms of recognition are events, one-time occurrences that commemorate a significant achievement or milestone. Such activities need to be planned in advance so as to be timely and pertinent to the situation and person being recognized.
On a very cold, wet, and snowy day, Awards.com, a recognition and rewards product company in Lyndhurst, NJ, hired high school students to scrape ice off the windshields of their employees’ cars and then handed each employee a bottle of Heet as they left for the day.
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Meet with the president of the company!
• Hunter Simpson, the president of Physio-Control, makes it a point to spend one hour with every new employee, no matter what level.
• Each new employee group at Viking Freight System spends an hour with the president or one of the other top officers of the company during a one-day orientation.
• Everyone who joins the company meets with Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay, Inc., during their first month of employment.
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Give a special “VIP Pass” that would allow the individual free privileges for a certain period of time (one month or one quarter), as is done at Management 21 in Nashville, TN, according to Cheryle Jaggers, training coordinator. They could receive free lunches in the cafeteria, free membership in the company’s fitness center, free parking in the parking garage, and much more.
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Joan Cawley, director of Human Resources at Advanta Corporation in Horsham, PA, reports using the following forms of recognition: surprising internal service departments such as payroll and switchboard/receptionists with treats like doughnuts or candy; treating female staff members to a lunchtime manicure during an especially hectic period; buying Ninja Turtle decorations for an employee who was busy and had to plan a child’s upcoming five-year-old birthday party; presenting a monogrammed canvas briefcase to commemorate a staff member’s promotion to management; surprising her staff with a picnic at a local park, complete with champagne and strawberry shortcake she had made, in place of a regularly scheduled Friday staff meeting; presenting a “life saver” award—a dozen packs of Life Savers candies and a gift certificate to a local department store to recognize an employee’s efforts in filling two jobs during a period of transition.
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Catherine Meek, a compensation consultant based in Los Angeles, reports of a hospital she worked with in California: “At any one time they had 12 to 15 employee recognition programs going, each developed by employees.” The janitorial and housekeeping staff came up with the Golden Broom Award.
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They have little cards made up with a golden broom on them, and if someone is seen picking up trash (other than a janitor), then they get this award. After someone receives ten cards they get something else—nothing really expensive or big, but it gets the message across.
“Another program is called the Guaranteed Service Program. It refunds a patient’s money for non-surgical procedures if the patient is not totally satisfied with the services. If a patient does not feel they were provided with the appropriate service, then his or her bill is refunded. This hospital has a fund for this and every quarter what is not returned to patients is raffled off to employees. So what that does is [it] focuses employees on providing the best possible patient care because the better the care, the higher the fund and the more likely they are going to get more money in their pockets.
“Yet another program they have is called Caught in the Act of Caring. If an employee, vendor or anyone catches you in the act of caring, you get a little card that says ‘I was caught in the act of caring.’ After you get a certain number of these cards, you can trade them in for various merchandise.
“None of this really takes all that much time as long as you have employees involved in these various programs. They [the hospital] don’t even really think of the time, it’s just the way they do business. It’s an attitude that exists in that organization.”
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At South Carolina Federal in Columbia, SC, the president and other top managers serve employees lunch or dinner as a reward for a job well done.
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Organize a recognition week for a key category of employee. Empire of America Federal Savings Bank in Buffalo, NY, announced a Teller Recognition Week in which tellers were showered with such acknowledgment tokens as carnations, boutonnieres, candy; certificates of appreciation; a breakfast in their honor; specially printed T-shirts; and a recognition party.
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Patricia L. Keeley, training manager for Spectrum Emergency Care in St. Louis, MO, recommends having an employee’s dry cleaning picked up and delivered to the office for one month or having a catering service bring lunch to an employee every day for a week.
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Carla Levy, training specialist for Indianapolis Power & Light Company, recommends paying an employee’s parking fees for a month or a year.
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At McDonald’s the company has different motivational activities for its distinct categories of workers, such as teenagers and older workers. “Thirty years ago, having an employee softball team was enough to satisfy workers,” says Dan Gillen, staff director of store employment. “Today, we have to tailor our incentives to the specific nature of our work force.”
For its teenage workers, the company has established a flexible scheduling policy to accommodate student schedules, exams, and papers. During the prom, workers might be brought in from other areas to cover for students who are at the dance.
For its senior employees, a district might hold a “senior prom,” a chance for its older workers to meet one another and socialize outside the work setting, or stage a potluck supper in the restaurant or at a manager’s home.
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Warren F. Doane, senior vice president for Founders Title Company in Redwood City, CA, suggests a wide variety of recognition rewards, including limo rides to lunch and dinner, a stay at a bed-and-breakfast, a weekend in Tahoe, a cruise on the bay, a train ride to Reno, a baseball night for all employees, and tux-clad managers who serve employees lunch.
The Ten Best Ways to Reward Good Work by Michael LeBoeuf
Reward #1: Money
Reward #2: Recognition
Reward #3: Time off
Reward #4: A piece of the action
Reward #5: Favorite work
Reward #6: Advancement
Reward #7: Freedom
Reward #8: Personal growth
Reward #9: Fun
Reward #10: Prizes
Cash and cash substitutes, such as gift certificates, rank among the top ten ways employees say they’d like to be recognized when they do good work. Employees ranked the following items as either very or extremely important to them: “employee receives a gift certificate or voucher” (48 percent); “employee receives a nominal cash award” (46 percent); “manager gives the employee dinner out for two” (43 percent); and “employee receives entertainment tickets” (39 percent). This is supported by research showing that 95 percent of respondents considered a cash bonus a positive and meaningful incentive. Almost 15 percent of respondents in a survey by Workforce Management give cash awards to their employees and 2 percent give savings bonds as part of their organization’s incentive programs.
