Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/330423
[ 28 ] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | JUNE 2014 Recognition employees on the uniqueness and meaningfulness of our custom awards, as well as the quality and selection of our gift items." Vance's own 5th year anniversary was marked with a Yankee Candle Vanilla Cupcake candle and a pair of amethyst earrings that she selected. She is half way to earning her 10th year service reward—a brick in the sidewalk at the flagship store in Massachusetts or at the EMEA headquarters in the U.K. That reward is very well-received among the entire staff. "Some of our U.S.-based employees have even made a special trip to our Flagship store to locate their brick and to take pictures of it to share with their friends and family," she says. Tying recognition to the values and culture of the company is key to increasing an employee's commitment to the organization. "Employees need to feel recognized for their work as though they're contributing meaningfully to company objectives," says Cord Himelstein, vice president of marketing and communications for Michael C. Fina. "Higher engagement correlates with higher productivity and lower turnover, all of which lead to overall greater financial health." Program Types While the basis of all recognition programs is essentially the same—rewarding employees for a job well done—company culture tends to dictate their execution. Recognition can be delivered through several different avenues including service awards, peer-to-peer, points-based, and on-the-spot recognition. Paul Hebert, vice president of solutions design for recognition provider Symbolist, is seeing two growth opportunities in terms of programs. Service anniversary rewards can be expanded to cover more than work anniversaries. Companies are looking to their programs to reward their workforce throughout more of the employee lifecycle: recruiting, onboarding, training, and major career milestones. He also says that customer-facing organizations are thinking outside of the box and enlisting customers to deliver feedback on employees and their work. Some even provide access to the recognition platform customers can share their experiences with the organization and a particular employee. He notes it's becoming more prevalent in organizations where customer satisfaction is a key element of company and brand success. Adding an Element of Fun A large part of a successful recognition program is that the platform is easy to use and has an element of fun. Derek Irvine, vice president of client strategy and consulting for Globoforce, says that social recognition—interfaces that resemble social media channels—provides an interactive experience and visibility into how colleagues are being recognized and rewarding others. "It adds an element of camaraderie and fun to the review process," he says. Introducing gaming to the employee experience through gamification is a newer approach that can get employees involved and engaged in several HR initiatives like training and onboarding. Sounds like a perfect fit for recognition, right? Not so, reports Globoforce's Workforce Mood Tracker survey. Only 30 percent of respondents felt that gamification would be a positive addition to a recognition program. This may stem from the innate competitive aspect of gaming. Irvine says, "Sixty-two percent of respondents said recognition would be less meaningful if they knew someone received points on a leaderboard for giving that recognition, and 79 percent would not work harder if the number of recognition awards given or received was ranked on a leaderboard." Impacting Performance Management Performance reviews have taken some heat in recent years with opponents arguing that they are invaluable and archaic. Earlier this year, The Washington Post published an article on its website entitled, Study finds that basically every single person hates performances reviews. The piece, based on research from psychologists at Kansas State University, Eastern Kentucky University, and Texas A&M University, looked at how damaging negative feedback can be on employees. There are other ancillary problems with annual performance reviews—emphasis on annual. "The annual performance review can be uncomfortable on both ends—especially when the manager/employee relationship doesn't include regular feedback, and communication is weak," says Himelstein. "Frequent recognition and feedback provided throughout the year not only gives employees those quick boosts and greater sense of purpose, but eliminates the