Talent Management - July 2008 - (Page 49)

Spotlight on Employee Recognition Intuit named its employee recognition program Spotlight, which is described on its online welcome page as a tool for “spotlighting performance, innovation and service dedication.” The Spotlight program includes recognition for performance, inventions and service. Performance awards are given for speciﬁc behavior that meets award criteria. Innovation awards are for patent disclosures, patent ﬁlings and issued patents. Service awards are for milestone anniversaries in multiples of ﬁve years. Most performance awards can be given on the spot, providing immediate recognition for exceptional behavior. These awards can be both monetary and nonmonetary. Nonmonetary awards referred to as “Take a Bow” can be given by anyone in the company. Managers and higherlevel individual contributors can give awards with monetary value to any employee in any part of the company. Intuit has established a budget of 1 percent of payroll for the awards program. Departments can budget more or give higher-level awards by reducing spending in other budget areas. Awards can be made in denominations from $10 to $1,000, and the company grossed up the recipient’s income to cover award taxes for employees. Cash awards can be made in values of $500 to $3,000, before taxes. In addition, there are two award levels at which the employee can receive a trip, including $500 spending money. Intuit does not require high-level approval of performance awards. The company believes timeliness is important and does not want an approval loop to interfere with the recognition process. An employee that does something praiseworthy should be recognized quickly. Those talent managers authorized to give awards meet with management to determine how awards will be given. Inappropriate use of the award program is addressed after the fact by the award giver and management. Patent and service awards are administered through the online Spotlight program, using the same process for performance awards. In addition to gift certiﬁcates, employees receive commemorative items: At ﬁve years, employees receive a picture frame. At 10 years, they receive an award designed by Intuit Co-Founder Scott Cook, featuring a granite base with the employee’s name and 10 years of service etched in copper, with 10 crystal blocks that can be stacked on the base, each with one of Intuit’s corporate values. The commemorative items are sent to the employee’s manager and are given out at departmental recognition events. In addition to purchasing goods and services, employees can use awards to make charitable donations. At the end of 2007, there were two charitable choices: the International Red Cross and an organization that provides medical services in Sudan. Using awards for charitable purposes is popular, as many employees feel they already have enough “stuff” and prefer to use awards for something more meaningful. July 2008 much money for their awards, and it was not a good value proposition. The electronic products in the online catalog were outdated and batteries, cables, memory and other necessary accessories often were missing, requiring employees to purchase additional items. Merchandise often was broken during shipping, and delivery times were long, especially for out-of-stock items. The merchandise catalog program experienced stagnant adoption rates and was never deployed in the U.K. Use of the merchandise catalog program remained static at 5,000 to 5,500 awards per year during the three years it was in place. Only 50 percent of Intuit employees received awards. Employees began to request gift certiﬁcates because of issues with merchandise awards. Certiﬁcates for only 10 to 15 companies were added to the program but quickly became 90 percent of award redemptions. However, the certiﬁcates took up to a month to be delivered. To resolve these challenges, Intuit developed and implemented a best-practices-based strategic global employee recognition program. APPLICATION continued on page 56 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 49 http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - July 2008

Talent Management - July 2008 Editor’s Letter Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Guest Editorial Passive Candidate Recruiting: Evolving with a Changing Workforce How Do They Feel? Sec Regulations and Executive Compensation Performance Management: A Retail Perspective Train the Non-Trainer Management-Go-Round: Developing Future Leaders Netflix Creates Its Own Script for Talent Management Intuit Spotlights Strategic Importance of Global Employee Recognition Make HR a Profit Center: Automate Technology to Gather Tax Credit Data Offshoring and the Impact on Talent Management Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - July 2008

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