Most people enjoy getting extra spending money—especially around the holidays or when they have unexpected financial needs. Although cash offers maximum flexibility to an employee in terms of how the money is spent, the problem with giving cash is that it often comes to be expected. If you give a $500 holiday bonus three years in a row, employees will count on receiving it the fourth year, as well. The other challenge with using cash is that it has no “trophy value,” that is, no lasting value as a reminder of achievement. Money is often spent on bills and then quickly forgotten.
Cash substitutes (such as gift certificates, coupons, or points that can be traded for products) do, however, possess some trophy value. The products employees choose will help remind them of their achievements. Gift certificates have the joint advantage of quick fulfillment and flexible dollar amounts and expiration dates, and carry no shipping costs. They can be redeemed in a wide variety of places for a broad range of merchandise, from gourmet food to lawn mowers. Cash substitutes can provide an effective compromise between giving an employee money that is quickly spent and forgotten, and a fixed gift or reward that they perhaps do not want or need.
Harbor Court Hotel in San Francisco gives $2 poker chips to employees for behaviors such as exceptional guest service and teamwork. The chips can be redeemed by the end of the month for gift cards.
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Lewis-Goetz and Company, Inc., an industrial products manufacturer based in Pittsburgh, PA, sent $5 Dairy Queen gift certificates directly to the homes of their employees, along with a note to their children. The note said, “It has been a long hot summer and we have asked a lot out of your mom/dad. Please take the time to enjoy an ice cream with them and let them know how much not only you appreciate them, but how much our company appreciates their work ethic and commitment to our organization.” The idea went over extremely well. “We actually received thank-you letters back from the children,” says general manager John E. Veon.
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At Atria Senior Living Group, operator of three senior living complexes in Tucson, AZ, when the whole staff scores well on twice-a-year customer satisfaction surveys and corporate inspections, every employee gets a gift card. “It helps to give our employees an incentive to keep our residents happy,” said Donna Jacobs, senior executive director at Bell Court Gardens, where turnover was a low 25 percent.
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Marlene Herman, owner of two Aamco Transmission & Complete Car Care franchises in the Cleveland, OH, area, issued gas cards and gift cards to her ten employees.
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The chemical specialties group of W. R. Grace in Atlanta, GA, were given scratch-off lottery tickets as incentive to create improvement suggestions. When implemented, the workers’ ideas helped the company save a documented $175,000 per year.
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Several years ago, Infosurv, a market-research firm in Atlanta, GA, began awarding a $150 restaurant gift card every quarter to the employee with the best business idea. One employee won for developing a technology innovation that helped the company retain a major client that was about to leave. They have since added a second contest in which the company’s 15 employees must identify a total of 100 innovative ideas by year’s end to each receive a $100 reward. The program has paid for itself: In cost savings, revenue enhancement, and efficiencies, it is in the six-figure range.
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Mike Hall, chief executive of Borrego Solar Systems in San Diego, introduced two quarterly employee contests for innovation, each with a $500 prize. One contest seeks the best business innovation, which must be formalized on paper to include the problem the idea solves, as well as its costs, risks, and benefits. The other competition rewards the best “knowledge brief,” which requires employees to share valuable information that can benefit the company as a whole. For example, one worker won for creating a glossary of acronyms in the solar industry. Winners are determined by a companywide secret ballot.
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Benco Dental, the U.S.’s largest privately held, full-service dental distributor based in Wilkes-Barre, PA, provides a $300 cash bonus to employees who refer a new hire. The new employee must work for six months before the bonus is paid.
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Heartland Dental Care in Effingham, IL, gives team members gift cards for exceeding sales goals. They can choose cards from SAM’s Club, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Eddie Bauer, or Citgo.
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Wyoming Valley Health Care System in Wilkes-Barre, PA, offers up to $6,000 to a select group of prospective highly sought after employees: registered and graduate nurses; physical, occupational, and respiratory therapists; pharmacists; and imaging technologists. They must commit to work for a specified time period or return the money upon their departure.
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One recent December, David Hall, owner of several Overflow discount stores in Queensland, Australia, gave his 60 staff members $30,000 in incentives, including gifts, cash, and vouchers. He gave $300 cash rewards to seven staff members, along with several $100 monthly customer service awards. Several long-term employees received prizes, including a $2,000 travel voucher and $200 and $100 gift cards. Hall gave every shop manager a $1,000 shopping voucher and a $500 voucher for a selected staff member. Throughout the year he had given them $50,000 in incentives. Over the last seven years, staff size has doubled from 30 to 60 and the multi-million-dollar business is booming. “I can’t do it without them,” the 37-year-old Hall says.
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Dr. Bob Shillman, CEO of Cognex, a Boston, MA–based machine vision systems provider, has been known to give cash bonuses of up to $10,000 from a Brinks truck and to subsidize employee vacations to one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
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The Vermont (US) Healthcare Association awarded cash prizes to assisted-living facilities for making innovative changes to their operations over the prior year. The Bel Aire Center, for example, changed their interview process so that direct-care workers would both interview and make the hiring decisions of their peers. Not only did the change improve employee morale, but turnover was cut in half.
Research shows that formal recognition and reward programs become stale over time. Like many organizations, Intuit, Inc., a Mountain View, CA–based tax and financial software provider, has been challenged to keep employee recognition effective over time. Recognition was left up to individual managers who did very little to recognize their employees. The company’s initial attempts in using cash and merchandise to recognize employees each had their limitations.
In 2000 the company set out to improve their employee recognition. Jim Grenier, vice president of Human Resources, said, “We want to let people know they are doing a good job and, at the same time, reinforce the same messages about where the business is going and what’s important.” The company created the Spotlight program to recognize performance, innovation, and service dedication.
