“You get what you reward! Know what you want to get and
reward or recognize people in some way to get it.” —Bob Nelson
While everything discussed so far can be used to drive a wide range of behavior, this section looks at examples that were used to elicit specific types of performance: sales revenues, customer service, employee suggestions, productivity and quality, and attendance and safety. Many of the examples contain multiple aspects or performance goals, and tend to be part of a formal program.
As stated earlier, formal programs have several advantages. They tap into the power of public recognition, which is a significant motivator to many employees. They tend to be ongoing, offering a stability that employees can come to rely upon. If the programs have clear, objective criteria, they can avoid elements of subjectivity and favoritism that sometimes mar more informal forms of recognition.
The downside of formal programs is that they tend to become stale, predictable, and boring over time, unless they are kept fresh and relevant through periodic changes and improvements—or an influx of new people with new energy and ideas running the programs. Because formal programs are so public, there is greater damage when something goes wrong, such as when a deserving person or group is left out, promised rewards are not delivered or are delivered too late, or upper management is not actively involved with or supportive of the programs.
In an article in Workforce Management, Philip C. Grant stresses that corporate reward systems need constant attention. The mere existence of such programs does not guarantee that they will be valued or that they will have any impact on employee motivation and satisfaction. Therefore, managers must manage them. There are several ways to do this:
• Tie rewards to needs. Because each employee has different needs, reward systems must be flexible. If feasible, rewards should be adapted to each employee.
• Ensure the rewards’ fairness. Every employee must be satisfied that, in relation to the demands of the job and to what workers in similar jobs outside the company are receiving, the rewards they receive are just.
• Make sure timing is proper. It’s best to schedule frequent presentations of rewards so that employees receive them shortly after the achievement being recognized.
• Present rewards in a public forum. Rewards are not meant to be presented in the privacy of an office. Schedule a special meeting for the occasion, and don’t camouflage the rewards. They must stand out and be highlighted; don’t squeeze praise among a dozen other topics of conversation.
• Talk up the value of rewards. If managers show enthusiasm for a reward at the time it’s presented, they add to its perceived value. However, be sure not to oversell them. Constant talk about how great a reward is can start to make it sound ridiculous.
Traditional forms of recognition typically include outstanding employee and achievement awards, which are often accompanied by recognition items such as trophies, plaques, or certificates. In my research, 54 percent of employees rank a “special achievement award” as very or extremely important to them, and 43 percent cite “certificates of achievement” as having similar importance.
Outstanding employee awards are often based on a formal selection process to ensure as much objectivity as possible, and can be given for a single exceptional achievement or employee performance over time. Awards tend to be more meaningful when they have been selected by one’s peers, not just by management, and when there is no quota on the number of recipients.
David Hall, owner of several Overflow discount stores in Queensland, Australia, gave diamond earrings to Employee of the Year Fiona Walker.
A couple of years ago, Norm Kane, vice president of Synovate, a global market intelligence company based in Chicago, started issuing “Golden Pencil” awards to coworkers who had done exemplary work. The award is a gold-colored #2 pencil engraved with the words Norm Kane’s Golden Pencil Award. It’s simple and sincere, and is a token of thanks that Norm and his group can give out fairly often—and they do.
_________
A regional manager for Hallmark created achievement certificates for each member of his team, citing a key attribute that personified each individual, such as: “for consistent follow-through without having to be asked,” “for being able to close the really big account,” or “for pitching in to help others—and always with a smile.” He read them out loud at an end-of-the-year celebration, where employees had to guess whom they referred to. It was a fun team-building experience for everyone.
_________
General John M. Loh, U.S. Air Force (Retired), rewarded his team members at the Tactical Air Command with certificates for solving their own problems.
_________
At Citibank in Oakland, CA, customers (and other employees) can reward and thank employees with Thumbs-Up certificates, which can be exchanged for merchandise. Early in the program, many workers were so pleased by the recognition that instead of redeeming the certificates immediately, they proudly displayed them on their walls.
_________
• Create a special award for specific major accomplishments and name it (a Gorilla Award, for example).
• Create an ABCD (Above and Beyond the Call of Duty) Award for employees who exceed the requirements of their jobs. Give them a polo shirt emblazoned with “ABCD Award.”
• Have employees vote for the top Manager, Supervisor, Employee, and Rookie of the Year.
• Dedicate the parking space closest to the company entrance to the outstanding Employee of the Month.
Lands’ End uses the Big Bean Award to recognize people for using their “beans,” such as assisting with a last-minute task, staying late to help with a project, or finding a great employment candidate. Each month, employees attending the employee services divisional meeting get to nominate someone by placing nomination slips in a ballot box. (They can also complete an online nomination form in advance of the meeting.) At the end of the meeting, one name is drawn from the box, and that lucky person gets to play “Bean Machine,” otherwise known as Plinko, where he or she gets the chance to win great prizes such as a Lands’ End beanbag chair or a gift card to the “Dry Bean”—or some not-so-great prizes, such as pork and beans, kidney beans, or a beanie hat. Everyone nominated is sent a copy of the nomination, along with a special bean prize, and all nominations are displayed for one month on the employee services website.
_________
The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina has used FUIEE awards, which stands for Fun-Urgent-Informative-Energetic-and-Essential, for innovative employees, such as a reporter with a great story or a staff member with an idea for cutting costs or improving customer service. The newspaper also gives prizes based on employee nominations. Each week, a rotating committee reviews nominations and announces three winners, who receive one of the following items: $50 cash, movie tickets, or use of a preferred parking space. All nominations (including those for nonwinners) are e-mailed to employees to read and enjoy.
_________
FedEx Freight Corporation has numerous recognition programs, ranging from the EZTDBW (Easy to Do Business With) Award, which is a small gift and a certificate of recognition, to the Extra Mile Award, which is a larger monetary award for exceptional performance. These straightforward award programs allow employees at all levels to recognize one another spontaneously.
_________
To create group rapport and to recognize success, The Phelps Group in Santa Monica, CA, gives out “Atta Boy”/“Atta Girl” awards after weekly staff meetings. The simple plaques, presented with great fanfare, are passed from old to new winners.
_________
Syncrude Canada Ltd., one of Canada’s largest energy companies, based north of Edmonton, Alberta, works hard to keep recognition fresh, personal, and meaningful. For example, John Thomas, manager of operations, recently initiated a “Pay It Forward” award, a plaque that is passed from employee to employee for exemplary work. Each recipient is honored twice, both in receiving the award and in selecting and presenting it to the next winner. Feedback has been very positive.
_________
Employees who go the extra mile at KFC Corporation, headquartered in Louisville, KY, are presented with a “Floppy Chicken Award,” a thank-you note, and a $100 gift certificate. Former president and CEO David Novak started the program when he flew into an awardee’s city and personally presented him with a rubber chicken that he pulled out of a crumpled brown-paper sack. A photo of the presentation is on permanent display at the “Walk of Leaders,” which is a prominent area at corporate headquarters.
_________
The most popular award at Synovus is the quarterly Standing Tall Award, for employees who go beyond the scope of their jobs. They are nominated by coworkers, and winners are chosen by a special committee. The awards are presented at a luncheon, by the CEO and other senior officers, and each recipient gets $100, a day of paid vacation, and a tacky pink flamingo with a bow tie, which costs only $3.47. Employees proudly display the flamingos in their cubicles, encouraging others to earn the award as well.
_________
Timberland’s John Lewis Award, named in honor of U.S. congressman and longtime civil rights activist John Lewis of Georgia, is given to one outstanding member of the sales team each year. This individual must manifest Timberland’s core values—humanity, humility, integrity, and excellence—by making a significant impact on his or her community through advocacy and volunteer service. The award is a $5,000 grant to the nonprofit organization of the winner’s choice, a day in Washington, DC, with Congressman Lewis, and a commemorative plaque. In 2004 John Lewis himself made the award presentation.
_________
Employees at Robert W. Baird, a financial services company located in Milwaukee, give fellow associates the Blue Chip Award to show appreciation for good work. Recipients receive a short note from the associate and a small “Baird Blue Chip” with the words In recognition of a job well done. These awards are typically presented by the manager during a department meeting so other coworkers can join in applauding the recipients. Many associates display Blue Chips on their desks, and some departments have wall space dedicated to hanging the award notes. The top 2 percent of Blue Chip recipients are recognized each year at the annual meeting for all associates. Baird also has an “Associate of the Month” program, which provides recognition for associates who consistently make superior contributions both to their clients and to the company. Nominations come from coworkers, and the monthly winner receives flowers, $100 in cash, a certificate for dinner for two, an item of Baird clothing, an Associate of the Month certificate, and a traveling trophy to keep on his or her desk for the month. The award is usually presented by a group of fellow associates and Human Resources personnel, and the winner is featured in an “eBriefs” story in the company’s online newsletter.
_________
The REI store in Ventura, CA, always gives out “appreciation awards” during its store meetings. One day, after it had given out the usual awards, it called attention to two employees who deserved a little more credit than usual. They were each presented with the Pineapple Award—a fresh pineapple with a healthy crown of leaves.
_________
A Tualatin, OR, REI store rewards staff members with the Golden Hanger Award for going above and beyond their responsibilities in providing support to salespeople. It’s a plain clothes hanger spray-painted gold; recipients are nominated by peers and are presented the awards at store meetings. There’s an award presentation at each and every meeting. REI also has a peer-nominated and peer-selected formal recognition program called the Anderson Award (named for founders Lloyd and Mary Anderson). Recipients are selected once a year from every department and store, and receive certificates and engraved bricks on a pathway at the headquarters’ campus. They are also eligible for the President’s Award, which is given to the top ten employees in the company. Those winners are invited (with their partners or spouses) on an adventure-travel trip with REI’s president.
Emerson Process Management Power and Water Solutions allows employees to give the Rising Star Award to fellow employees for good work. They type up a brief description of the awardee’s accomplishments on the Rising Star page on the company intranet, and an award sheet is sent electronically, with the nomination description, to the employee with a copy to his or her supervisor. The employee gets to choose one of a number of $5–$12 prizes, such as movie tickets, car washes, gas or video rental cards, and restaurant or mall certificates; or he or she can receive a Rising Star pin, which many pin to their cubicles or work spaces as badges of honor.
_________
Each year, CEDRA, a bioanalytical chemistry company, gives out the “Buttkicker Award” to employees who have the attitude and potential for leadership. They have to have been nominated by existing Buttkickers and approved by management in accordance with strict selection criteria. They each get their names added to a pedestal (in the lobby) with a wooden boot on top, a gold and diamond boot pin or tie tack, and a trip with the company’s president to the local western-wear store to pick out a pair of boots.
