Beyond the Gold Watch and Employee of the Month: Reflections on Employee Recognition Programs

Today, for a change, I’m writing an original post inspired by personal experience and observation, not by my daily Internet news reading.

The other day, my wife and I were guests at the annual meeting of the insurance company for which her brother Dave has worked as an agent for twenty years.

Dave was one of six agents receiving “Hall of Fame” lifetime achievement recognition.

This company really made a big deal out of this employee recognition award: as I understand it, this is an award reserved for the best of the best, who have received top annual awards for each of twenty years.

For me, the awards presentation was a vivid lesson in the role and importance of employee recognition programs.

In front of close to two thousand of their peers, these six agents not only received their trophy, with an executive handshake and souvenir photograph; they also received an opportunity to pass on to the less experienced members of the workforce their personal stories, and the attitudes, methods, and values that led to their success.

In turn, each of the six honored agents starred in a professionally produced 5-minute video, and then spoke to the assembly.

One guy began his speech with a touching flashback to his personal introduction to the value of life insurance: waving the insurance policy his Dad had bought in the 50′s — just a few years before he died too young, leaving 4 young kids.

Each not only thanked those who helped them along the way, but also shared some secrets of their success.

The point I came away with was that an employee recognition program isn’t just about motivating employees with rewards. It’s not just about boosting their self-esteem. It’s not just about reducing turnover. Though it obviously helps with all of these.

Done right, as it was done by this insurance company, employee recognition also serves a great role-modeling function. Giving these guys a platform to talk about what they do, how they do it, and what they like about it was of great value in inspiring others.

Such externally-oriented objectives of employee recognition programs are ranked relatively highly among the purposes cited by companies engaged in such programs.

According to a survey, the most common objectives for having recognition programs include: 81 percent, create a positive work environment; 75 percent, motivate high performance; 71 percent, reinforce desired behaviors; 70 percent, create a culture of recognition; 65 percent, increase morale; 62 percent, support organizational mission/values; 49 percent, increase retention/decrease turnover; 38 percent, encourage loyalty; 23 percent, support a culture change.

Resources:

• The National Association For Employee Recognition
• About Human Resources: Five Tips for Effective Employee Recognition
• Canadian Business Magazine: In praise of praise — employee recognition
• Companies find awards work well

Photo credit: T Hall via flickr

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