Performance awards are given for specific behavior that meets certain award criteria; innovation awards are for patent disclosures, patent filings, and issued patents; and service awards are for milestone anniversaries. Most performance awards are given immediately, providing instant recognition. These awards are both monetary and nonmonetary, such as “Take a Bow,” which can be given by anyone in the company to anyone else. Managers and higher-level individual contributors can give awards with monetary value to any employee in any part of the company. Some engineering leaders give “ship trips” to their teams. When a new product is shipped or a new software version is released, the leader takes the development team to an event. Intuit budgets 1 percent of its payroll for recognition, well under the 2.7 percent of payroll that average companies spend on recognition according to a national survey by the Society of Human Resource Management.
The impact of the Spotlight program has been significant. Use of the program initially increased from 5,500 to 20,000 awardees in the second year and then rose to 26,000 awardees by the third year. Within two years almost 95 percent of all eligible employees had received at least one award offered by the program. In a 2007 survey with eight categories, Intuit ranked number one in half of them: people management, social responsibility, quality of management, and quality of products and services. By 2008, Fortune listed Intuit as the most admired software company in the United States and one of the Best Companies to Work For.
STRENGTHS OF CASH INCENTIVE AWARDS
• Desirable
• Easy to administer and simple to handle
• Understood by everyone
• Can provide an extra boost to a long-term program
Lowell G. Rein, chairman of LGR Consultants in McMurray, PA, offers ideas for rewards that involve relatively small amounts of cash:
• Offer silver dollars or gold coins for good work, a good safety record, or perfect attendance.
• Periodically give $20 bills to employees (or groups of employees) who excel.
• Place small cash awards with personal thank-you notes inside employees’ calendars or desk drawers.
• Choose an outstanding employee to receive a small (but permanent) pay raise.
• Offer unexpected cash bonuses.
In Portland, OR, REI employees who come to work on a moment’s notice because of understaffing get $5 gift cards to Starbucks.
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Rocky Laverty, president and CEO of Farmer Bros. Company, a coffee producer in Torrance, CA, awards “Rocky Dollars” for outstanding performance. The award consists of a silver dollar mounted on a certificate, presented personally by the president with public congratulations.
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Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., based in Atlanta, GA, rewards employees with “rubber bucks” for a job well done, redeemable for company products at a company store.
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Burger King rewards workers with cash when they recruit management-level employees. Also, for finding entry-level workers, employees receive “burger bucks” redeemable for gift certificates from local stores.
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At National Office Furniture in Jasper, IN, fake cash is awarded during meetings held to test product knowledge. At the end of the meeting, employees use the money to bid for prizes. Tickets for college football games and the Grand Ole Opry are also given to top performers. When a companywide slogan contest was held, winning teams received jackets.
Kyle Illman, managing director of Messages on Hold in Perth, Australia, shares: “Our client contact is over the phone, so we need our people to impress those clients to overcome the distance factor. I read compliments of employees out loud in team meetings and ask the honorees to pick from a deck of playing cards. For cards 2 through 9, they receive the same amount in dollars. For a 10 or picture card, they receive $10, and for an ace, $20. It’s fun, and spurs all the reps to wow the clients.”
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The Dallas Business Journal keeps a supply of gold-colored tokens in $10 and $20 denominations, redeemable at any store in a local mall. Managers provide the coins to employees for meeting weekly goals or making large sales. The paper also gives out movie passes, small cash bonuses, and certificates for in-office back massages.
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Pitney Bowes, headquartered in Stamford, CT, awards a $25 savings bond for the best oral and written questions submitted at the annual stockholders’ meeting.
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Sandy Edwards, Human Resources representative for Great Western Drilling Company in Midland, TX, says the company offers a $25 savings bond to the employee who poses the most challenging question to the president at company communication meetings.
Great Western also hosts an employee appreciation banquet with a twist: Each employee receives $200 in play money to use at an auction. As part of the auction, managers take bids on services such as washing cars, baby-sitting, house-sitting, baking a cake, cooking a meal, and doing an employee’s job for six hours. Employees also receive two gold pieces and a sit-down dinner.
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Coupons worth $35 are given to employees at Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco for “extra effort” and “a job well done.” They are redeemable for gifts such as season tickets to a sporting event, a pedigreed puppy, five shares of company stock, Rose Parade tickets, shopping sprees, a one-month mortgage payment, and paid days off.
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Quad/Graphics printing company in Sussex, WI, pays employees $30 to attend a seminar devoted to quitting smoking and gives $200 to anyone who quits for a year.
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At Celestial Seasonings, the packager of herbal teas in Boulder, CO, every employee receives a $25 check on his or her birthday, a $50 check at Thanksgiving, and a $100 check at Christmas.
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Employees at the Naval Publications and Forms Center in Philadelphia, PA, nominate coworkers for the Wilbur Award, named after a longtime employee, which comes with $25. Workers have the chance to earn a top award of $35,000 for an outstanding suggestion.
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At Anchor Communications in Lancaster, VA, everyone receives a $50 gift certificate when they meet their quarterly cash flow target. Anchor also asks employees to try to conserve resources. As part of this effort, management puts up posters of the quarterly cash balance target all over the building and updates them daily. Those who guess the current cash balance in a pop quiz are given travel certificates for $1,500.
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G. S. Schwartz and Company Inc., a public relations firm in New York, holds a “Hit Parade” contest in which it awards $50 a week to the PR representative who demonstrates the best method of getting coverage of an event or generating a story for a client. Winners receive one point toward a $100 quarterly prize, and runners-up are awarded half a point.