_________
The Legend Award is the highest honor an Alaska Airlines employee can receive. He or she must exhibit a unique blend of spirit, resourcefulness, integrity, professionalism, and caring. Once a year, each new class of honorees (approximately 8 to 12 employees) is inducted into the Alaska Airlines Hall of Fame and invited to a luncheon celebration with guests, coworkers, and senior management. In recent years, the award presentation has taken place at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. “Legends” are first flown to Alaska Airlines corporate headquarters to unveil the engraving of their names on marble pillars, and then taken by bus to the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, which takes them to the chateau. Each “Legend” also receives a hand-painted sphere trophy.
_________
Microsoft Dynamics GP in Redmond, WA, used to hold a celebration every year called Pioneer Day, where they presented awards to employees who had distinguished themselves in some way: a Jesse James Award for tolerating eccentricity, a Sodbuster Award for innovation, a Heritage Award for customer service, and several awards for excellence in various technical areas. The winners were held up as mentors, and others were encouraged to learn from them.
_________
Avis Rent A Car has several recognition programs, such as the Destination Excellence Award, which is given to employees who reflect Avis’s values in dealing with customers and who have made some significant, quantifiable impact on the business. The highest award is the Milestone Achievement Award, which is presented by the executive committee to the employee who has made the most significant contribution to the company.
_________
Beverly Cronin, a book manager at a Hastings Books, Music, and Entertainment store in Rio Rancho, NM, recalls receiving a “Spark Plug” award in the 1960s, which was a spark plug painted gold and hung on a ribbon, from a department store manager in Akron, OR. In giving it to her, he said, “This is for you, because you add a spark to our workplace.” She still keeps the award in her jewelry box to commemorate the first time she was recognized for doing a good job.
_________
The La Jolla, CA, office of New York–based Ziff Davis media and publishing company gives out “Daredevil” awards, a distinction granted to anyone who is caught doing something innovative or helpful beyond the call of duty. Award recipients are regularly announced via e-mail to the entire company.
_________
CUNA Mutual Group created the Big Bone Award to play on a theme of “Big Dogs” that it was using for its formal recognition program at the time. A large (four-foot) rawhide dog bone was passed around (à la Stanley Cup) to outstanding members of the leadership team. The winners were chosen by their bosses and the award was presented at one of the three face-to-face meetings held every year. “If you won, you got to sign the bone, bring it home as an airplane carry-on (a lot of people fly to the meeting location), and display it in your work area,” explains Eileen Doyle Julien, division manager of administration for the northwest marketing division of CUNA in Latham, NY. “As far as reliving the reception of this award, it was great!” says Eileen. “How can someone who sees this large bone in a business or airport setting not ask about it?!”
BlueCross BlueShield Association in Chicago gives “People Are Tops” awards, which include balloons tied to the person’s desk, belly dancers, and a song or message delivered by someone in a gorilla suit. The company also recognizes outstanding employees four times a year with “Superstar” awards. Each Superstar gets a $500 savings bond, a star, and a sweatshirt.
_________
At the annual profit-sharing banquet, management at the Angus Bam Restaurant in Raleigh, NC, gives out achievement awards to the top ten all-around employees. The restaurant also recognizes performers with the People’s Choice Award, which is given by coworkers.
_________
Walmart Stores, Inc., headquartered in Bentonville, AR, offers extensive award programs such as Regional All-Star Teams, the Special Divisions’ All-Star Departmental Honor Roll, the VPI (Volume Producing Item) Contest, the Department Sales Honor Roll, and the Shrinkage Incentive Program. Award winners’ names and pictures appear in the company newspaper.
_________
Nelly Attwater, former supervisor for training and development for El Torito Restaurants in Cypress, CA, shared how the restaurants used the “Be a Star” program. “When a manager or supervisor caught someone doing something right—or above and beyond—that employee was given a ‘Star Buck,’ which served as a cash substitute. Each restaurant had a drawing at the end of the month for prizes (cash, TV, etc.), and each region had a drawing for prizes also ($1,000 cash, TV, VCR, etc.). Each employee could have numerous stars for the drawings.”
_________
Nordstrom, Inc., the Seattle-based department store chain, offers the Pacesetter Award to employees who have exceeded goals by a considerable margin. As a Pacesetter, an employee receives a certificate, a new business card that reads “Pacesetter,” and a lavish evening of dining, dancing, and entertainment to share with a guest. For the next year, the Pacesetter enjoys a 33 percent discount on all Nordstrom merchandise, which is 13 percent greater than the standard employee discount.
_________
At Ceramics Process Systems Corporation, a technical ceramics manufacturer in Chartley, MA, the Extra Mile Award is given each December to several people who have gone above and beyond. Peter Loconto, former president of the company, says, “We were struggling to improve yield and productivity. One person took it upon himself to document all the issues involved and set out the problems so that management could clearly see where the obstacles were.” Another person, faced with what management considered overly stringent (even unreasonable) requirements on a particular job from one customer, worked day and night—unasked—to accommodate the client’s wishes. The employee got the job done on time. “When we announced the person’s name, everyone in the company stood up and cheered,” Loconto says. “That was a true validation of the person’s hard work.” Winners’ names are engraved on a plaque that hangs in the company’s lobby, and the chosen employees also receive either cash or equity in the company.
_________
At TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, an insurance banking company in Montreal, Quebec, top performers receive a personal letter from the president, congratulating them on their achievement. They also receive an annual salary increase double the average. A portion of the increase is paid in one lump sum when the employee’s salary is in the high range. These employees also get priority in the choice of additional responsibilities and training.
At Stew Leonard’s, the ABCD (Above and Beyond the Call of Duty) Award goes to employees who exceed the requirements of their jobs. They receive a polo shirt emblazoned with the words ABCD Award. The store also has a “Superstar of the Month” program, in which one person in each department is elected by peers on the basis of different departmental criteria—cleanliness, safety, etc. His or her one month of superstardom commences with considerable fanfare, including a photo for the Avenue of Stars (a picture-covered wall in the store), balloons, and cheering by coworkers. Trophies, gifts, gift certificates, and cash are generously dispensed to recognize accomplishment.
Each year, “Stewie” awards recognize the top manager, supervisor, employee, and “rookie of the year”—based on employee ballots. The manager with the lowest turnover also wins an award. Outstanding performance awards are presented yearly to 3 top employees from among 20 or so nominated by the president and selected by previous winners. Banquets are held to present the honors.
Southwest Airlines allows station managers to reward “Star of the Quarter” employees with celebrations. At one station, the honoree invites a group of people to a lunch or dinner featuring a menu of his or her choice. The station managers do all the shopping, preparation, and serving for the event. Instead of an added hassle, this has become a team-building activity as managers work together to coordinate everything. This is just one reason why it is now harder (based on the percentage of accepted applicants) to get a job working at Southwest Airlines than it is to get into Harvard University!
_________
At Business First in Columbus, OH, an employee of the month is recognized at each staff meeting, where the publisher praises his or her achievements. The company also gives out the “Ugly Ben Award,” a new $100 bill, which has Benjamin Franklin’s picture on it, to the person who “finds a way to meet the monthly sales budget against all odds.”
_________
At Home Depot, Inc., the home improvement supply center headquartered in Atlanta, GA, each store picks an Employee of the Month: someone who has given time to an area of the store that technically lies outside his or her responsibility. The honoree gets $100, a merit badge (collecting five badges earns an extra $50), and a special badge to wear on his or her apron. In addition, the employee’s name is engraved on a plaque at the front of the store.
_________
At ICI Pharmaceuticals Group in Wilmington, DE, now a part of Chicago-based Akzo Nobel, the Performance Excellence Award is given to employees for any idea that helps the business and to employees who go above and beyond the call of duty. The winner receives $300. Employees can be nominated for this award by anyone in the company.
_________
At Gregerson’s Foods, a retail grocery chain in Gadsden, AL, outstanding employees are named Associates of the Month at each store location. They receive silver name tags inscribed with that title and with the month and year of the award, to wear as long as they work for the company. The employees’ names are also listed on plaques at each store.
_________
Managers at D’Agostino Supermarkets, a supermarket chain based in Larchmont, NY, name employees All-Stars when they go beyond the call of duty. At least one All-Star is chosen each month from each store, up to 24 people per year per store.
_________
The Carlson-Himmelman Award given by Westin Hotels, headquartered in White Plains, NY, is presented annually for outstanding management achievement. Recipients get a trip around the world.
At Valassis Communications, the “Innovator,” “Collaborator,” “Risk-Taker,” and “Employee of the Year” award recipients receive 100 to 200 shares of company stock, crystal trophies, and coveted parking spaces. Recipients are nominated by peers, who simply complete a form, and are selected by a volunteer review and selection committee. In 2003 the CEO also gave away an “Integrator Award,” which was a one-week trip for two aboard the Queen Mary II, and in 2004 gave the “Global Thinker Award,” which was a trip to the destination of the winner’s choice, along with $3,000.
_________
Once a month at Meridian Travel, Inc., in Cleveland, OH, CEO Cynthia Bender has the company’s 62 employees write in their vote for who should be Employee of the Month. “Managers always have their favorites, but the employees know who pitches in and helps out,” says Bender. “It’s important different departments don’t become isolated,” she says. “This makes employees notice others more and develops camaraderie.”
_________
The Golden Falcon awards at Federal Express include a gold uniform pin, a congratulatory phone call from one of the company’s senior executives—and ten shares of stock.
_________
At the Unitog Company, a leading maker of industrial uniforms and business clothing based in Kansas City, MO, top executives visit each plant to present the Wonder Worker award, as nominated by coworkers. The Wonder Worker of the year at each location receives a cash award, a personalized plaque that remains on view at the plant for the entire year, and a crystal trophy with the Unitog logo embedded inside. A typical award for a quarterly winner might be a Unitog sweater and a day off with pay.
_________
Federal Express has a host of awards to reward individual and team quality efforts:
• The Circle of Excellence award, presented monthly to the best-performing Federal Express station, underscores teamwork.
• The Bravo Zulu (Navy talk for “well done”) program gives managers the prerogative of awarding a dinner, theater tickets, or cash to any employee who has done an outstanding job.
• The Quality Achievement Award, presented annually, is the company’s highest award.
_________
Phil Hughes, director of Human Resources for Acapulco Restaurants, Inc., in Long Beach, CA, reports how hourly and salaried employees are rewarded. The company rewards its hourly employees in the following ways:
$100 for hourly referrals after 90 days
$300 for management referrals after 90 days
Employee of the month receives $50 cash, one day off, and a door-front parking space for 30 days.
Bright Ideas Program Awards up to $1,000 for ideas for saving money that are adopted
President’s Award plaque and check for up to $2,500 for an act of outstanding service, signed and presented by the company president
Lunch from the department head for a job well done
Breakfast prepared by the management staff for the line staff
Theme days throughout the year (Cinco de Mayo, 4th of July, Halloween, Christmas), with various giveaways, trips, cash, limo rides, etc.
