HOW TO // Launch your employee recognition program without losing your cool.
Planning your employee recognition program can seem daunting, especially if you are a small team – or a team of one. Can you tailor it around all parts of the business? With a set budget? And lots of people, actually everyone, wanting their say in what should be included? When it should be launched? What the rewards should be? Is there a recognition partner who can deliver all of that for you?
Breathe.
If you have selected a recognition partner, or are still weighing up your options, use this easy-to-follow guide to help you plan your program without losing your cool.
#1. Set your recognition objectives.
Firstly, set the overall objectives for the program and determine how you are going to measure them. What is it you want to achieve - increased productivity? Increased sales? Happier employees? More teamwork? Less absenteeism? What results or reports are available to you to measure these objectives? Do you need to put some new ones in place?
Remember that measuring the program will allow you to see which elements are working and which need some attention. Having demonstrable results also allows you to share the positive impact the program is having with the leadership team and broader business.
#2. Get executive support.
Once you have determined the outcomes you want for the business, get feedback from the top. Having business leaders across the program from the beginning will foster support and allow you to handle any objections before the program is live.
Support of leaders is also fundamental to making recognition a habit for all employees. If senior execs are taking time to recognise employees, employees will see that recognition is important to the company and follow suit.
#3. Consider what you do well already when it comes to recognition.
Make a list of what is working, but also list out what isn’t working for you right now. Do you have an employee of the year program that everyone loves? Put it on the list of things to keep. Do managers have a small budget to spend as they want on their team – end of month lunch, a bunch of flowers for a special occasion? This is great recognition activity so add this to the list too.
Then make a list of things that need improving. Hearing office chat that one manager hands out high-fives like candy but another rarely raises their hand for job well done? It’s probably happening so write it down on your list of things to improve.
#4. Define your overall recognition budget.
Starting with the numbers is not just about keeping the finance team smiling. It is important to plan how to maximise the impact of your recognition investment, while focussing on what is important to you.
Think outside of your HR budget when you are looking for funding. The positive impact of a recognition program will be felt across all departments and productivity increases will help all executives achieve their goals. These leaders may be willing to contribute to the cost of the program if you show them the benefits.
#5. Determine your values.
Most initiatives in a business need to deliver value back to the business. And recognition is no different. It is important to recognise for values that will impact the business and will build company culture.
Most companies choose to recognise behaviour against their corporate values. This aligns employee behaviour with company goals. You may also choose to recognise for day-to-day values, things that you know employees will want to celebrate but don’t necessarily fit with the corporate values.
If you don’t have company values, a recognition program is a good way to launch them and keeps the new values top of mind. What gets recognised not only gets repeated, it sets the benchmark for all employees.
#6. Choose how these values will be recognised.
Once you have determined your values, decide how they will be recognised. The most impactful way to build a culture of recognition is to have three types of recognition – peer-to-peer, manager recognition and company recognition.
Peer-to-peer recognition highlights the great things that happen all the time across the business, without necessarily being visible to managers. The more impactful behaviours that are deserving of something more can be called out by a manager recognising an employee. The bigger things that happen less frequently that have a bigger impact can be addressed from the company to an employee.
Think about what is important to you and how your program design accommodates these elements.
#7. Decide where the money will be spent.
Now you know what is being recognised, define where the budget will be allocated. Recognition alone is exceptionally powerful when delivered well so you don’t have to include rewards if you don’t have the budget or it does not fit with your recognition style. We have seen cases of companies reducing their reward spend significantly while increasing engagement, simply through the power of recognition.
If you are incorporating the shiny stuff – financial rewards - consider 0.3 – 0.5% of your total wage budget as a starting point. This amount is usually enough to build a program that has value and relevance for your employees – without breaking the bank. You can always increase or decrease this as the business requires or you see the results of the program.
When it comes to financial rewards, also consider if you want to commit to a minimum spend and if so, budget accordingly. If not, look for a recognition provider who leaves reward spend entirely up to you.