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When Mary Jo Stuesser-Yafchak was president of Accudata in Fort Myers, FL, she held a monthly drawing for $50 and entered the names of everyone who had attended monthly after-hours training sessions into a drawing for $1,000 of travel credit at year’s end.
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Every other year, employees are offered selections from a gift catalog in lieu of a year-end bonus at Hatfield Quality Meats in Hatfield, PA. Every employee receives the same monetary amount and can select an expensive item or several less expensive ones.
American Express Company’s “Be My Guest” plan treats an employee sales incentive winner to dinner at the company’s expense. The employee receives a certificate redeemable for a meal at a participating restaurant. The certificate charges the meal to the gift-giver’s account.
WEAKNESSES OF CASH INCENTIVE AWARDS
• No trophy (i.e., lasting) value
• Not exotic
• Can’t be enhanced
• Tends to become an “expected” award
At Pfeiffer & Company, a publisher now part of John Wiley & Sons, employees were financially rewarded for prolonging their business trips by an extra day or so to save the company money. For example, a plane ticket with a return on Sunday night might be $150 cheaper than one with a Friday return, so they would give the employee $75 of that savings. “It turned out to be a great way for employees to bond with clients, vendors, or coworkers in the other city when there simply had been no time during the normal work week for social activities,” reports Marion Mettler, former CEO of the company.
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Amanager at Gap, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, wanted to thank everyone for working madly to meet a big deadline. She gave them gift certificates from a spa for a facial or a massage. It was a much-appreciated treat to help employees calm down and relax after a tough time.
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Steve Ettridge, president of Randstad Professionals US, a temporary-employment service based in Wakefield, MA, had a problem with young workers who would not admit having done something wrong. “Most of the mistakes could have been fixed or minimized, but I never found out about them until they blew up,” Ettridge says. “One day I pulled out $500 in cash, and I told them about a mistake I’d made that week. I said that whoever could top it would get the money. Of course, they were afraid it was a trick.” One employee finally admitted to a data-entry error that had caused a $2 million paycheck to be printed and almost mailed out. He got the $500. Since then the company gives out quarterly $100 awards to employees who admit mistakes they have made on the job. Ettridge says the award is designed to allow people to be human and to encourage risk taking.
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The late Victor Kiam, president of Remington Products in Atlanta, GA, maintained a $25,000 discretionary fund to give instant cash recognition to workers who had been spotted by their supervisors doing an exceptional job. Kiam called these people into his office and handed out checks ranging from $200 to $500.
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At the Internal Revenue Service, cash awards of at least $100 are given for ideas (some go as high as $4,000). Workers who score well on their performance evaluations get cash bonuses averaging $500.
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When J. Pierpont Morgan, founder of the JP Morgan Bank, died in 1912, he bequeathed one year’s salary to each member of his staff.
Before being acquired by Byron, MN–based Schmidt Printing Company, Solar Communications, a Naperville, IL, direct-mail and packaging business, evolved a system of cash bonuses over the years. Initially cash bonuses were casual, even paternalistic. At the end of most months, founder John F. Hudetz would hand out checks—usually $20 to $60—with everyone getting the same amount.
When the company reached $2 million in sales, the owners wanted to try a more clearly defined program. Employees were assigned to specific machines and divided into work teams of four or five; the more a team produced during a given month, the bigger the bonus for each member.
The new incentive system had an immediate effect. The packaging machines ran faster than ever as employees jockeyed for larger and larger payments. In many cases, production rates doubled. In good months, team members in the top group would see bonuses of about $250, while their counterparts might receive a quarter of that. Because of the pressure to produce, however, other problems occurred, such as machine breakdowns caused by a failure to carry out regular maintenance.
Then the company rewarded everyone for bottom-line results according to the clear-cut formula: Every quarter, managers set a target for profitability based on what they thought was within reach. Assuming the company met the goal—the numbers were openly discussed within the company—25 percent of the incremental earnings went into a bonus pool. The pool was then divided in relation to a person’s earnings during the previous quarter. If, for example, an employee earned 0.5 percent of the total payroll, he or she was entitled to 0.5 percent of the bonus pool, modified by two factors: It took two years to become fully vested in the program, and unexcused absences or tardiness could shrink a check.
PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR HEART IS
• Offer a cash bonus with taxes prepaid.
• If an employee works overtime, send a $20, $50, or $100 bill to a spouse with a thank-you note for his or her support.
• Give employees who recruit new workers a cash bonus.
• Buy the person a gift certificate.
• Pay for the tutoring of an employee’s child.
• Pay an employee’s parking or traffic ticket.
• Pay an employee’s mortgage for one month.
• Pay for a housecleaning service for an employee’s home.
Evolution of Solar Communication’s Cash Incentive Program
INTERNAL BONUSES, COMPANYWIDE, 1977–84
Upside: No promises, easy to administer
Downside: Employees didn’t know what they were being rewarded for; no motivational effect
PRODUCTION BONUSES, BY TEAM, 1984–88
Upside: Stimulated output and creativity
Downside: Set off rivalries among departments and individuals; created equipment and quality problems; administrative nightmare
PROFIT-SHARING BONUSES, COMPANYWIDE, 1987–PRESENT
Upside: Simple to understand; emphasizes teamwork and interdepartmental coordination
Downside: More difficult for individuals to influence
During especially busy periods, Nucor Corporation, a steel manufacturer in Charlotte, NC, has six-day workweeks, paying bonuses for the sixth day based on time-and-a-half pay.
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In Green Bay, WI, WS Packaging Group holds monthly bonus meetings called STP (share the profit). The company shares information on every line item of its budget and shares profits that exceed its goals with employees. However, if there’s a loss, it has to be made up before any additional bonuses can be paid.
