Getting the most out of recognition

Getting employees onboard with organizational change isn’t easy.

Conventional wisdom says organizations should look to reinforce desired behaviours and results by linking pay and performance. And many organizations try to forge these links through merit increases, striving to give slightly bigger salary increases to top performers.

But budgets for salary increases have been lackluster of late. At best, top performers only get one or two per cent more as acknowledgement of their contributions. And those are annual increases, so they don’t provide opportunities to recognize people going above and beyond in a timely manner. 

As a result, there is a growing interest in recognition programs as a means of delivering “just-in-time” acknowledgement. 

However, many employers could use recognition programs more effectively to help drive desired performance and results.

Recognition programs lacking

A recent study by WorldatWork, entitled Trends in Employee Recognition, found that length-of-service programs remain the most common type of program, used by 72 per cent of survey participants.

In contrast, significantly fewer organizations reported having programs aimed at motivating specific behaviours or outcomes such as customer service (34 per cent), productivity (27 per cent) and quality (27 per cent). Further, only 26 per cent reported using recognition to provide line of sight to company goals while 24 per cent said they use recognition to support a culture of change.

Many employers feel there is room for improvement. Only 18 per cent of respondents to the WorldatWork survey felt their recognition programs were “definitely” meeting objectives. 

So, how can employers leverage recognition programs so they deliver deeper value to the organization? And, even more importantly, how do they encourage people to adopt the new actions and behaviours that the organization needs to remain successful?

Revamping recognition at Numeris

One employer that has revamped its recognition approach to better drive organization change is Numeris, an audience measurement organization. It does research on the television shows people watch and the radio stations people listen to so they can provide insights into the Canadian broadcasting and advertising industry.

This sector has been undergoing massive change as more and more people watch TV shows or listen to music online. This profound change is demanding a paradigm shift within Numeris itself. The organization needs to find new ways to measure what people are watching or listening to if they are to continue adding value to stakeholders.

That means employees not only need to support organizational changes, they need to help create the organization of the future, according to Vita DiSerio, vice-president of people and culture at Numeris in Toronto.

One major area of focus has been to encourage more “enterprise thinking,” says DiSerio. This involves “looking beyond the scope of what you do day to day to consider how you’re part of the bigger picture and how you can contribute to that.”

As Numeris enters into the digital space of media measurement, the people and culture team is looking for ways to better encourage innovation, cross-collaboration and the optimization of business processes, she says.

To help encourage new ways of working together, DiSerio has implemented a number of changes, including reviewing and revamping the approach to recognition.

As part of the review, DiSerio and her team looked at the feedback they had about existing recognition programs from both employees and management. 

Here are some of the issues:

•  Some programs were complicated or not adding value.

•  There was too much emphasis on recognizing employees who demonstrated company values and not enough focus on the new desired behaviours related to enterprise thinking.

•  Some of the potential recognition awards had unduly low values and there were no major awards for acknowledging significant contributions that had a major corporate impact.

•  Leaders wanted more coaching and guidance with respect to how to recognize employees but also how to align the value of recognition awards with the level of contribution made.

“Ultimately, we wanted more structure around the types of behaviours that are important to the organization,” says DiSerio. “And we also wanted a way to align the level of contribution with the level of reward.”

In response, the team:

•  reviewed and consolidated programs down to a critical few

•  refined the main company-wide program to simplify the design and more clearly define the types of contributions and behaviours to be recognized, with an emphasis on acknowledging employees who collaborate, innovate and serve as role models for enterprise thinking

•  expanded the types of awards that can be used when recognizing employees to include cash-based spot bonuses

•  developed tools and training for people managers that included both general training on how to recognize employees as well as a framework that defined potential levels of contribution and the related award values that would be appropriate by level.

The framework for aligning recognition awards with contribution levels has been helpful because it helps leaders develop more consistency in their recognition practices, says DiSerio. It presents examples of the types of contributions and outputs that could be recognized by level and offers guidelines on the dollar value of awards that would be appropriate.

At the lowest level of contribution, people managers are encouraged to acknowledge and thank employees for their efforts. At higher levels, employees can earn points that can be exchanged for their choice of gift cards or they can receive gift cards chosen by their manager. At the highest levels, employees can be awarded with spot bonuses.

Organizations seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their recognition programs should start by considering the organization’s key performance indicators, says DiSerio. How does the organization measure success and what behaviours need to be cultivated or reinforced to move the organization forward?

In addition, HR needs to ensure the program design is aligned with business needs and priorities.

“If it’s pie in the sky, it will just be an HR program versus a business program.”

Finally, HR needs to be open to making changes, say DiSerio.

“It’s important to get feedback from leaders, managers and employees at all levels and to take action where needed.”

While it is still early days for the new recognition approach at Numeris, DiSerio is looking forward to recognizing organizational achievements as the organization moves into digital measurement.

Claudine Kapel is principal of Kapel and Associates, a human resources and compensation consulting firm based in Toronto. She can be reached at [email protected].