Casual dress in the office every Friday and all week from Memorial Day to Labor Day
Monthly cash contests in the restaurants for the best server, bartender, busser, etc.
The company rewards its salaried employees as follows:
Average check contest: $16,000/car grand prize
Quality Service Control Monthly Award for Highest Score: $1,000
Quality Service Control Award for 95 percent or better: $100 each month
Safety Lotto (restaurant must remain accident free that month to be eligible): $500 each month
General Manager referral: $1,000 per referral
General Manager of the Year: $5,500 + trip + one week of vacation
President’s Club: Plaque + recognition in company publication
President’s Honor Roll: Plaque + recognition in company publication
_________
There’s only one reserved parking spot at Odetics, Inc., and that’s for the person selected as the “Associate of the Month.”
_________
One of the more easily quantifiable achievements in most companies is the attainment of sales goals, and it’s no secret that salespeople tend to be highly motivated by recognition as well as money. For that reason, sales reinforcers are fairly commonplace. But how you reinforce sales success can vary greatly.
IMRE Communications, a branding company based in Baltimore, MD, gives employees an extra week of vacation during the Christmas holiday as a reward for helping the company reach its financial goal.
_________
Austin Taylor, a fine men’s clothier in Anaheim, CA, offers a Dress for Success incentive program for its sales teams, where salespeople receive custom clothing items for making their goals.
_________
Although they had to make cuts in other areas due to the slow economy, technology vendor CDW, based in Vernon Hills, IL, still hosts a sales recognition dinner and annual trip for top sales employees to plan strategy with senior executives.
_________
To respond to a complaint that customer service representatives were underappreciated compared to salespeople, a mobile camera business in Houston, TX, gives its salespeople blue poker chips every month to award to a customer service clerk who was instrumental in helping to close a sale or satisfy a customer. Recipients then get to a pull a prize out of a hat.
In its efforts to keep employees engaged, equipment and supplies distributor Restaurant Equipment World (REW) of Orlando, FL, hosts million-dollar parties for everyone in the company when a department reaches $1 million in sales. REW treats employees to ventures outside the office to avoid workday interruptions, as well as to give employees a greater opportunity to bond. Behind-the-scenes employees are included and recognized, too. “We want our people to work as a team so that customers get the same level of service no matter how little or how much they spend,” says Vice President Patty Nuzo. REW spends just under $50 per person for its recognition events, about $500 to $1,000 per party. “It’s nice to see them do things as a group where everyone is equal, regardless of their role in the company. We have been able to retain a lot of great people because of the friendships they make at work.”
_________
Hewlett-Packard marketers send pistachio nuts to salespeople who excel or who close an important sale.
_________
Chilton Ellett, a telemarketing consultant based in Chapin, SC, suggests giving a penny for every three deals a telephone sales representative closes. The penny is then dropped into a gumball machine, and the individual is paid different amounts depending on the color of the gumball: 25 cents for a white gumball, $3 for red, and $10 for blue.
Paul Levine, general manager of Miller Nissan in Van Nuys, CA, awards $5 to the first and second salespeople to sell cars on a given day—then gives them $5 for every car sold by any other salesperson that day. The first person to make a sale can win $100 in a day just for selling one car, and as much as $200 or $300 if he or she sells more cars.
_________
At St. Louis, MO–based Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, members of sales teams that exceed annual goals in at least two of three categories receive trophies featuring a bronze dog and cat sitting on a company logo.
_________
When John Gurden made his monthly target of $125,000 in automated voice-processing system sales, David Woo, CEO of Automatic Answer (now owned by The Amanda Company) in San Diego, asked him what he would like as a reward. His response: designate a “John Day.” Soon, John Day banners were plastered throughout the offices, and receptionists answered the phone with, “It is a good morning at Automatic Answer, where we are celebrating John Day.” Woo also let Gurden use his office that entire day and gave him a special John Day photo album at a lunch in his honor.
_________
Whenever they exceed a monthly goal, Turbo Leadership Systems celebrates on Friday afternoons by taking the entire sales team on an outing, such as miniature golf, go-carting, or paintball. They always take pictures to display later on a bulletin board.
There is nothing like a good challenge to stimulate a team of workers. At a pizza party to celebrate a record sales month, Michael Phillips, director of sales for Seattle-based Korry Electronics, now a part of Everett, WA–based Esterline, told his sales force that if they beat their new record, he’d shave his head. Phillips reports: “Everybody got involved in trying to break the record, even the customers. Returns people were even booking extra rework and warranty sales.” When it looked like the record-breaking was imminent, Phillips jokingly put up signs on computer monitors saying it couldn’t be done because the computers were down. “That really fueled the fire,” he says. To celebrate the “unbelievable” month, he brought in his own “Hair Terminator,” who shaved his scalp in front of 565 employees at a rooftop party that celebrated Korry’s 60th year in business. Reps who had contributed the most sales got first snips. Key customers and sales reps from around the world were also present.
_________
Manish Mehta, president of ELetter in Portland, OR, said he would wear high heels to work for a day if his company met an ambitious sales target. He had to keep the promise, and now employees have suggested that he wear a dress if ELetter meets another milestone. Mehta explains, “You can match other companies’ offers, but to make employees stay, you have to make work fun.”
A former Paychex manager in Seattle created a sales lead contest in which payroll specialists would receive raffle tickets for every referral they received. At the end of each week, he held a drawing for prizes, which were usually solicited from current clients, such as a free manicure from someone’s beauty salon or a small TV. Employees whose names were called during the drawing got to spin the prize wheel, which was colorfully decorated and about five feet in diameter.
_________
Recently, The SCOOTER Store held a month-long program to recognize the top nine sales employees on a daily basis. These “Overachievers” took turns “stealing” an executive’s chair for the day, in a program called “The Executive Chair Swap.” The executives attended the ceremonies and took pictures with the Overachievers, which were then displayed on the company’s Star Network. For the company’s fourth and goal quarter, employees were featured in a mock-up SCOOTER Illustrated magazine cover when they scored personal touchdowns. Many of the covers still hang over their desks.
_________
For salespeople at Valassis Communications, a marketing company located in Livonia, MI, that produces inserts for newspapers worldwide, entry into the company’s Hall of Fame is the most prestigious award. The honor is based on sales and leadership, and winners are selected by existing Hall of Fame members. Once selected, their photographs are hung in the Hall of Fame, which is at the company’s global headquarters. The awards are presented at the annual Sales and Vision Awards, which attract about 600 employees each year.
_________
To respond to a complaint from customer service clerks that they are unappreciated (compared to salespeople), Bruce Smith, CEO of Safety Vision, a mobile camera business located in Houston, TX, gives each salesperson a blue poker chip every month to award to someone for their effort in closing a sale or satisfying a customer. Each awardee gets to pull a prize—ranging from inexpensive dinners to Montblanc pens—out of a hat. Smith says, “It gets people a little more excited about what they do and provides some special recognition.”
_________
At the Phoenix Business Journal, the sales team gets lattes or bagels in the morning when it sells twice the daily goal. At the Milwaukee Business Journal, everyone on the sales team receives a $25 gift certificate to a local store or restaurant when the team meets its goals for the week. If it makes 10 percent more, they get two certificates, and if it makes 20 percent more, they get three certificates. Employees create banners showing how much more is needed to meet the goals.
_________
Patrick Dickerson of the Chick-fil-A Queensborough branch in Mt. Pleasant, SC, posts total drive-through sales each hour. When a record is broken, the entire shift receives “Doodle Dollars” that can be exchanged for Chick-fil-A merchandise.
_________
When Michigan-based Talking Book World was in business, the main office collected daily sales tallies from its various stores and circulated the results to all franchisees. The stores at the top of the list were called by the other stores and shared success stories with them, while everyone else tried to move up the list and be recognized as the number one store in the upcoming week.
_________
Gail Herenda of Supercuts in Fort Lee, NJ, divided her staff into teams competing to sell hair care products. Each product sold is represented by an ant-shaped sticker, which is placed on the team banner. The team with the most ants at the end of the week wins a free lunch from Gail. Sale of hair care products is up.
_________
At the Atlanta Business Chronicle, sales reps get quotas for each of four departments, and receive a $250 bonus if they meet all four. This helps them to focus on all aspects of the publication, rather than simply the total volume of ads sold.
_________
The Cincinnati Business Courier offers various incentives to salespeople for achieving individual or group sales goals. Examples from the past include: an afternoon off for a movie or baseball game; maid service at home for the following month; and cash for an afternoon shopping spree with a show-and-tell at the end of the day.
_________
As a sales manager for Westinghouse Electric Company in Los Angeles, Robert Partain threw a barbecue lunch for his sales staff the first time they made their team goal. He promised to do it each time they made their goal again. Seventeen months later, he had given 16 barbecues, missing only the month of the Northridge earthquake.
_________
Greenpages, in Kittery, ME, has each sales team pick a support person of the month and each support team pick a salesperson of the month. Then each team says a few words about the person they have selected at a monthly meeting.
_________
At Coronet/MTI Film and Video in Deerfield, IL, now a part of Phoenix Learning Group based in St. Louis, MO, Mary Jo Scarpelli, sales director, brings the sales team bagels and cream cheese on the last Friday of each month.
_________
For meeting team goals at WFAN-FM in New York City, the entire sales staff is treated to trips such as a daylong yacht cruise around Manhattan or a day in Atlantic City.
_________
Richard Meyerson, president of Traveltrust Corporation in Encinitas, CA, offered to remodel a nursery in a sales manager’s home to accommodate a newborn child if the manager made her sales goals. While the remodeling was taking place, she lived in a house owned by the corporation. On another occasion, the company rewarded a male employee with a fully paid paternity leave.
“I try to put myself in their place,” says Jennifer Hurwitz, who designs incentive programs for employees of LensCrafters, the one-hour eyewear stores based in Mason, OH. “I remember my retail store experience of working hard for 13 hours a day on my feet, and I try to design something that will make it a new and interesting day for our people each time they come to work.” For example, newly opened stores with expectations of more than $100,000 in sales during their grand opening week are targeted for special attention to help them reach that goal. The whole company watches the daily figures as they are transmitted to every location by computer. On the final day, if the store is nearing its goal, Hurwitz says, “the president and key people from the home office are flown in on a company plane for the last few hours to cheer them on and help them out, and then everyone is taken out for dinner and a big party, with awards given out right then to every person who has contributed.”
_________
Advanced Micro Devices, a manufacturer and marketer of complex monolithic circuits in Sunnyvale, CA, launched an “American Dream” sales campaign as an incentive for reaching $200 million in sales. The reward was nothing less than a house. Every employee’s name went into a hat for a drawing in case the goal was reached. Jerry Sanders, president and founder, had local reporters accompany him on his unannounced visit to the home of the winner, Jocelyn Lleno, an AMD factory line worker. Lleno was handed a check for $1,000 and was to receive the same amount every month for the next 20 years to buy her house. Two other employees received Cadillac Sevilles.