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The fibers department at E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in Wilmington, DE, has an Achievement Sharing Program in which all employees put 6 percent of their salaries at risk and are paid a sliding percentage of that amount based on how close their department comes to its annual goals. Less than 80 percent means no increase; 80 to 100 percent means a 3 to 6 percent increase; 101 to 150 percent means an increase of 7 to 19 percent.
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The Works Bakery Cafe, based in Keene, NH, puts 23 percent of earnings over budget into a bonus pool every four weeks, to be shared by all employees.
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At D’Agostino Supermarkets, based in Larchmont, NY, every employee, including part-time workers and delivery staff, is eligible for the gain-sharing program. The concept is simple: Stores that exceed their budgeted profit goals for the quarter share most of the excess with their employees. Gain-sharing funds are allocated by department—so if the meat department pulls in 25 percent of the excess business, its employees receive proportionally more than a department that pulls in less. “This is an incentive to work together to improve performance and also to push each department to its potential,” said Roi R. Tucker, vice president of Human Resources, who is now with Zallie Supermarket in Philadelphia, PA.
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Wells Fargo Bank employees can make as much as 25 percent of their annual salary in bonuses if they achieve certain performance levels, and about 60 percent of employees receive bonuses each quarter. John Gavin, regional manager in Fort Worth, TX, says, “We found that a typical bonus was seen as just part of the salary. Now everyone is paid based on performance. The difference in employee behavior is significant.”
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Employees at Pacific Jaycraft, a manufacturer of precision components for aerospace applications in Spring Valley, CA, rewarded employees for a 50 percent increase in sales with a year-end bonus of 15 percent of salary. Marketing manager Doug Van Vechten explains: “Jaycraft has always held the belief that motivated and productive employees are the key to success.”
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Amsco Steel spends 30 to 40 percent of annual net income on incentives and bonuses for 60 employees, based on three separate financial thresholds.
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Almost any type of product, merchandise, or food can be used as a form of recognition or reward. Employees reported the following items as being very or extremely important to receive when they do good work: “manager provides food to celebrate success” (39 percent); “employee is given flowers, a gift, or memento” (39 percent); “manager buys the employee lunch or dinner” (36 percent); “employee gets coupons for food, car wash, movies” (35 percent). In a survey of American workers by Workforce Management, 63 percent ranked merchandise incentives as meaningful. More than 50 percent of respondents reported using jewelry and 41 percent using watches as part of their organizations’ recognition programs.
There are many advantages to the use of merchandise for recognition. Merchandise incentives are desirable and promotable, since a good selection can appeal to every taste and can be used to reward achievement at various levels and times. The best merchandise for incentive campaigns has lasting value, reflects the quality of the recipient’s achievements, inspires pride of ownership, suits the recipient’s lifestyle and tastes, projects a positive image of the company, can be fulfilled promptly and without hassle, and is guaranteed and exchangeable.
Fred Maurer, sales manager of special markets at Canon USA in Lake Success, NY, points out that with merchandise, people receive retail values while the company pays discount or wholesale prices. “This fact of life—that we offer people more for their money—is key to the incentive business, and it isn’t publicized enough,” Maurer says. Maurer’s preference in incentive merchandise is “anything to do with home offices, fax machines and home copiers in particular. These items are not only nice to have, but also help make people that much more efficient.”
Merchandise also offers trophy value to recipients and can be “drop-shipped” directly from the manufacturer. Items valued up to $400 for safety and length-of-service awards are tax deductible for the company. Finally, redemptions take place at the end of a program, so major costs are incurred after results are in. However, merchandise incentives require detailed administration and are inappropriate for participants who earn low wages.
According to a survey sponsored by Specialty Advertising Association International, the printable goods people most appreciate are clothing (T-shirts, jackets, caps), desk or office accessories, writing instruments, glassware and ceramics (including mugs), and calendars.
Dorchester Hotel in London, UK, has Employee of the Month and Instant Star recognition programs. Names of recognized employees go into a drawing for prizes such as a chauffeur-driven ride home, teas, product vouchers, and spa treatments.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of recognition comes when employees face exceedingly tough, challenging times. Take the case of the post office in Orange, CA, that was able to achieve record success through a clear and systematic focus on recognizing its people.
“Going into the fiscal year,” David L. Eng, postmaster for the Orange Post Office, says, “I knew it would be a tough year. Our budget was significantly reduced and there was pessimism about achieving the goals.” Eng’s team had been ranked in the top 20 percent of the largest post offices in the district, but Eng felt they could achieve more. He asked his leaders what it would take to become the best large office in the Santa Ana district. They said they would each like to have a jacket like the one Eng had on. Eng wore a nice leather jacket with a USPS emblem on it. “If we earn the top ranking,” he responded, “I’ll see that you each get a jacket like this!”
The team identified a short list of items that could have the greatest impact on the organization’s goals and metrics, focusing on activities that were each preventive, proactive, and positive. Each of these goals was discussed in daily meetings, and metrics were tracked monthly. Along the way the focus was always on the positive. For example, each month Eng asked every supervisor to nominate two or more employees that had gone “above and beyond” in contributing to the group’s goals. Each of those employees received a certificate of achievement from his or her supervisor and a nominal gift. During the third quarter, as an incentive to get every employee involved in reaching the organization’s goal, Eng held a raffle to create momentum for the final quarter.
The goal, focus, and recognition paid off when Orange was ranked the number one large post office in the Santa Ana district. The group achieved a $634,799 increase in revenue and a $476,851 savings in expenses, for a net $1,111,650 contribution. To celebrate, Eng and his supervisors took each shift of employees to breakfast where the leaders served the employees and thanked them for a job well done. Then, as promised, Eng gave leather jackets to the supervisors.
