The Power of Engagement

A major company was using 17 different programs on a variety of platforms to recognize its 90,000 employees. In an industry characterized by frequent mergers and acquisitions, employees who were shifted from one organization to another experienced a corporate culture that was about as unified as a Picasso painting.

The company’s executives asked Anderson Performance Improvement Company (APIC) to design a system that would transform its culture by making recognition a priority instead of an afterthought.

Leaders wanted employees to be challenged to higher standards of performance. But more than that, they also wanted to tie recognition clearly to corporate values and strategies. Recognition would no longer be used haphazardly, but would consistently express the importance the company places on its peoples’ attitudes and accomplishments.

APIC’s new system streamlined the organization’s recognition criteria. Managers now can track costs, manage budgets, and compare consistent metrics on one Web-based platform across the entire enterprise.

Here’s a sampling of how it works. When Customer Service Reps pass an online quiz, their Manager is quick to observe them using their newly gained knowledge with customers. The Manager recognizes the Reps, making sure that plenty of people are watching. The Reps, surrounded by their applauding co-workers, are each presented with a Scratch-and-Win card. The Reps log in to their personal accounts and enter the number from their Scratch-and-Win card to find out how many ePoints they earned. The value of the ePoints is applied to merchandise the Reps have selected online.

This system allows each location to customize recognition to its needs: A call center may recognize referrals; a sales division may reward on individual or team revenue increases. Online quizzes can also be customized to reinforce product knowledge or to recognize those who share Best Practices so others can use them.

Peer-to-peer recognition is another important part of this system. When co-workers notice their peers doing the right things right, they can make online nominations. Managers use their cache of discretionary ePoints to reward those who are nominated. Managers also reward milestone achievements at quarterly and annual gatherings. Workers can follow their own progress toward goals as compared with others via online rankings for their organization.

Is this recognition system working?
That would be an understatement. During the first quarter the new system was running, there were 300 nominations. As the chart below shows, by the third quarter, the number had grown to 1,200, a 400 percent increase. Not only that, but associates experienced a sense of accomplishment from increased recognition on the job, and management reported a reduction in turnover rate. Now that’s engagement!