Creating a Culture of Recognition

[Amy]

I'm leading a team of folks who's charge it is to guide a division of a large company's effort to increase employee engagement. One of our focus areas is to identify factors necessary to create and sustain a culture of recognition and then to start to build that culture. We have plenty of programs at our individual locations as well as at a division level so I don't want to end up with another program.

Does anyone have some suggested resources ideas on how to focus this team on the cultural elements rather than purely create more hard to maintain programs?

[Linda Williams]

Hello Amy,
Sounds like you're well underway with your team. I do love recognition programs that recognized 'most improved'. It's imparative to remember during recognition that each individual starting point varies, which in turn means, each individual success point is different.
I look forward to you update.
Cheers. Linda ... employee awards

[tammy]

Hi Amy I am in the same boat so to speak... very challenging. We are merging two cultures from a merger acquision out with the old and in with the new.. so our programs are changing. Recognition is one that I've been tasked with.

t

[Derek Irvine]

Amy and Tammy, you both raise important questions about what to do to foster a culture of recognition or appreciation. I encourage you to view this webinar available on HR.com that I just hosted today with Symantec. In it, Jennifer Reimert of Symantec discusses how they were able to affect and measure culture change in six months. She also talks about Symantec's challenge of having a "culture of cultures" and needing to merge them into one.

Amy -- factors necessary to create and sustain a culture of recognition. First, I have to comment on your "plenty of programs at individual and division levels." The multitude of programs could actually be detracting from your efforts to create a culture of appreciation. If you are aiming for ONE culture, then that culture should be founded on the same factor everywhere in your company. We've found in best practices with our clients (global, Fortune 500 organizations) that the best foundation for a culture of appreciation is what I'm sure you already have -- your company values. In most organizations, however, the values are nothing but a plaque on the wall. Most employees couldn't even recite the values if their job depended on it, much less understand fundamentally how their efforts in day to day tasks demonstrate those values. The same can be said for strategic objectives, which every company needs to have employees focused on delivering against.

So we recommend building a strategic recognition program around your values and objectives such that anytime an employee is recognized, that recognition is tied to a value demonstrated or objective achieved (or contributed to). In this way, employees begin to understand how and why their jobs matter to the success of the company and what the values mean in their everyday efforts. Done strategically, you can also track any low-performing values or objectives (as recognized) and initiate specific training events around them.

Perhaps best of all in these cost-cutting times is our clients have saved 50-70% of their investment in recognition by consolidating all of those multiple programs while simultaneously recognizing far more employees far more frequently in a more manageable (and governable) way.

Tammy, your challenge of merging cultures is similar, but with it's own distinct issues. Using what I've said above as a launching pad, here are five tips specific to the M&A challenge:

1) Merge the two companies’ vision and values into a new statement that is meaningful to employees from both organizations. Then use the strategic recognition program as a positive communication tool of the vision and values to all employees. When done correctly, recognizing behaviors, actions or attitudes that are tied to a specific value will help those values come alive for all employees, creating a more meaningful and memorable impact. Designate recognition ambassadors within both merging companies to encourage and demonstrate appropriate use of the recognition program.

2) As with any strategic program, secure executive sponsorship of the recognition program, but be sure to include key senior leadership from both companies in the initial roll-out. By seeing familiar and trusted leaders encouraging positive appreciation moments throughout the merged organization, employees from both companies will begin to notice and acknowledge the valuable efforts and contributions from their colleagues in the other company.

3) Any strategic program requires measurable goals to track success. Frequency, timeliness and appropriateness of the rewards are critical in recognition programs. In the special case of M&A, specific goals should be included to track the progress of the merger of the two cultures into one of appreciation across the global workforce.

4) Prior to program launch, confidentially survey employees on current job satisfaction; engagement level in their current roles; level of concern with the M&A relative to job retention, potential culture change and leadership; understanding of the values of the merged entity; and how those values translate to daily behaviors. Conduct the survey again periodically to measure improvements in these and other predetermined critical-to-success areas.

5) Launch the program soon after the M&A is announced to engage all employees in this new culture of appreciation, help them understand their continued value to the merged organization, and unite all employees behind the new vision and values.

[Steve Richardson]

and i would highly recommend having a look at the Recognition Professionals International conference taking place in May (www.recognition.org). In my day job at RBC and as a Board member at RPI, I always take away great ideas and enjoy the exchange with others facing Recognition challenges!

[BrittneyMaxfield]

You might benefit from reading this article on ways leaders can add to a culture of recognition:
http://www.managesmarter.com/msg/incentive/search/article_display.j...

And this one talks about how to design incentives/recognition that work: http://www.managesmarter.com/msg/incentive/search/article_display.j...

Hope these are helpful.

[Adam Hibbert]

According to sociologist Axel Honneth, who makes recognition the basis for understanding social relations and the individuals that inhabit them, there are three phases in "the struggle for recognition" ... roughly summarised:
(i) the demand for love, confirmation of the truth of your basic senses and needs and creating the basis for self-confidence,
(ii) the demand for rights, through which one learns to recognise others as independent human beings with rights like oneself, creating the basis for self-respect, and
(iii) the demand for recognition as a unique person, the basis for self-esteem and a complex and tolerant social life.

I think the objects of each phase (the goods identified in italics above) are what we need to focus on ... making sure we're coaching leaders to focus on maintaining a social fabric which enables each of these to be realised. It might be refreshing for the programme team to step back and workshop: to what extent could your company answer each of these needs? By what means? And what's the willingness to do so, to the fullest possible extent?

[Brian J. Carlsen]

I'm not sure what you've already established, but there might be a couple of ideas you'd find helpful in Attract, Engage & Retain Top Talent. www.bjcarlsen.blogspot.com

There is a chapter called "Recognize and Appreciate" that might helpful. All the best to you and your efforts!

Brian Carlsen