Does your agency recognize excellence?
Reward exceptional employees, improve retention
Today’s work culture is far different from that of our parents. Few people entering today’s work force expect to remain with a single company throughout their careers and fewer imagine staying around for more than three years. Still, there are those firms that have employees who have been around for 10 years and longer. How do they do it?
"Surveys show that people don’t feel they’re paid enough." says Jim Sterling, SPHR, president of Sterling Consulting Services in Westerville, OH. "But they also show that it isn’t always cash that people desire. Most people don’t leave a job because of a lack of pay but rather because of poor management and an overall lack of respect.
"So many times you see operations people who want to give raises, and all that does is buy the company a month or two of peace. But then they’re back where they started, only this time they have lost more employees and have higher operating costs. Beyond money, recognition carries a lot of weight."
Something as seemingly insignificant as an encouraging note from a superior can go a long way toward improving overall staff morale — a prime benefit of any employee recognition program, he notes.
Of course, there are limits to what praise can do, Sterling admits. "In a situation where pay is the driving force it [employee recognition programs] won’t act as a substitute. For example, if you’re paying 50% less than the market rate, you won’t be able to recognize them enough to make up the difference," he says.
What will make employees sit up and feel noticed? Sterling says the keys to a successful employee recognition program are many. The first step in developing one should involve your employees, he says. "Just by asking your employees what they want and letting them know you value them enough to set up this program is going to be a form of reward in itself," says Sterling.
He encourages his clients to hold small focus groups or even include a one-page survey in employee paychecks asking them what they value and what they want from their jobs. "Too often management falls into the ivory tower trap of This is what employees want’ without ever asking them," he points out. It’s often helpful in holding focus groups to bring six or seven ideas to the table so that employees have an idea of what management is thinking of doing, he adds.
Once you have a clear idea of what employees really want, that is the time to go about formalizing a plan, he says. The best of plans should include:
• Reflect the company’s values and business strategies.
"You want to tie the recognition program in to the direction in which the company wants to head and how you want employees to be treated," he explains. "If, for example, you don’t care about turnover in a position because it’s very low-tech, then your recognition program will be different from that of a more technical job."
• Build in parameters for rewards.
"Every time an employee receives five good reviews or ratings, then they will get X amount of time off," Sterling says. "This needs to built into a tiered system where, when the employee reaches 20 positive reviews, he or she will earn something larger."
• Use creative ways to recognize employees’ accomplishments.
If a company decides to go with something tangible like a trophy, he says, there’s no reason it has to invest a lot of money. He has seen offices where an old bowling trophy was passed around the office, and others where by means of recognition, employees received personal notes of thanks from five co-workers. "It doesn’t matter what the reward or recognition is so much, just that there is one. It’s really just a symbol," Sterling says.
He encourages offices to be creative in devising programs, even down to the title. "The more entertaining, the more positively the program is received," he points out.
• Advertise the program internally and externally.
Sterling says it’s not enough for employees to know about the program, but that clients should be made aware of them as well. "Let your clients know you are recognizing your employees and let them have input as well," Sterling says. He suggests mentioning it in the company newsletter and on its Web site.
• Give your program a limited time run.
Recognition programs need to be changed and updated frequently, "because they wear out their welcome after a while," Sterling notes. What he doesn’t recommend, however, is running them only sporadically. "It’s not something you can start and then stop three months later because it builds mistrust. Management must be committed to the program and then stick with it."
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