Chevron U.S.A., headquartered in San Ramon, CA, keeps a large box, secured with a padlock, brimming with all sorts of gifts. An employee being recognized on the spot for some accomplishment is brought to the Treasure Chest by his or her supervisor, who holds the keys. The employee gets to choose an item from the box: a coffee mug, pen-and-pencil set, gift certificate, coupon for lunch or dinner, or movie tickets. Recognition can come from peers as well. At Boardroom, Inc., in Stamford, CT, CEO Martin Edelston keeps a closetful of fun recognition items any manager can use to quickly acknowledge a deserving employee.
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Managers at Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo, MI, set up “toolboxes” filled with $150 worth of recognition items suggested by employees, such as movie tickets and coupons for ice cream, time off, valet parking, and restaurants. The items are used to recognize employees when they do a good job, and the toolbox is replenished as needed.
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One recent January, the snow was really coming down at Valassis Communications’ corporate headquarters in Livonia, MI. CEO Al Schultz wanted to thank employees who made the long trek into the office and were hard at work despite the inclement weather outside, so he ordered pizza and soft drinks for everyone at all three Michigan locations and joined employees in the auditorium at corporate headquarters for an impromptu lunch while the snow fell.
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When Dave Baldwin, senior partner with Pathwise, a training and consulting firm, was with Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, IL, he gave a bouquet of flowers held together with a watch to an associate who delayed her vacation and “took the time” to help when needed in the department. The employee wears the watch as a badge of honor to this day. In another instance, Abbott honored an employee who set up an off-site management meeting by having each senior executive give her a flower with a personalized word of thanks at the beginning of the event. She reported that although she had received flowers before, the personalized thanks by the company’s senior executives made this recognition event the most meaningful of all.
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The Maritz, Inc., office in Fenton, MO, has a “Thanks a Bunch” program in which a bouquet of flowers is given to an employee in appreciation of special favors or jobs well done. That employee then passes on the reward to someone else, and so on and so forth. Each recipient also gets a thank-you card. At certain intervals, the cards are entered into a drawing for rewards such as binoculars or logoed jackets. The program is used during periods of especially heavy workloads or other stressful times.
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The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company in Hartford, CT, spends up to $50 per year per administrative employee on gifts tailored to various interests, including dinners for two, tickets to movies and sporting events, gift certificates, and coffee for a month. There are four requirements for the award:
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The employee must be a team player, take initiative to solve problems, provide leadership in supporting company goals, and show an attitude that inspires others to do their best. Spokesperson Karen Block says, “I believe that when the final results are in, the investment will be returned to us many times over.”
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David Walling, training coordinator for the Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Champaign, IL, reports using “spot awards”—specially designed coffee mugs, watches, and pen-and-pencil sets—to recognize good work.
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As an exciting alternative to employees selecting merchandise from a catalog, some companies host shopping sprees, allowing award winners to go on a rampage through a warehouse that stocks appropriate prizes. Carlson Marketing Group has opened its Dayton, OR, distribution center to employees of Mobil, Toyota, and Nabisco.
Carlson marketers fly their employees to Dayton for a pre-spree party the night before the appointed date. On the day of the event, employees walk the winners through the warehouse, pointing out where the most valuable goods are. The 200,000-square-foot warehouse contains about 4,500 items, including electronics, glassware, golf clubs, and vacuum cleaners.
Carlson recommends that sponsors limit the run-through to two minutes. According to Michael Barga, director of distribution in Dayton, “More than two minutes becomes a struggle for the participant, who’s dashing down the aisles and throwing items into a big shopping cart.” On average, winners accumulate about $3,500 worth of goods per minute.
ELECTRONICS
Tools help people improve their efficiency: multimedia cell phones, fax machines, and wireless laptop computers.
APPLIANCES
Compact appliances save space: combo washer-dryers, under-the-counter can openers, TVs, and radios.
SERVICES
Services help people save time: a housecleaner for a year, baby-sitting coupons, spa visits, and facials.
UNIQUE GIFTS
Customized gifts add special meaning: special-edition lithographs, first-edition books, antiques, and company-imprinted credit cards.
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The Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation in Chicago topped a profitable year in which it gave every employee a television set by giving everyone a VCR (retailing for several hundred dollars at the time) the next year; 24,000 were distributed. To announce the gift, the company made a ten-minute video with two actors impersonating Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel. The characters reviewed the company’s year, and footage of the various facilities was shown. CEO Roger Stone then appeared, gave the two-thumbs-up sign, and announced the gift. At the end of the presentation, each employee received a certificate resembling a movie ticket, which was used to claim the VCR.
Recognition items can be generated around a theme such as summer. Towels, umbrellas, rafts, chairs, and coolers work well as standard promotional beach items. For a barbecue theme, options include grills, cooking utensils, hats, and aprons—even a custom-built barbecue pit and patio furniture. Floats, boats, and inner tubes can also be customized; for larger prizes, companies can use canoes and dinghies. Recent users of such items are Pepsi, Sunkist Soda, and Moosehead Beer.
In Dresden, Ontario, where winters are harsh, manager Craig Bullen of TD Canada Trust decided to thank his employees in a weather-wise way. A winter storm was in effect, and as the snow accumulated, Craig sent out a note to all of his employees: “To celebrate our year-to-date branch results, I’ve placed a little treat in each of your vehicles to help keep your path clear and safe. The three items are:
1. A jug of washer fluid to keep your vision clear
2. A snowbrush to help you stay on the journey ahead
3. A lock deicer to provide a warm, comfortable experience.”
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In Mary Kay, Inc.’s Career Apparel Program, sales consultants who reach specific goals become eligible to buy specific outfits. Once someone qualifies to become a director, for example, she is invited to attend Mary Kay’s management conference and, while there, is fitted for a director’s suit at the expense of the company. The style changes every year. Laura Whittier, manager of affinity programs, says, “Our directors love the suits because they are functional and provide a visual symbol of their success. Qualifying to buy the suit indicates high status; wearing it results in a more professional look and instant recognition of success.”