#8. Consider other fun and engaging ways to show how much you value employees.
It is not always about giving out the latest gadgets, a great recognition program should also include personalised perks – individual rewards that don’t necessarily cost a lot but have a big impact for your employees. It might simply be time out of the office to get ready for a special occasion, an afternoon off to pick up a loved one, some vacay dollars to spend on their next island holiday or a lie in after a busy weekend.
Whatever it is, think of ways you can show your appreciation, without blowing the budget.
#9. Think about anniversaries and other milestones.
Consider how employee milestones will be included in your program from day one. Recognition when on-boarding employees is a great way to immerse new hires in the company culture. Think about how you can include on-boarding in the program, either just messages from the company letting your new employees know that their first week, month, quarter have not gone unnoticed, or with added perks or rewards.
Similarly, consider how service anniversaries can be part of the program. While you don’t want service anniversaries to be a ‘set-and-forget’ moment, a program that automates years of service and publicises the occasion removes the onus of manually management of service awards.
#10. Ask for input.
The best way to build a successful program is to invite others to build it with you. Your employees will be more connected with a program they have had a hand in designing. Win for you as you have home-grown advocates once the program is up and running. Win for your employees, and another win for you, as the program will include elements that have the greatest impact.
Once you have the basic design outlined, introduce a working group that is representative of all the different parts of the business. Let the group know that you would like a few hours of their time to help build something that is meaningful and valued across the business. Bounce ideas around with the group and get feedback throughout the planning process.
#11. Consider a recognition brand.
Decide on a name for the program. Pick something that fits with the culture you want to embody as a business. For example, if one of your company values is ‘fun at work’ pick something fun that your employees will relate to. This will make it memorable. If your company ranks professionalism top of the list of values, choose a name that fits with this value.
Next, decide if you want the program to have its own identity. Remember, this program is about employees so the program brand does not have to be the same as your customer brand. Goes without saying you will want the two brands to be closely related, but you may choose to have a program-specific logo that is used for all reward and recognition activity.
Having a recognition brand has benefits – and it’s not just about the perks and rewards you give out. Branding your program separates recognition communication from other business messages and employees know these messages will be good news.
Think about all the elements of the site you want to personalise with your brand – values, colours, logos, images, messages, program documents just to name a few.
Our team can help come up with a name and logo for you so let us know if you want us to get creative.
#12. Think about how to manage employee data.
This step can seem overwhelming but it’s quite simple. There are usually two ways you can handle data, and two types of data to consider.
If you have a HRM or HRIS, you may want to feed data directly to the recognition system. This will save you having to make changes in two systems. A data feed can easily be set-up with an API. If there is an API pre-built, you should be able to hand the documentation to the HR database manager and they can set it up in a few simple steps.
If you do not have a HR database, or don’t want to integrate it, you will need to think about how to get employee data into the recognition system. Ideally, you can do this in a template, designed with enough flexibility so you can map out your organisation on paper.
There is employee data, and if you are using it, hierarchy data. Your hierarchy will map out who reports to who so you can give managers tools to use to engage their team. Remember, you don’t have to have a hierarchy for your program to be successful. It just depends how you want recognition to work for you.
You will also need to decide how often to make updates. If you are working with a system where the update process is a few clicks, you can almost so this real-time. If you are paying a provider to do the updates for you, you may want to limit these updates to avoid extra charges.
#13. Set-up manager training
Once you have your program defined and set-up, schedule in some training for your managers before you launch the program to all employees. Give managers a chance to not only see how it will benefit them, but also understand how it works. Once you launch to employees, managers may be hit with questions about the program so arm them with as much information as you can.
When it comes down to it, your managers are the people that will make the program successful so support them pre-launch so once you go live, they support the program.
If you work through these steps, you should be well on your way to delivering a great recognition program. If you would like to chat to one of our recognition experts about getting up and running, we are here to help.