_________
A spectacular method for recognizing and motivating outstanding employees was created for Pitney Bowes, based in Stamford, CT, by Multi Image Productions, Inc., of San Diego, which produces shows incorporating slides, film, video, music, dancing, and spectacular lighting displays. Pitney Bowes’s top sales producers were recognized during the show, produced and staged in Kona, Hawaii. “Our goal was to give them a type of business theater in which they would feel entertained as well as motivated to reach their goals for next year,” said Multi Image Productions president and CEO Fredric W. Ashman. Budgets for these productions range from $10,000 to $l.5 million.
_________
Mary Kay, Inc., awards pink Cadillacs, mink coats, and diamond rings to leading independent sellers.
• Host Employee of the Month awards for highest productivity, quality, or sales; most improvement; least absenteeism; or whatever you designate as most important. Display a photo of the employee in a prominent place, and honor him or her throughout the month at a series of lunches or other events.
The life insurance industry uses an elite club, the Million Dollar Roundtable, to recognize and give status and special privileges to top salespeople.
_________
When Levi Strauss & Co., headquartered in San Francisco, reached $1 billion in sales, its executives gave out more than $2 million in stock and cash to employees as rewards. When it passed the $2 billion level in 1979, employees once again received significant cash awards.
_________
Paychex payroll services company in Rochester, NY, awarded gold rings to sales reps when they signed a career total of 300 new clients. The reps received a diamond for the ring at 500 clients and won additional diamonds after 1,000 and 2,000 clients. Gene Polisseni, vice president for marketing at the time, said the program rewarded those who may not have won annual sales contests but who consistently performed well.
_________
If an operator of Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based restaurant chain, increases sales by 40 percent over the previous year’s sales, he or she earns the right to drive a Lincoln Continental for one year. If the increase is repeated the following year, the operator gets the car for good. More than 100 operators have won Lincoln Continentals.
_________
Security systems manufacturer Checkpoint Systems in Thorofare, NJ, names its top eight salespeople to its President’s Club. Club members act as an advisory council to the company’s top executives and get a five-day group trip to such places as Bermuda and Acapulco.
_________
Professional Salon Concepts, which sells hair care products and services in Joliet, IL, awards $200 gift certificates from Nordstrom to the two sellers who “touched the biggest number of current and prospective clients” in a month. That includes customer classes, cold calls, appointments, and visits.
_________
IBM gets employees to help generate demand for new products by awarding medals for sales leads. Any employee who steers 15 potential customers to an IBM dealership for a demonstration of a new operating system software wins a bronze medal; additional leads earn silver and gold medals.
_________
Chuck Piola, executive vice president of sales at NCO Financial Systems in Horsham, PA, tells how he started a new reward at his company for junior salespeople. “This guy was a year out of college, and one month he finally broke through—so I took him out and bought him a new suit.” Piola also lent salespeople his Mercedes for a weekend so they could see how it felt to be a top salesperson at NCO.
_________
Rexair in Troy, MI, offered running suits with the company logo to domestic distributors and salespeople who gave a predetermined number of in-home demonstrations of the company’s cleaning system over a two-week period.
_________
ACCO Brands, Inc., a Lincolnshire, IL, manufacturer of office products and supplies, recognizes outstanding salespeople through the President’s Inner Circle, which is open to anyone who has completed one year in a commercial territory as a full-time direct company employee and reached a minimum dollar increase of 15 percent based on commissionable sales figures for the given fiscal year. The reward is a diamond-studded Inner Circle ring.
_________
The Boise Office Products Division of Office World, Inc., headquartered in Boise, ID, annually recognizes its top 30 sales representatives with a sales executive’s ring and a two-night, three-day, all-expense-paid trip to a meeting in a resort area. Recent meetings have been held in Palm Springs, San Antonio, Orlando, and New Orleans.
_________
During a recent cross-selling promotion at United Commercial Bank in San Francisco, customer service and customer relations representatives were given “Hula Bucks” for every $100 in traveler’s checks they cross-sold. At the end of the promotion a rally and auction were held so they could bid on prizes, including a trip to Hawaii.
_________
The sales incentive program at The United Insurance Company of America, now known as Unitrin, Inc., provides a management-by-objectives guide, says Richard L. Lauderdale, director of marketing sales support for the Chicago-based firm. “Every salesperson, no matter what level of performance, can select a goal to strive for within the program. The single greatest result of the program is the growth of the people who strive to achieve it.”
_________
At Nelson Motivation, Inc., one sales consultant was 187 percent to goal in just seven months. I noticed that he often played with little sports cars when he was on the phone. So one day I called him and said, “Write down this phone number—I just rented you a Porsche Boxer for a week.” Initially, the sales consultant replied, “Oh, Bob, that’s very nice. You don’t need to do that.” But within 20 minutes he called back and almost screamed, “This is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me in my entire life!” Coworkers took a photo of him in the car, which he ended up using as a screensaver for his computer monitor. On another occasion, I bought this same consultant a suit to thank him for exceeding his goals.
_________
Group RCI, based in Parsippany, NJ, annually stages the RCI 500, a mock Indy 500 race in which agents compete to confirm as many time-share exchanges, subscription renewals to the company’s magazine, and space reservation services as possible. With each transaction, the representatives’ paper race cars are pushed up a certain number of spaces on an oval track drawn on a bedsheet tacked to a wall. Representatives dress as race car drivers, officials, or fans, and the office is decorated with streamers and checkered flags. The top producer is recognized, as are the highest-finishing Rookie of the Year, the Most Improved Driver, and the three Best-Dressed Drivers.
_________
Xerox Corporation, headquartered in Norwalk, CT, used a sports car theme for its Fast Track sales motivation program, which also involved technical support employees and their managers. Everyone accrued points that were redeemable for either merchandise or cash rewards ranging from $10 to $10,000. Also distributed were battery-powered toy Ferraris and spark plugs “to spark new ideas.”
_________
Pentel of America in Torrance, CA, uses the Samurai Award to motivate salespeople to (1) increase sales over the previous year, (2) perform a certain amount of “end-user work” (contact and sales with the final user of the company’s pens), and (3) submit sales and marketing reports (SAMs) on new techniques for promoting the company’s products. Samurai winners receive a cash award, a Sales Master ring, a genuine Samurai sword, and a weeklong first-class trip for two to Japan, which includes a tour of the Pentel factory, as well as a ceremonial luncheon with several Japanese managers. The regional sales manager whose territory performs best in all three areas also wins a cash award, ring, and trip to Japan.
_________
At KXKT-FM, a Top 40 station in Omaha, NE, cash, merchandise, and travel are offered to sales employees. Says Cathy Roach, general sales manager, “We’ve also done fun things, like have a wheel with cash ranging from ten dollars to one thousand dollars. For every piece of new business they bring in, they spin the wheel and win something. We’ve also blown up balloons containing cash and had people throw darts at them.”
The “FasTrack” program at Morris Savings Bank (now a part of Wachovia Bank/Wells Fargo, headquartered in San Francisco) rewarded workers for landing new business, as well as for cross-selling to new and existing customers. Each salesperson had a quarterly quota of 45 cross-sale points, earning a point for each additional service they sold to a customer. Tellers had a quarterly quota of 15 referrals; when customers agreed to one of their suggestions, the tellers sent them over to the sales desk with a referral card. Each salesperson also got a $2 commission for every cross sale, and each teller got $2 per referral. A sales coordinator tracked each person’s progress on a poster in the lunchroom.
Other awards were given out at quarterly meetings. The top salesperson of the quarter and the teller with the highest number of referrals each got $300, an extra vacation day, and an engraved pewter mug. The manager of the branch with the highest deposit level got a trophy and an engraved Cross pen, and that branch was treated to a party by the sales department.
Branch managers were eligible for bonuses as well. If 90 percent of the staff met the quota, the managers got the same bonus as the employees. They got double that amount if all the employees attained the quota and if the branch was awarded a certain number of “mystery shopper” points from the mystery shoppers who visited each branch at least once every quarter.
In the Gold Coin Club, employees were given 10 gold coins when they met their individual quarterly quotas; the top salesperson in each branch got an additional 5 coins; everyone got five coins if the entire branch met the quota, 24 coins for reaching the quota in all 4 quarters, and 3 coins for having a sales tip published in the newsletter. Coins were displayed on the salesperson’s desk in a clear acrylic box with his or her name on it. At an awards banquet, employees used their coins to bid on prizes—including televisions and a trip to the Bahamas. The banquet featured an awards ceremony modeled after the Oscars. Award categories included Salesperson, Teller, and Branch Manager of the Year. Winners received SARAs (Sales and Recognition Awards), which are statuettes of Winged Victory.
One employee who has twice been a top teller says the program helped her. “I pay more attention to customers, and I try to offer more service, which can be more important than the product,” says June Barbee, head teller at the Mendham Village branch. “And when I won the top teller award, that was really motivating.”
_________
The Miami Lakes, FL, cosmetics company Elizabeth Arden implemented a sales program in which staffers who increased their sales by at least 25 percent over those of the same five-month period in the previous year earned a weeklong Caribbean cruise for two. Besides increasing sales, the program reduced turnover. Cynthia Bloom, resident makeup artist at Bloomingdale’s in New York City, says, “I’ve been offered jobs for more money with other companies, but I didn’t take them. I’m loyal to this company—Arden’s been good to me, so I’m good to them.”
It is said that it costs five times more to win a new customer than to keep an existing one. So satisfying customers is a goal most companies want to constantly recognize and reinforce. Here are some great reinforcers that companies have used to foster exceptional customer service.
CIGNA, the global health services company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, gives a life-saving ring called “Man Overboard” to employees who “go over and beyond” in serving customers.
_________
One year, at the Buena Park, CA, Knott’s Berry Farm, COO Jack Falfas challenged the employees who play “monsters,” the ride operators, and the maze crews to improve their customer service during its annual Haunt. The teams that provided the best customer service would earn points for nightly recognition and get a chance to have their names engraved on the Golden Haunt trophies. Each night of the Haunt, Falfas and a crew of scorecard-toting judges walked through the streets, mazes, and rides, looking for energy, creativity, and outstanding overall delivery in entertaining customers. Falfas said the incentives worked well. When he walked through the park late at night, employees would look for him and ask, “How’d I do? How was I tonight?”
_________
At Indianapolis-based Mike’s Carwash, with 37 locations in Indiana and Ohio, frontline workers earn points for providing strong customer service, and staffers at each location can be named “associate of the month” and win prizes of $25 or $50.
_________
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Canada, which owns, operates, or franchises more than 50 hotels across the country, knows that people stay at their hotels because of the quality of service provided by their employees. Starwood offers both informal and formal praise and rewards. They ensure that staff cafeterias, change rooms, and prayer rooms are comfortable, and managers are encouraged to publicly laud staff for excellence just about every day, if they deserve it. Starwood has seen measurable improvements in guest satisfaction since implementing new service training initiatives. They have an annual employee turnover rate of only about 14 percent—one third the industry average.