• Wearables
• Writing instruments
• Desk and office accessories
• Glassware and ceramics
• Calendars
• Sporting goods
• Buttons, badges, and ribbons
• Auto accessories
• Houseware and tools
1. Design an eye-catching graphic featuring your company name, logo, or popular product name and place it prominently on the apparel.
2. Opt for a subtler placement by sewing a tag with your name or logo onto a sleeve or cuff.
3. Create a special label to appear inside the cap or garment.
4. Place a crest with your logo on the pocket of a shirt, using a color slightly darker than that of the shirt.
5. For loyal long-term employees, offer a very high-quality brand-name item without your company name or logo, and present it with a special card conveying your sincere appreciation for their hard work and support.
6. Make the centerpiece of your graphics a hot license that can be linked to your promotional campaign or company image.
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“Everyone eats,” says Rick Farone, product and program coordinator for Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company, based in Glenwillow, OH. “When you reward people with food, you know it’s something they’ll use. Food makes people happy.” An almost infinite variety of food gifts can be used to reward employees, including fruit baskets; fruit-of-the-month clubs; home-delivered steak, seafood, or lobster; jelly and jam; and spices.
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DDB Worldwide Communications Group, an advertising agency located in New York City, gives bottles of champagne to employees who develop great ideas.
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At the Angus Barn Restaurant in Raleigh, NC, an employee “caught in the act of caring” gets a choice of entree from the restaurant’s menu.
• Give a personalized company coffee cup or belt buckle.
• Have a pen-and-pencil set engraved for the person.
• Personalize the label on a wine bottle with a message of thanks.
“When it becomes extremely hot during the summer months, I carry an ice chest full of freezer pops around and give them out to employees who are working in areas that are not air-conditioned,” reports Cynthia M. Wood, team manager at an International Paper office in Eastover, SC. “You should see their faces light up!”
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At Long’s Drugs, the drugstore chain now a part of CVS Caremark, based in Woonsocket, RI, employees who worked late into the night to stock shelves for holiday sales were given certificates for free pizza and soft drinks and time off later the same week so they could be with their families.
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MetaSolv Software, of Plano, TX, and now a part of Redwood City, CA–based Oracle, uses keg parties to introduce new employees to the rest of the 350-person fast-growth company. The new employee works the tap and gets to meet everyone.
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Persistence Software in San Mateo, CA, and now a part of Progress Software, based in Bedford, MA, brings in a breakfast tray and places it near a new person’s desk on his or her first day and then invites the other 110 employees to meet their colleague. Most people come by to grab a bagel or muffin, introduce themselves, and chat.
Liz Claiborne’s HR department celebrates “Bagel Fridays,” where employees take turns bringing in bagels and cream cheese for the office. It’s a great way for everyone to take off 15–20 minutes each Friday morning, come together in a common meeting area, and chat about work, life, and other issues. What started out as just a bag of bagels and some spreads has exploded into an all-out Food Fest, in which the food shopper of the week thinks about a theme, buys tablecloths, knickknacks, and decorations, and then gets not only bagels, but usually coffee, juice, and other goodies. The themes often coincide with holidays; seasons, such as “Summer Fun in the Sun”; or events, like the “Super Super Bowl.” Employees assigned a Bagel Friday usually start thinking about it two to three weeks in advance, racking their brains as to how to outdo the person from the week before.
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One manager at American Express Financial Advisors treats employees to lunch by sending someone to Taco Bell or White Castle.
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Once a week, a different staff member at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland cooks and serves breakfast for the rest of the staff. This is a great morale booster for everyone and gives people some downtime to discuss the week’s business.
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Oscar Mayer in Northfield, IL, holds an event called “Team Lunch,” in which researchers have lunch together. They eat Oscar Mayer products, work on problems, and tell stories about one another. People about whom enough stories are told have become company legends.
• Boxer shorts
• “Mick Jagger lips” alarm clock
• Jalapeño lollipops
• Portable picnic table and benches
• A Spanish-language calculator
• Desktop toy train
• Coffee cups imprinted with a message that appears—or disappears—when they’re filled
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At Electronic Data Systems in Plano, TX, managers are encouraged to get to know their employees’ tastes, hobbies, and interests, so deserving staff members can be rewarded with appropriate incentives, such as tickets to a sports event, the opera, or a dinner for the family at a restaurant. Molly Edwards, EDS’s manager of recognition services, says one employee in Dallas was even given a washer and dryer for a particularly good performance. Another employee in Michigan returned from vacation to find that her kitchen had been completely remodeled.
In a recent survey of subscribers of Personnel Journal, almost two thirds include plaques and certificates in their awards programs. Almost 15 percent give cash awards and 2 percent give savings bonds. More than half use accessory jewelry and 41 percent use watches.
Merchandise of any type is used by 41 percent of the organizations surveyed. Rings—along with travel—seem to be an integral part of sales incentive programs. Another 11 percent indicated they used travel incentives and 17 percent said they gave sales incentives in general. Trophies are awarded by 12 percent; ribbons are awarded by 2 percent.
