Business Case – Employee Recognition

Recognition is Key to Retention

Target Audience
1,900 corporate and branch office Associates

Situation
A leading international stock brokerage firm realized the importance of rewarding and recognizing its Associates while increasing employee engagement and retention.

Objectives

  • Engage Associates in a culture of reward and recognition by encouraging Associates to recognize each other
  • Foster an environment of learning
  • Improve Associate retention
  • Improve customer and Associate satisfaction

Solution
Create a reward and recognition platform to enable easy and meaningful recognition of corporate and branch Associates for:

  • Outstanding customer service
  • Superior quality of work
  • Exceptional teamwork
  • Exemplifying core values
  • Excelling in initiative
  • Innovative ideas
  • Taking responsibility for learning

Communications

  • To jump start the program, a light-hearted video was produced to introduce all Associates to the upcoming recognition platform.
  • Kicked off with “I Scream, You Scream” ice cream social.
  • Follow-up voicemail message from the president and CEO, reinforced the importance of recognition.
  • Feature articles in the company’s newsletter, posters, email blasts, and web site home page updates promote the value of recognition and keep it top of mind.

Smart Features
Web Platform: Everything necessary to participate in recognizing each other was available online. The program used a Point-based reward system redeemable for high-quality merchandise.

Associates could take quizzes, send e-Cards, nominate teams or individuals, and redeem On-the-Spot cards.

Learn & Earn: Associates earned Points for passing quizzes on product features, service skills and company information.

On-the-Spot cards: Managers have On-the-Spot cards to recognize their Associates for doing the right things right. These awards are easy to use and add an element of excitement to the program.

Peer-to-Peer E-Cards: Associates have opportunity to recognize Associates using e-Cards, electronic greeting cards for demonstrating key attributes. Recipients received Points for the recognition.

Prestigious Recognition through Associate Nomination: Associates or Teams who go Above & Beyond can be nominated for prestigious company awards for their accomplishments that positively impact the organization.

Results

Early Engagement:
  • Within first day of program launch, 60% of all Associates logged on to the program’s website. Within one week, 83% of the Associates earned recognition points.
  • By week two, 94% of Associates had logged on and over 2,400 award opportunities were recorded.
First Year Stats:
  • Engagement is still very high, recognition nominations exceeded 5,300.

– 2,312 Individual

– 3,002 Team

  • Ranked number 16 on Computerworld’s 2008 Best Places to Work in IT, referencing their recognition program as one of the reasons why you would want to work there.
  • Ranked one of FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2008.Results Graph