HOLD A SERVICE LOTTERY
• Award a silver pin or similar prize for positive customer comments.
• Whenever a service employee receives a letter of praise from a customer, enter his or her name in a weekly drawing. Offer a fun prize.
Ron Smith, now at the City of Sacramento Department of Public Works, says that years ago, when he owned a deli, he would ask all the servers to greet each customer as if that person were a favorite aunt or uncle. He promised that if they did, he would make up the difference if they received less than $75 per day in tips. He only had to do so once in ten years.
_________
Several guests at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, FL, were so impressed with one of their servers that when they returned to the hospital where they worked in Indiana, they named the “Jason Chestnut Customer Service Award” after him to recognize superior customer service in their own organization.
_________
At Busch Gardens, Tampa, FL, employees who offer exceptional service to guests receive a scratch-off card. These cards are issued on the spot by the management staff and can be redeemed for a variety of rewards.
_________
One manager of a cable installation company in North Carolina holds a weekly lottery for installers who were praised in customer letters. The winner gets to grab as many quarters as possible out of a fishbowl, with the average grab being about $30.
_________
When John Kapp was general manager and president of an Atlanta, GA, Del Taco fast-food restaurant, he wanted to improve service by focusing on positive stories about customer service. So he asked his seven regional managers, and received 12. He then wrote a note to each employee praised in the stories. These stories were photocopied and put in the break areas in every store. One month later, he asked his managers for stories again, and this time, he received 65; the following month produced even more. By the fourth month, the group produced 125 pages of stories, and copies were distributed to all the stores—each with a note of thanks from John. Not only did good service skyrocket, but turnover of managers and assistant managers improved by more than 300 percent!
_________
Doug Barnett, manager at Chick-fil-A in Perry, GA, runs a DOTS program (Delivering Outrageous and Tremendous Service). Team members accumulate dots on index cards for excellent performance in areas such as high check average and low deletions. The dots can be cashed in for meals or merchandise from local businesses.
_________
The Eagle Award is used at SKF USA Inc., in Kulpsville, PA. Each employee of the industrial and automotive engineering firm is given two Eagle Award coins to give to other employees for outstanding customer service, along with a certificate briefly describing the service. Employees who receive five or more Eagle Awards are given a decorative display holder. Ten Eagle Awards can be exchanged for a $50 American Express Be My Guest certificate. The employee who receives the most Eagle Awards in a six-month period is recognized with a trophy and a $250 American Express gift certificate at the president’s semiannual State of the Company meeting. Jeff Minkoff, corporate quality assurance manager, reports that more than 1,500 Eagle Awards were given out in the first one and a half years of the program alone.
_________
Every year, the Robert W. Baird financial management firm celebrates Client Service Week to demonstrate its “clients come first” principle. Baird president and CEO Paul Purcell and managers at all levels work on the front lines as help-desk representatives, receptionists, client services representatives, mail and office services staff, and graphic designers in order to interact with clients. Baird also gives the G. Frederick Kasten Jr. Award, named after its chairman, to associates who provide outstanding service to their clients and continually strive to improve customer service. A winner is selected from each business unit, based on nominations by fellow associates, and awards are presented at the Annual Meeting for All Associates. Each winner receives a one-week, all-expenses-paid vacation anywhere in the United States.
_________
Employees can give one another “PEOPLE” awards at Parkview Health, a hospital system in Indiana, for providing exceptional customer service. PEOPLE stands for Patients and families; Employees, physicians, and volunteers; Our communities; Partnerships; Leadership; and Empowerment. Anyone, whether inside or outside the organization, can nominate employees for awards. One copy of the small piece of paper is presented to the awardee, one to his or her manager, and one is sent to the PEOPLE Award department in HR. Accumulated awards can be traded for merchandise: 5 awards = a sticker for name badges, 10 awards = an umbrella, 25 awards = a duffel bag or blanket, 50 awards = a windbreaker or sweater, and 100 awards = a jacket. Yet another award is presented for every 50 awards accumulated beyond 100.
_________
Doug Barnett of the Sam Nunn Boulevard Chick-fil-A in Perry, GA, gives POSSE (Positively Outrageous Service) buttons to team members when they receive positive customer comments on feedback cards. They’re encouraged to wear them at all times and to uphold high standards, as members of an elite group.
_________
Donna Friedman, an employee at a Home Depot in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, received special recognition for returning a $3,000 bracelet to a customer. The customer gave her a pure silver bracelet, and the company gave her a special letter of praise for her personnel file and a watch of her choice.
_________
Pioneer Eclipse, a manufacturer of floor-care machines based in Sparta, NC, takes customers to meet line workers who have worked on their products. Employees love to tell customers about their ideas and to listen to their suggestions.
_________
Broward County Government in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, has a program called SUNsational Service to promote the way internal and external customers should be treated. Employees are nominated for embodying the organization’s 10 Standards of Customer Service Excellence. Winners are chosen bimonthly by a group of employees called the “Prize Patrol,” with music, dancing, and fanfare. Each recipient gets a basket containing a variety of prizes from the county store. The organization also hosts a customer service week, including an energy profile seminar, a customer service movie day, stress massages, and fun contests, such as an ugly tie contest, customer service Jeopardy, customer service quizzes, and word search puzzles.
_________
• Create a Praising Board—a white board (or flip chart) where you post letters of appreciation from customers.
• When paychecks go out, write a note on the envelope recognizing an employee’s accomplishment.
• Write five or more Post-it notes thanking the person for superior customer service and hide them amid the work on his or her desk.
Rhonda Lowe, publisher of the Los Banos Enterprise newspaper, found a way to thank loyal advertisers by creating “Thanks A Million” bouquets. Using a computer program that makes currency, she designed some $1 million bills. She then wrapped them around 25-cent suckers to look like petals on a flower. She bought some inexpensive potted plants and inserted the “flowers” into the potted plant, then added a bow and a sign that read “Thanks A Million For Being Our Customer.” Sales representatives signed their names and personally delivered the awards to their top accounts. It gave them the chance to be real heroes and to create a buzz—and clients prominently displayed the awards.
_________
At Stew Leonard’s, whenever a cashier thanks a customer by name, the customer drops a coupon with the cashier’s name into a big box. Known as “The Name Game,” the three cashiers who have thanked the most customers each week get $30 each. Employees also display “Ladder of Success” charts, mounted at cash registers, for customers to see each employee’s progress. At Hecht’s department stores, based in Arlington, VA, employees win points toward a shopping spree if managers hear them calling customers by name.
_________
In “Today’s Way Giveaway” at Dallas, TX–based Today’s Office Professionals, every time a temporary employee exceeds a client’s expectations, he or she is entered in an annual drawing for prizes. Clients rate them on evaluation cards, which are then submitted to the company. Approximately 950 prizes have been awarded over three years.
_________
McDonald’s owner/operators are given jewelry bearing the company’s Golden Arches logo to distribute to employees who provide superior service.
_________
Every month at the Nordstrom department store chain, based in Seattle, every store manager meets to pick a Customer Service All-Star—the person who has made the most striking contribution for that period. Managers draw from their own observations, customer comment sheets placed near every cash register, reports by “mystery shoppers,” and letters from customers. The winner gets $100, “Customer Service All-Star” stamped on his or her business card, and a larger employee discount on store merchandise. A Customer Service All-Star store is also picked each month, with headquarters providing money for a storewide barbecue or pizza party.
_________
The Omni Service Champions program of Omni Hotels recognizes employees who go out of their way to deliver extraordinary service with medals, ribbon pins for their uniforms, cash, dinner, recognition in the company’s newspaper and on posters in each hotel, and, finally, a three-day celebration at an Omni hotel chosen by company executives. At the end of the year, the three employees from each hotel who receive the most commendations are awarded medals (gold, silver, and bronze) and cash ($1,000 for gold and $500 each for silver and bronze), and all attend a gala.
_________
In New Jersey Transit’s Customer Service Awards program, employees who serve the public directly earn awards for exemplary customer service, while internal workers, such as secretaries, maintenance people, and accountants, receive awards for service to other employees. Two months before the awards are announced at the end of each year, posters with ballots are placed in train stations and at bus stops. Both riders and employees can make nominations for the awards, as can vendors who sell supplies to the agency.
In a recent year, the agency received 300 nominations and chose 10 winners. The number of ballots a person receives is taken into account, but the quality of the nomination is more important. “If we have one nomination for a person, but it’s outstanding, that person might win.” A nominating committee made up of managers selects the winners. Among the criteria are exceptional customer service, especially to correct something that has gone wrong; demonstrated creativity or resourcefulness in assisting a customer; and development of new ways to solve problems.
The type of award varies each year. Past winners received savings bonds and a two-day trip to Atlantic City, and each recipient gets a plaque or trophy. Awards are given out at an annual companywide meeting held at a conference center.
_________
The Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, OH, instituted a recognition and reward program to improve customer service that incorporates monthly drawings and internal publicity, but also uses continuing training to reinforce a list of ten performance standards on which the program is based. To make sure goals, criteria, and progress are being communicated constantly, all 3,200 employees attend a one-hour training session every other month.
Delta Air Lines has a “Feather in Your Cap Award” for customer service above and beyond the call of duty, such as that provided by the flight attendant who drove a passenger from Houston to Beaumont, TX, for a funeral she would otherwise have been unable to attend because she missed her connecting flight.
_________
At The Andersons retail stores in Maumee, OH, store managers were given a certain number of silver dollars to give out when they observed or received comments about good customer service. Employees who received silver dollars were enrolled in the Silver Dollar Club and became eligible for monthly prize drawings.
_________
At FMC Lithium in Charlotte, NC, managers take deserving employees on trips to visit customers or vendors. This not only recognizes operators for their efforts, but also educates them and builds a sense of ownership of their work and the company’s products. The additional cost is more than repaid in increased motivation and overall business understanding.
_________
LensCrafters optical stores, headquartered in Mason, OH, granted $100 bonus checks for outstanding customer service, with the top nine people getting $1,000 and a crystal memento.
_________
American Airlines gives “You’re Someone Special” notes to its top frequent fliers to give to American employees when they receive exceptional service. The employees receive credit toward their own travel, and customer comments are printed in the company newsletter. Continental Airlines mailed “Pride in Performance” certificates to its top 50,000 frequent fliers and asked them to pass them out to particularly helpful employees. Continental workers could redeem the certificates for dinners, luggage, hotel stays, flight passes, and other merchandise.
_________
For its Service Excellence Award, Citibank in New York City rewards employees at all levels, except senior management, who demonstrate outstanding customer service. An employee is nominated by his or her manager, then reviewed by management within the employee’s division. Award winners usually get a gift certificate for up to $500 in merchandise.