According to one recent poll, the imprintable goods people most appreciate are:
1. Clothing (T-shirts, jackets, and caps)
2. Desk or office accessories
3. Writing instruments
4. Glassware and ceramics (including mugs)
5. Calendars
The travelers polled were also asked to name the most unusual imprinted product they had ever received, according to the Specialty Advertising Association International, sponsor of the survey. Among their most interesting answers were: a flyswatter, flower seeds, a broom holder, a rock, underwear, an athletic supporter, a brick trophy, and a scarf from an Elvis impersonator.
Aquascape, a St. Charles, IL, landscaping firm, rewards employees with humble gifts like “bobblehead dolls.” The president of a teacher’s union in Vancouver, Canada, explained that when he worked in the construction industry, what started as a joke became a coveted honor each workday. One morning a foreman placed a yellow “rubber ducky” on the desk of the person who had done a great job the previous day. The tradition continued and soon everyone looked forward to seeing who received the day’s honor. Employees at the Child Support Enforcement Division of the Minnesota Department of Health Services give each other Yogi the Bear, a traveling award for great internal customer service—being nicer than the average bear. They write up the reason for the award and present the paper award, along with Yogi, a stuffed brown bear, to the honoree. Yogi stays in the honoree’s cubicle until he is awarded to someone else in the unit. As part of its Great Leap Forward Award, Premier Travel Inn, located in London, UK, gives the award winner a stuffed kangaroo.
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Tandy Corporation in Ft. Worth, TX, uses a 3½ foot toy gorilla to recognize initiative and innovation. The gorilla visits and stays with a person who had a useful idea until the next good idea comes along. The person who has the most ideas in a quarter receives another prize. Liz Dawson, district sales manager for The
Body Shop in Florida, painted a fish platter gold and awarded it to an employee for something spectacular that person had done. Over the years the award evolved to recognize only exceptional achievements.
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First Data Resources, a data processing services company in Omaha, NE, rewards employees with University of Nebraska football tickets, gift certificates, pens, plaques, mugs, and other items. As part of its “Fat Cat Award,” the company has a professional portrait of the winning employee done and gives it to that person.
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Atria Senior Living Group, which operates three senior living complexes in Tucson, AZ, rolled out a new employee rewards program along with $63,000 in big cardboard checks.
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Employees of the Los Angeles Dodgers receive the same gifts and promotional items—Dodger caps, jackets, bats, and so on—that are given to fans during the baseball season.
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The Soil Conservation Service in Champaign, IL, rewards employees by giving them special framed prints of wildlife or ones on various other topics, depending on the preferences of the recipient.
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The City of Decatur, IL, gave each employee a “company jacket” with the city’s logo on the front of the jacket, according to Susan Nordquist, Personnel Specialist for the city.
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Bill Nesbit, vice president of quality systems for Central Telephone Company of Illinois, relates two recognition stories. After a heavy ice storm, five workers were sent out to do overnight repairs—on Valentine’s Day. As a form of thanks, each of the employees’ spouses were sent a box of chocolates with a card expressing the company’s appreciation for their husbands’ efforts.
In another instance, heavy water damage caused chaos with telephone cables that took more than 49 people to set straight. The supervisor sent each a lottery ticket with a note that read “I never gamble when I count on you.” Bill notes that both stories are significant because the company’s past culture caused them to be overly cautious in recognizing employees for fear of overlooking someone or having to recognize so many people that it was often easier not to recognize anyone.
Weekend trips to resorts
Days/time off
Banquets
Luncheons
Tickets to local events
Boardroom luncheons
Publicity (company)
Publicity (external)
Publicity (hometown)
Certificates of recognition
“Traveling” awards (monthly)
Plaques
Special parking space
Free parking (in large cities)
Shopping spree
Family photo session
Trophies
Redeemable “atta-boys/-girls”
Briefcase
“Boss of the Day”
President’s Medallion
Free meals (on-the-spot)
Cookouts
Attendance at outside training seminars or conferences
Photo session with company president
POPULAR COMPANY LOGO ITEMS
T-shirts
Gym bags
Coffee mugs
Pen-and-pencil sets
Jackets
Stadium chairs
Ice chests
Umbrellas
Thermos jugs
Paperweights
Desk pen sets
Leather goods
—K. H. “Skip” Wilson, Senior Training Specialist,
Mississippi Power & Light Company
Books can be personalized to highlight an achievement. The Houghton Mifflin Company, as well as other publishers, customizes books to fit specific occasions. Books can be customized in several ways:
• Have the CEO personalize a book with an inscription to commemorate an occasion or achievement.
• Incorporate a company’s logo on the front or back covers or on the spine.
• Alter a book’s title to feature a brand or a company. Warner Books, for instance changed How to Talk to Your Cat to The Meow Mix Guide to Cat Talk.
• Insert product allusions into a book’s text. For example, in a pet-care book, a manufacturer could alter the sentence “Veterinarians recommend giving a dog food that is high in protein” to “Veterinarians recommend giving a dog food that is high in protein, such as Brand X.” Book publishers note that this is usually possible only on large orders and if the product is appropriate to the text.
• Feature a letter or brief message from a company on a separate page before the title page.
• Excerpt an appropriate chapter from an original work and create an entirely new book.
The Sterling Optical Company based in Woodbury, NY, awards savings bonds, certificates, and plaques to employees for attaining branch sales targets, as well as for individual performance for outstanding service to patients and to the branch.
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Northern Telecom commissioned an original limited-edition sculpture by the Kirk Stieff Company to recognize the exceptional achievement of its Honor Circle winners. Pins, award certificates, and travel prizes, as well as a theme video, a program brochure, posters, and promotional mailings complemented the merchandise campaign. Of 12,000 people eligible to participate in the program, 534 (34 percent more than expected) achieved their sales goals, and the company outdid its previous year’s performance with a 13.4 percent boost in sales and a 3 percent increase in market share.
