Innovative program at B.C. school district features ‘carrot a day’ approach, new milestones
A couple of years ago, the recognition program at School District 42, covering Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows in British Columbia, was almost non-existent — there was a dinner for employees who reached 25 years and a tea for retirees.
Today, the program has been revitalized and revamped, with several milestones recognized through special events along with the addition of a daily recognition program from managers.
“We’re pretty proud of what we’ve done because it’s quite innovative in our sector,” says Shannon Joly, director of human resources at SD42 (who is currently on maternity leave).
The whole process began back in late 2008 when Joly — faced with a limited budget — enlisted the help of students from the B.C. Institute of Technology (BCIT) to conduct the first “Have Your Say!” employee satisfaction and engagement survey of the district’s 1,900 employees.
“I instinctively knew recognition was an issue in the public education sector so I just wanted to get a sense of satisfaction,” she says.
The survey confirmed recognition was the number-one challenge facing the organization.
“We were doing a pretty good job at the front-line level, although we were dealing with inconsistencies in styles and approaches from our mangers, but we were really lacking in the bigger-picture recognition,” says Joly.
Focus groups revealed employees just wanted to be appreciated on a daily basis by supervisors. In addition, the teachers and staff were quite humble and not keen on flashy prizes.
“They really just want to be thanked and acknowledged on a day-to-day level, by supervisors, principals and our senior management,” she says.
The district also learned, not surprisingly, that it shouldn’t wait 25 years to say “thank you.”
“I already knew that, I totally agree with that,” says Joly. “We needed to do something about that, in addition to revamping it, because it was kind of old school with the recognition pin — it really wasn’t suiting people’s needs.”
A steering committee was also created, made up of union and employee representatives and HR, to work together on what the survey should look like. The group was instrumental in promoting completion of the survey, which can be challenging in a union environment, she says, and was also very supportive in promoting the recognition program as it rolled out.
“I developed the recognition program but I couldn’t have done it without the collaboration of the steering committee and union support.”
The BCIT employees were also asked to research best practices in recognition at leading organizations along with public education in B.C.
“Obviously, on the private side, there were a whole lot of great things happening and in public education, people were doing most of the same things that we were doing,” she says.
In looking at the programs of other organizations, it was apparent money was a factor.
“When you don’t have money to spend, producing a good recognition program can be challenging. So I realized, wow, there’s a lot of things out there that are great but they cost a lot of money, so how can I take a low-cost, no-cost approach to recognition?” says Joly.
Carrot a day approach
Joly started working with recognition firm O.C. Tanner and was particularly interested in a training program that deals with a “carrot a day” philosophy. In assessing the cost, she decided the best approach was to become certified by O.C. Tanner, so she flew down to Salt Lake City, Utah, for a week-long program. To complete the course, participants were required to teach a training module to a class that is peer-reviewed by people in the course and the coaches.
When Joly returned to B.C., she developed a PowerPoint presentation and changed some of the “carrot a day” modules — which are quite corporate — to incorporate some of the things valued in public education, with O.C. Tanner providing feedback.
“They hadn’t seen a school district come to them before, so they thought it was pretty neat, what we were doing,” she says.
Joly then trained almost 100 management staff, including the board of education and union representatives. The training talked about the importance of recognition and how it’s important for managers to use their own style.
“We didn’t want a cookie-cutter approach to recognition, what we wanted was for them to draw on whatever it was that made them great at whatever they do, and just add to it,” she says.
The managers were also given several resources including books, a 365-day calendar featuring different ways to recognize people and a customized website through O.C. Tanner that shares several examples of how to recognize staff.
“What we’ve done now is we’ve incorporated a feedback loop because actually some of our folks are already doing a great job of recognizing their staff, so what we wanted to do was share that, because it works, and build on it with some of the research and best practices we’ve come up with as well.”
Teachers, especially, become embarrassed when people make a big deal about them so administrators are challenged to find creative ways to recognize people, such as popping into a classroom or leaving a note on a chair, says Joly.
“That was a challenge for us, knowing we have a fairly humble group,” she says. “They want (recognition) to be genuine, from someone in authority.”
And in the spring of 2010, the managers started doing daily recognition, which is going really well, she says.
Major milestones
The other part of the process involved the milestone program, which has been revamped and is called “Hire to Retire & Beyond,” with recognition for one-year, 10-year, 20-year and 35-year employees, in addition to the 25-year employees and retirees. Recognition is different for each milestone.
One-year employees receive personalized correspondence, an SD42 pin and the opportunity for feedback on the first-year experience. Many people start the job on call, so SD42 wanted them to be more committed to the organization, says Joly.
“Most of these people will still be shared with other districts but we want them to think of us as the first choice when a full-time job comes up,” she says.
At the 10-year mark, the recognition is held in November and is more zone-based, so the school directors are in charge and schools in the designated zones get together for coffee and cake and to hear a guest speaker.
The 20-year celebration is held in the spring, featuring live entertainment that included a comedian and catered food in 2010. This year’s event was a really touching evening, with people laughing and socializing, says Joly.
“It was just a really nice evening out that was fun, which is what we wanted to do.”
The 25-year dinner has always been well-loved — featuring food prepared by secondary school chefs and culinary students — but instead of providing pins worth $120, the program was broadened to allow people to donate the money or receive a gift card.
“We sort of modernized it, which probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to some organizations but in a traditional setting like public education, it was fairly significant and people appreciated it,” says Joly.
SD42 also decided to do video testimonials, featuring interviews with colleagues about the honourees, along with their favourite music.
“We really personalized these video testimonials,” she says. “People were crying and hugging. It was really, really cool.”
The 35-year event held in June is designed to be more intimate, featuring dinner with the superintendent and chair of the board, who also give the honourees inspirational books. The retirement and alumni event has also been a very popular event so SD42 made little changes, providing afternoon tea and a souvenir retirement book, with write-ups on all retirees, and a gift. There is also an open invitation to district alumni to share in the celebration.
A newsletter, Milestones, was also created and is sent out quarterly. It features the names of honourees along with photos from the events.
“People get really excited to see their colleagues,” says Joly.
Next steps for program
At this point, SD42 has no measurables as the program just rolled out this year, she says. The district is also in the middle of collective bargaining and will be again in the spring but Joly intends to redo the survey to gain feedback on their efforts.
“I can tell you it has (been beneficial) but it’s mostly just a gut thing,” she says. “Our grievances have reduced significantly, there’s more of a positive outlook and attitude.”
Many people didn’t think the district would actually do anything in response to the employee survey.
“People didn’t know that we would respond to what they’re saying and, now that we have, I think there’s a lot more trust being built in the organization,” says Joly.