_________
The Service Leader Award program at the American Hospital Association in Chicago offers winners a $100 check, a certificate, and an engraved plaque at the monthly managers’ meeting. A Service Leader of the Year is selected from the 12 monthly leaders. That person receives a $100 check and an engraved plaque.
_________
In the Most Valuable Player program at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO, ten randomly selected fans are given two small MVP cards, which they can give any two employees who show them some courtesy—defined as “a smile, a welcome, a way of handling a question or problem,” says Vicki Hutchison, manager of special projects for the Civic Center Corporation. Employees then turn over the cards to supervisors; if the group of workers collects at least 15 of the 20 cards during the game, a drawing is held and the winner gets a $100 bill.
A monthly Outstanding Teamworker program encourages workers to nominate fellow All-Stars, who receive recognition in the form of a pregame, on-the-field ceremony; a lapel pin; their choice of merchandise from a catalog; and brunch in their honor.
_________
At Park Lane Hotels International, based in Hong Kong, guests were asked to nominate hotel workers who provided outstanding service. The company rewarded all nominees with Sony personal electronics and held a grand-prize drawing for a TV; the guest who nominated the grand-prize winner received two free nights at the hotel.
_________
MCI in Ashburn, VA, now a part of New York–based Verizon Communications, used picnic baskets from Harry and David in Medford, OR, to reward 50 of its customer service reps. “MCI wanted to recognize employees who saw a problem and stepped right in to solve it,” says Jon Silver, a sales rep for Harry and David. A note of appreciation was tucked inside each basket.
_________
Cellular One based in Bellevue, WA, has a bonus plan that awards employees $10 for every customer compliment they get (mostly on customer comments cards), and deducts $10 every time a customer complains about service. Customer compliments have tripled since the company began the reward program.
_________
The San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau awards the title “Cab Driver of the Year” to the driver who exemplifies outstanding hospitality. The winner is feted at the city’s Annual Cab Driver Appreciation Day, and receives 500 business cards, an engraved dashboard plaque, and a magnetic sign for the cab that announces the award. One winner, Montag Plank, says he provides riders with extras, such as newspapers and information about local attractions. “No matter what your job is, if you’re courteous and do the job right, people will respect you for it,” he says.
_________
When Dick Radell, vice president of Human Resources for The Marcus Corporation in Milwaukee, receives exceptional service at one of the company’s restaurants, he writes a short note on the back of his business card and gives it to the server immediately.
“We shared the dream to be recognized as the very best company when it came to delivering value to customers, employees, shareholders, and communities,” says Kent B. Foster, former president of GTE Telephone Operations (now owned by New York–based Verizon Communications). To help reach that dream, the President’s Quality Awards program recognizes employees in four categories: area and region, individual employees, teams, and vendors.
The company’s 4 areas and 14 regions compete each year for Quality Champion Cups. Award recipients are selected directly by customers who are surveyed annually. The most improved region is also recognized with a trophy.
Individual employees are rewarded at three levels of achievement: The top ten employees receive $2,500 along with a personalized award and a letter of commendation from the division president. The 30 finalists receive $750 and a personalized award, and the 40 semifinalists receive $500 and a personalized award. One individual who has demonstrated exemplary commitment to quality is chosen for the Individual Quality Champions to receive the President’s Distinctive Commendation. He or she receives a monetary award, a special medallion, and a letter of commendation from the president.
Team awards are given to two first-place Gold Award winners (one for external and one for internal customer service), two second-place Silver Award winners, and three Bronze Award winners for external efforts. Members of each team receive cash, a personalized award, and a letter of commendation from the president.
Only 41 percent of employees believe the average company listens to their ideas. No wonder, then, that the average American worker makes 1.1 suggestions per year—one of the lowest among industrialized nations. Compare that with the 167 suggestions per employee in Japan, and you can see the untapped potential.
Bruce Power, based in Tiverton, Ontario, Canada, uses an innovation program where its employees get points for giving and championing ideas. They have identified $5 million in cost-saving ideas and are implementing ideas that save an additional $2 million.
_________
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., the organizing products giant based in Atlanta, GA, sends its employees to unique places, such as museums, hoping it will inspire them to come up with new product ideas. Similarly, Olin Corporation, the Clayton, MO, ammunitions and chemicals manufacturer, recruits and trains employees to become “idea scouts.”
_________
When Andrew Schuman bought Denver, CO–based Hammond’s Candies in 2007, the company was operating in the red. Mr. Schuman soon learned that an assembly-line worker, rather than an executive, had designed the company’s popular ribbon snowflake candy. “I thought, ‘Wow, we have a lot of smart people back here, and we’re not tapping their knowledge,’” said Schuman. He consequently offered a $50 bonus to assembly-line workers who came up with successful ideas to cut manufacturing costs. One worker suggested a minor change in a machine gear, which resulted in reducing the number of workers needed on an assembly line. Another employee devised a way to protect candy canes while en route to stores, resulting in a 4 percent reduction in breakage and helping the company to earn a profit that year.
_________
Advanced Technology Institute, a private R&D management nonprofit based in North Charleston, SC, offers $500 bonuses to employees who refer people who are hired and stay at least six months. The bonus increased the number of referrals, including referrals of several employees’ family members. Nearly 60 percent of all jobs are filled internally.
_________
Akron (OH) Children’s Hospital uses Lean Six Sigma quality methods to engage and empower employees to maintain a culture of continuous improvement. To gain support the executive team created the Center for Operations Excellence, a system that allows employees to share ideas and get the resources to turn ideas into reality. Success stories are shared and celebrated during departmental meetings. One outstanding result: The waiting list for MRIs at the hospital was dramatically reduced. Through discussion with department employees and redistribution of the workload, the hospital was able to drop the wait time to three days or less.
_________
Radio Shack, based in Fort Worth, TX, uses a four-foot stuffed gorilla to recognize initiative and innovation. The gorilla is given in turn to each employee with a useful idea. The person who has the most ideas in a given quarter receives yet another prize.
_________
During a downturn in business, Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency in Philadelphia, PA, and now a part of New York–based American Express Travel Related Services, ran a program called “Operation Brainstorm,” asking employees to think of ideas to cut costs. More than 400 were submitted, and the company was able to avoid laying off employees.
_________
When Vic Anapolle was operations manager for a chemical specialties group at W. R. Grace & Company in Atlanta, GA, he set out to motivate employees to increase the number and quality of their suggestions: using “Starperks” scratch-off lottery tickets, he was able to obtain an average of 12 to 14 suggestions per employee, leading to cost savings of $175,000 per year. Each lottery ticket gave employees the chance to win various prizes and all tickets (winners’ and losers’) were used for an overall drawing for a trip.
_________
The SCOOTER Store crowns employees “Superheroes” if they “come to the rescue” with revenue-generating ideas or implement cost-cutting programs and procedures. They are donned with red tablecloths closely resembling superhero capes.
_________
Each year at FedEx Office and Print Services, the employee who submits the best suggestion wins an all-expense-paid trip to Disney World for his or her entire store. While they’re away, top brass fill in.
_________
Peavey Electronics Corporation in Meridian, MS, rewards hourly workers for their suggestions by paying them 8 percent of estimated first-year savings based on those suggestions.
_________
The Office of Human Resources and Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC, sponsored an “Ideas Day” for employees to think of ways to improve the way they worked. They collected 2,134 ideas, 68 percent of which were implemented.
_________
At Kodak’s Image Loops and Sundries Department in Rochester, NY, production is shut down when operators reach their weekly goals for each type of loop, so that they can work on other projects. Employees have used the extra time to develop ideas, which has resulted in improvements and great camaraderie.
_________
INCREASING EMPLOYEE SUGGESTIONS
• For most people, simply using their suggestion is recognition enough.
• When an employee presents an idea or suggestion, thank the person for his or her concern and initiative.
• Make sure you respond to and actually try to use as many suggestions as possible.
• Widely publicize suggestions used, along with a description of their positive impact on the organization.
Arthur Hogling, executive director of the Developmental Disabilities Resource Center in Lakewood, CO, reports: “Employees who aggressively cut costs receive baseballs, signed by our management team, at monthly meetings. They have become a source of pride on people’s desks.”
_________
A Deere & Company office in Dubuque, IA, doubled employee participation in an employee suggestion program by providing all participants with pocket protectors, magnetic calendars, and notepads with the slogan “Got an idea? Write it down!” Employees whose suggestions were implemented received awards.
_________
Urban Bianchi, a machinist with Cleveland, OH–based Parker Hannifin Corporation, has turned in more than 800 cost-cutting proposals that his bosses have approved—so many that the Los Angeles Times has dubbed him “the undisputed king of the suggestion box.” The company has rewarded him with a flood of appliances, coupons for free dinners, tools, and other gifts, with an estimated value of $17,000 in a four-year period. “I’ve got so much stuff, it’s unbelievable,” Bianchi says. While he adds that for him doing a job well is what’s motivating, he also admits that he gets a kick out of sharing his riches with family members. “When I gave them radios, they loved it,” he says. “It meant more to them that I got a radio doing a good job, working hard, than if I’d bought it at a store.”
_________
Ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry’s distributes grants to departments at corporate headquarters if they come up with creative suggestions. They can use them to purchase merchandise such as popcorn makers or hot chocolate machines.
_________
At Stew Leonard’s, a suggestion program rewards employee ideas with retail gift certificates worth up to $500. The company’s bimonthly newspaper reports on the ideas that are adopted.
_________
Two county employees in San Diego have been awarded $10,000 each for suggestions that saved the county government more than $1.1 million. Ken Buccellato and Renee Sherrill received the bonuses through the Do-It-Better-By-Suggestion Program, which rewards employees for ideas that save money, improve safety, or increase efficiency.
In San Diego, 71 county employees came up with ideas that generated nearly $400,000 in savings. They were honored at a year-end ceremony and received cash awards ranging from $25 to nearly $5,000.
_________
In three months, the American Achievers program at American Airlines inspired nearly 3,500 seven-person teams to come up with more than 1,600 ideas that were adopted, resulting in more than $20 million in cost-saving or revenue-generating improvements. Employees reaped $4.7 million in merchandise prizes, each prize based on the cash value of the idea implemented. More important, employees wholeheartedly supported the changes because they had designed them. That success has led to a continuing system called AAchievers that includes instant points-for-merchandise rewards for good work by individuals and groups.
The focus of the AAchievers program has since expanded to recognize employees for doing anything special, or for consistently doing a good job. Managers, crew chiefs, lead agents, and other supervisors can award AAchiever points at any time to any employee. For example, points can be awarded for perfect attendance throughout a bad winter or to a worker who helps a passenger with an emergency. They are issued on certificates that can be cashed in for travel benefits or merchandise from a catalog compiled for the program.
_________
“Everyone Counts” is a program at toolmaker Black & Decker, headquartered in Towson, MD, that uses teams to brainstorm and develop ideas about training, communication, administration, and rewards. People from different departments are grouped into 39 teams, and 2 evaluation committees for managerial personnel receive ideas and judge their merit. The evaluation teams also note leadership potential in some employees when they make their presentations. A total of 200 ideas have been submitted and 59 approved, one of which was worth $700,000 in cost savings. The 12 ideas that have already been implemented deal mostly with improved operations that result in cost savings. The $700,000 idea concerned the substitution of a new material in one of the company’s product lines. The program has also improved the company’s vertical lines of communication.
_________
The pharmaceuticals company Cyanamid Canada, now a part of Cargill, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has a “Key to Innovation” campaign that encourages workers to contribute ideas and become “Frequent Innovators.” For productivity-enhancing ideas, employees receive 40 to 1,000 points, redeemable in an awards catalog for such prizes as glassware, radios, televisions, and weekend trips for two.
_________
Fel-Pro, a gasket manufacturer based in Southfield, MI, holds a $1,000 drawing once a year for all employees who participated in the firm’s suggestion program.
IBM’s suggestion program awards $50 to $150,000 for money-saving ideas or suggestions with benefits like enhanced health, safety, or customer service. The amount of the reward for an idea that leads to measurable savings is based on 25 percent of the first year’s net material and labor savings. For awards of more than $200, the suggester also receives 25 percent of projected net savings for the second year, up to $150,000.
Awards for suggestions that yield intangible benefits depend on such factors as the seriousness of the problem and the creativity and effectiveness of the solution. These awards usually range from $50 to $100, although the $150,000 maximum applies, as well. The program is open to all employees. In a recent year, IBM gave out eight $150,000 rewards, out of 153,000 ideas submitted by its 223,000 U.S. employees. Other programs include:
INVENTION PLAN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
These awards recognize a significant record of invention. The first patent application the employee files under the provisions of the plan earns $1,500. Employees receive points for patent applications, as well as for other qualifying inventions that are created. At each 12-point plateau, the employee gets a certificate and $3,600. The first plateau also earns jewelry.
IBM DIVISION AWARD PLAN
This award recognizes and rewards achievements that have “outstanding value” to the company in terms of cost savings and the impact on the major mission of a specific division. Awards range from $1,500 to $25,000.
_________
At the 10,000-person Honda of America factory in Marysville, OH, employees receive $100 for each accepted suggestion, but they also get anywhere from 1 to 12 V.I.P. points for each one. If they make a presentation to a quality circle meeting, they get an extra 50 points. When they accumulate 300 points, they get a plaque; 1,000 points nets $800. Higher-level prizes are a Honda Civic for 2,500 points; and an Accord, two extra weeks of vacation, and four weeks’ pay for 5,000 points. The company received more than 10,000 suggestions in a recent year, resulting in savings of $5 million.
_________
In America, the current application of rewards to encourage productivity and production is unfortunately underused and ineffective. According to one study, only 40 percent of employees believe the average American company offers meaningful incentives to maximize quality and productivity. In Japan, on the other hand, 93 percent of workers felt certain they would benefit. Let’s look at some other discouraging statistics about the American workplace:
• 89 percent of American workers think their companies would perform better if employees were given meaningful incentives to improve quality and productivity.
• 81 percent of workers believe they will not receive rewards for any increase in productivity.
• 60 percent of managers believe their compensation will not increase if their performance improves.
Agencies of QSource, the Memphis-based nonprofit health care management expert, divide the staff into teams to work on different performance outcomes. They have a large racetrack on the wall where each team has a car, which is moved forward as the team makes progress.
_________
Pizza-making employees at Oregon-based Flying Pie Pizzeria restaurants can earn two special statuses that reflect how accurately and quickly they make pizzas. The first is “Quality ... My Friend” Status: for people who successfully make three menu pizzas to specifications, without looking at the scale while making the pizza. A $25 prize and a lapel button are awarded to successful chefs. The second is “Fast... at Making Fourteens” Status: for people who can make a combo pizza in less than 60 seconds within weight tolerances. Winners get a $25 prize and a lapel button.
_________
In an effort to reduce both turnover and expenses, The Daniels Company, a trucking firm in Springfield, MO, challenged its drivers to cut their fuel costs by improving mileage—then let them keep the difference. Since then, turnover has been cut by 25 percent and trucks are logging fewer miles, thus cutting overall costs.
_________
Katzinger’s Deli in Columbus, OH, made a deal with their employees that, if they reduced food costs, they would split the savings with employees. Their cost savings was $30,000, of which employees split $15,000.
_________
I Love Rewards (ILR), a Toronto, Ontario–based employee recognition company, incentivizes employees to find ways to save money. As an alternative to cutting staff, its most recent program, The Recession Package, helps train employees to negotiate contracts, attain better prices from suppliers, or lower travel and shipping costs. “Every day when I go out and rent a car, order a catered meal for a meeting or travel for business, there’s always an opportunity to get a better price,” says founder and CEO Razor Suleman. “We help employees to think of it as their own [expense]; teach them how to ask for a better price.” Since 2007, ILR has nearly doubled the number of employees at its headquarters from 18 to 34, and collectively achieved savings of $106,000 in 2008.
_________
Kathy Atkinson, a program manager for a nuclear cleanup facility located in Buffalo, NY, created the Bright Ideas Program to meet four improvement goals. It had two parts: (1) generation of new, bonafide original ideas, and (2) implementation of those ideas. For both parts, employees received scratch-off coupons for redeemable points for merchandise in a catalog. They submitted a narrative explaining an idea with an estimated cost, benefit, and savings. All recipients were eligible for a quarterly grand-prize drawing for a cruise. For a cost of $25,000 per year—less than half of what was budgeted—the program saved a documented $2.2 million in “cost avoidance’” over the first 18 months. The program was written up as an innovative best practice by the Department of Energy.
Wachovia, the Charlotte, NC–based financial services company recently acquired by Wells Fargo, has gone to Olympian heights to improve its operations. In 2006 Wachovia’s Check Services Division led the industry in unit cost efficiency for the third straight year. A big reason for this accomplishment has been an incentive program called the Proof Olympics. Lisa Massiello, a Certified Recognition Professional (CRP) in Operations & Technology who heads up Employee Engagement & Recognition, shares details of what happened:
“For a long time, many people outside of our division thought that their financial centers completely processed all of the work they received. They didn’t know that each center dispatches work to one of 15 encoding shops in Payment Services. Encoding not only forms the cornerstone of banking operations but also shapes the foundation of the global financial system,” Massiello says. Without encoding, very little within financial services can move. “Yet encoding is still confusing to many employees; we needed to clarify the work and importance of this department to the rest of the enterprise. That’s when we came up with the Proof Olympics, which after several years, has grown to become one of the most exciting and anticipated events in all of Item Processing.”
The purpose of the Proof Olympics is to provide and support a long-term approach to increase encoder productivity, reward and recognize top encoders, cultivate encoder morale, and foster teamwork and partnerships between sites. During the month of September, each of Wachovia’s 15 Encoding shops places its encoders into one of three production categories. September statistics are then evaluated to determine a site’s medalists for all categories. A bronze medal gets $25 Top Dollar Award, silver gets $50, and gold $100. They also recognize encoders who increased their productivity the most during the month ($25). In November, the top encoder from each site goes to Atlanta, GA, to compete against their peers in the Proof Olympics. The Proof Olympics bronze medalist receives a $1,000 Star Award, the Silver a $2,000 award, and the Gold gets $3,000 along with the title “Best Wachovia Encoder.”
However, the true measure and importance of the Proof Olympics is best expressed in the words of previous participants. Columbia, SC, champion Lucretia Profit said, “I’m amazed by the high ability of the other site champions,” while Atlanta, GA, champion Jermaine Taylor added, “Holding the Proof Olympics showed how much Wachovia truly appreciates us.” Charlotte, NC, champion—and Best Wachovia Encoder—Donald Anderson said proudly, “I just wanted to see how I compared with the top encoders from other sites.”
Results—13 Million Reasons to Hold the Olympics. The program has helped to reduce proof unit costs to $.02 per item, and every fully established site has now reached that goal. The program has become a model for the divisions’ other incentive programs that support their long-term approach to improving productivity. By the end of 2007 proof-unit cost reductions at Wachovia resulted in compounded annual savings in excess of $13,000,000.
_________
At Worzalla Book Manufacturing in Stevens Point, WI, the quality services department exceeded its goal of 99.85 percent accuracy in customer specifications for five years in a row. Bill Downs, the quality supervisor and continuous improvement manager, wanted to celebrate, but he was limited to a budget of $20 per person. So he took the department to lunch and gave each member of the team a certificate of appreciation and a gift card for a movie rental and pizza. The group enjoyed the lunch and gift cards, but seemed to take even more pride in displaying the certificates in their offices and explaining their achievement to anyone who cared to listen.
_________
When Jennifer Wallick was software development manager at Four Pi Systems, a developer of manufacturing test equipment in San Diego (now a part of Hewlett-Packard), she found that programmers did not like to bring up errors. To keep employees from getting frustrated when they found a bug in a new software product, she started the “Find a Bug, Win a Prize” program that awarded a candy bar to anyone who found a bug in the new software product. Jennifer says, “It certainly changed people’s attitudes. It also improved the quality of the software because more bugs were reported and fixed sooner.”
_________
At Ryder System truck rental and leasing, based in Miami, FL, employees in quality action teams (work groups put together to come up with quality improvement suggestions) are encouraged with tangible incentives in addition to more traditional forms of appreciation. Jerry Riordan, vice president of quality, says, “We try to give them a quick response from the decision makers, as well as quick implementation for accepted ideas. Their incentive is the pleasure of getting changes made.” The company is implementing a continuous improvement process that stresses response to ideas within ten days, as well as more formal recognition and reward procedures.
_________
Bob Vassallo, manager of employee relations at the Thomas J. Lipton Company, maker of food products in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, reports having an Open Vending Machine Day in which employees are allowed free access to plant cafeteria vending machines for reaching certain manufacturing goals, such as productivity, quality, and safety.
_________
Noncommission employees who have achieved peak performance at the Portland Business Journal in Portland, OR, are recognized monthly. Special voice-mail messages on the main switchboard announce their names, the high sales results, and the gains in circulation, and cash bonuses are distributed.
_________
At 3M in St. Paul, MN, managers give the “Golden Step Award,” inspired by the Greek god Hermes’s winged slipper, to those who make a new line of business profitable, initiate a new product or service, or create a new market niche. These tacky, plastic, gold-colored shoes are highly valued by employees.
_________
NCO Financial Systems in Horsham, PA, started a bonus system for data-entry clerks, encouraging them to work as a team to eliminate backlogs in paperwork. Each clerk receives a point for each day without backlog, and monthly prizes (up to $250 in value) are awarded based on the number of accumulated points. Those who don’t win top prizes are also entered in a random drawing for $100. Productivity has increased 25 percent with this system, with no drop in quality.
_________
Motorola in Schaumburg, IL, has awards breakfasts at which factory workers who have met certain quality goals are recognized by senior managers.
_________
The Outstanding Teller Service Award at the First-Knox National Bank in Mt. Vernon, OH, tries to tie productivity and customer service awards to measurable goals. The program selects one outstanding teller from each branch using a system based 33 percent on tellers’ choice, 34 percent on customer satisfaction (selection cards are included in customers’ bank statements), 11 percent on balancing record, 11 percent on number of transactions, and 11 percent on supervisory rating.
The Tennant Company, a provider of nonresidential floor maintenance equipment, floor coatings, and related products based in Minneapolis, began its quality improvement push by defining an objective “to recognize superior quality performers in their organization.” Because people respond differently to various kinds of rewards and recognition, they developed a three-dimensional program.
First is the formal awards program, in which honored employees (up to 2 percent of the workforce each year) receive a 10-karat gold and diamond ring and a plaque at an annual banquet. The peer-driven program has three rules governing the selection of award recipients:
1. The company’s established criteria for selecting recognition recipients are printed on the nomination forms.
2. An employee can nominate anyone, with the exception of people he or she reports to directly.
3. Recognition recipients are selected by a committee of employees of different rank and from different departments of the company.
Second, an additional “formal” award grew out of employee feedback asking for more frequent recognition. Winners of the Koala T. Bear (a play on the word quality) are visited by a costumed bear and a recognition committee. Each recipient receives a stuffed Koala T. Bear and a certificate of his or her achievements. There’s a less stringent nomination process, and the awards are presented monthly.
Third is the informal rewards program, designed to recognize people who meet specific goals. It is flexible and can be tailored to meet the needs and preferences of individuals and groups. Informal recognition is immediate recognition given by manager and supervisors to those employees doing something right.
While any one of these dimensions might be considered a complete program in many organizations, Tennant firmly believes that all three have to be present to maximize employee motivation and performance. According to former Human Resources manager Rita Maehling, “Like a three-legged stool, each dimension plays a critical role. Take away one leg of the stool and it falls.”
When Lou Gerstner became president of Travel Related Services (TRS) at New York–based American Express, the unit was facing one of its biggest challenges in AMEX’s 130-year history. Hundreds of banks were offering or planning to introduce credit cards through Visa and MasterCard that would compete with the American Express card. And more than two dozen financial service firms were getting into the traveler’s check business.
Within a week of his appointment, Gerstner brought together the people running the card organization and questioned all the principles by which they conducted their business. In particular, he challenged two widely shared beliefs—that the division should have only one product, the green card, and that this product was limited in potential for growth and innovation.
Gerstner also moved quickly to develop a more entrepreneurial culture, to hire and train people who would thrive in it, and to communicate clearly to them the organization’s overall direction. He and other top managers rewarded intelligent risk-taking. To make entrepreneurship easier, they discouraged unnecessary bureaucracy. They also upgraded hiring standards and created the TRS Graduate Management program, which offered high-potential young people special training, an enriched set of experiences, and an unusual degree of exposure to people in top management. To encourage risk-taking among all TRS employees, Gerstner established a Great Performers program (similar to the program at Honeywell described earlier) to recognize and reward truly exceptional customer service, a central tenet of the organization’s philosophy.
In the Great Performers program, life-size posters showing famous people with their greatest achievements were displayed throughout the facilities for many weeks. Then the company began to picture American Express employees on posters, with a statement of a major accomplishment by each employee. Afterward the employee could take the poster home.
Nominations were made by fellow employees, supervisors, and customers. Award winners were eligible to become Grand Award winners, named by the worldwide governing committee. There was no limit on how many people could win; in a recent year, 38 employees garnered the award. Prizes for Grand Award winners included an all-expense-paid trip for two to New York City, $4,000 in American Express traveler’s checks, a platinum “GP” logo pin, and a framed certificate.
These initiatives quickly led to new markets, products, and services and resulted in an increase in TRS’s net income of 500 percent in 11 years, or about an 18 percent annual compounded rate. With a return on equity of 28 percent, the business outperformed many so-called high-tech, high-growth companies, as well as most low-growth but high-profit businesses.
_________
Managers at Katzinger’s Delicatessen in Columbus, OH, made a deal with employees: If they reduced food costs, the company would split the savings with them. The company ended up saving $30,000, and the employees split $15,000 among themselves.
In many ways, nothing is more important to a company than attendance and safety, especially in manufacturing firms. Offering effective attendance incentives to encourage employees to be prompt and not miss workdays, and effective safety incentives to ensure employee well-being and minimize accidents, is essential to the success of many companies.
Denny’s Restaurant, based in Spartanburg, SC, ran a national advertisement to thank Amber Deahn and Linda Olson, their Coeur d’Alene, ID, employees who played an important role in the 2005 rescue of kidnapping victim Shasta Groene. “We knew we wanted to convey the enormous pride we had in these employees,” said Denny’s spokeswoman Debbie Atkins. “They certainly represent the best of the best at Denny’s.”
A McDonald’s in St. Louis, MO, gives first choice of work schedules to employees with the best attendance records. This promotes better attendance and—because many employees are students—gives people a chance to coordinate work and class schedules.
_________
Leone Ackerly, the owner of Mini Maid Service Company in Marietta, GA, gives employees an attendance bonus each pay period if they have come to work every day on time and in uniform.
_________
General Electric, headquartered in Fairfield, CT, offers a cash bonus for every six months of perfect attendance.
_________
The Atlantic Envelope Company in Atlanta, GA, now part of National Envelope Corporation of Uniondale, NY, awarded employees two hours’ extra pay for every month of perfect attendance.
_________
Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, IL, rewarded 128 employees with a buffet lunch, a certificate of achievement, and a ceramic coffee mug inscribed with “Perfect Attendance” and the year. A special gift certificate went to the employee with the longest perfect attendance.
_________
Pella Corporation in Pella, IA, awards a $100 savings bond and arranges coffee time with top management for employees with one year of perfect attendance. The company, which markets windows, even arranged a reception with the governor of Iowa for seven employees with 25 years’ perfect attendance.
_________
In the Instant Win Giveaway program at Todays Staffing, based in Dallas, TX, temporary employees who have worked during the previous six months are given a card with a scratch-off panel concealing the name of a prize. Prizes include a diamond watch, $100 or $50 cash, calculators, and six months of free long-distance telephone calls.
To recognize those with perfect attendance, Merle Norman Cosmetics, based in Los Angeles, offers the following gifts:
One year: a gold engraved watch
Two years: a video game, cookware set, or stainless flatware
Three years: a stereo or portable TV
Four years: a food processor
Five years: a camera
Six years: personal electronics
Seven years: a TV
Eight years: a microwave oven
Nine years: a specially designed ring
Ten years: a two-week, all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii for two
Fifteen years: a two-week, all-expenses-paid trip to anywhere in the world for the employee and his or her spouse, relative, or friend
How well do these incentives work? In a given year, more than one-tenth of all hourly employees did not have a minute of absenteeism or tardiness, and eight employees had gone ten years without missing any time from work.
_________
A large manufacturing firm with 7,500 hourly employees increased attendance by offering nonmonetary privileges, combined with progressive discipline for excessive absences.
_________
In an effort to decrease absenteeism, New York Life Insurance Company holds a lottery for employees who have been at work every day each quarter. The first 10 employees to have their names drawn earn a $200 bond; the next 20 earn a $100 bond; and 70 more receive a paid day off. A special lottery is held for employees with perfect attendance records for the entire year. Prizes are two $1,000 bonds and ten more paid days off. The company estimates that absenteeism is 21 percent lower than during the same period the previous year.
_________
At Toyota Motor Company of America, every employee who has perfect attendance for the year gets a coupon to enter a drawing for a free car. If an employee has two years of perfect attendance, he or she gets two tickets, for three years, three tickets, and so on. Six cars are awarded annually.
_________
JP Morgan Chase & Company reported saving $820,000 in reduced absenteeism in one year alone by offering New York City employees backup child care. Employees are offered 20 free days of child care a year.
_________
When Vic Anapolle was operations manager for a chemical specialties group at W. R. Grace & Company in Atlanta, GA, (now headquartered in Columbia, MD), he implemented a new system for employee motivation. Starting with a nominal budget of $100 per person per year and using “Starperks” scratch-off coupons to reward safety practices, he set a safety goal of one million man-hours without any injuries. Not only did he surpass the goal, motivating his group to exceed one and a half million man-hours without any injuries, but his group was able to pass a surprise OSHA hazardous chemical inspection with flying colors.
_________
According to Dick Radell, vice president of Human Resources of The Marcus Corporation in Milwaukee, all the employees who work at a specific restaurant for one month without an accident are awarded a “Megabuck” from the state lottery, in a program that is quite popular with employees.
_________
At FedEx Corporation, the express freight company headquartered in Memphis, safe workers and drivers receive a recognition gift (pins, watches, and rings, with diamonds added for continuous safety streaks) for safety milestones every five years. In addition, quarterly and annual President’s Safety Awards in the form of cash and clothing, as well as a trip in the case of the annual winners, are given to four employees (one in each of four work groups) to recognize outstanding safety achievement. Contests are held for different locations, and winning work groups are recognized with barbecues or clothing.
_________
Southern New England Telephone, in New Haven, CT, and now a part of Dallas, TX–based AT&T, rewarded employees who drove one calendar year without a preventable accident. To be eligible, an employee must have driven at least 12,000 miles annually or spent 25 percent or more of his or her work time operating or working out of a company vehicle. Employees amassed certificates that were redeemed for products from one supplier.
_________
At Furst-McNess Company in Freeport, IL, which manufactures premixed animal foods, Mark S. Fryer, director of Human Resources, says the company gives $25 to all personnel who are assigned a company vehicle and receive no moving violations for a calendar year. If an employee goes three years without any violations, he or she gets an additional $100 award. Accidents with company cars have been greatly reduced.
_________
As an incentive for safe behavior, APG Electric in Clearwater, FL, gave employees with good safety records a chance to win a prize from $6,500 worth of cash and gifts, as well as a shot at the grand prize—a $13,500 Chevrolet pickup truck.
_________
Southern Wine & Spirits of America, a distributor of bottled waters, juices, and alcoholic beverages, has a recognition award that has helped reduce safety-related financial losses by 70 percent—from almost $1 million annually to only a few hundred thousand dollars per year. The award is a Super Bowl–style gold and diamond ring, presented to drivers who steer clear of safety-related problems for five years in a row. A 1-carat diamond is added to that ring for each year of continued safety. Driver Alex Barnes says proudly, “It’s truly an honor to wear the ring.”