Incentive - November 2008 - (Page 26)

research and consulting firm. There’s a similar approach at SnagAJob, where employees receive a $400 recognition gift certificate with a letter from the company’s president on their first day of work, he says. Not surprisingly, the Glen Allen, Va., firm ranked third on the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2008 list of the 50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America. SnagAJob and Baptist Health South Florida, which ranked 94th on the annual Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list this year, are just two examples of how great companies treat employees and manage their recognition programs, Adler says. Instead of waiting for employees to hit traditional milestones, the companies that tend to land on the Institute’s coveted lists have an entirely different approach that marries length-of-service awards with more immediate incentives. SnagAJob and Baptist Health South Florida send a different kind of message than most other organizations because of the way the companies reward new hires, he says. The message to new employees is this: “You’ve come into a different kind of organization that is going to recognize good work and extra effort, not simply when it’s done, but based on the assumption that at some point, it will be done.” And while all companies on the Best Places to Work lists have length-of-service awards, “[SnagAJob and Baptist Health are] focused on culture, they’re focused on what makes the organization special,” Adler says. “They’re much less focused on the tactical nature of individual practices and policies. These companies are not focused on what the longevity of awards or recognitions are, but rather how they’re experienced in the organizations. “They don’t use annual recognition as a way to keep people in the organization,” he says. “They start thinking about how to fully welcome and engage a person from the first day, and they don’t let them go. It starts the first day and it doesn’t end.” A Shorter Span For many organizations, the conversation about employee recognition and rewards programs has changed in recent years. Employees are no longer sticking around for the 30-year anniversary, the Rolex watch, or the diamond-studded pin. In this environment, employers are having to get a lot more creative about how they reward employees and how often they pass along the kudos. Twenty or 30 years ago, length-of-service awards often were the only recognition programs that companies had in place, says Lenny Sanicola, practice leader at WorldatWork, an organization for HR professionals based in Scottsdale, Ariz. “But in today’s environment, you can’t just rely on length-of-service programs. They’re still part of the mix, but you’re not going to survive just on that. without necessarily increasing somebody’s base wage. The whole point of incentives is to reward people for exceptional performance without increasing the fixed cost.” But length-of-service awards still are the most common type of recognition awards at companies (86 percent), followed by performance-based awards (79 percent), according to WorldatWork’s Trends in Employee Recognition survey released in April. Despite their continuing popularity, however, many companies now recognize that length-of-service awards are only a part of a successful rewards program, Sanicola says. Now—especially in the last five to seven years—length-of-service awards typically are used in combination with other recognition programs. Many companies also offer length-of-service awards earlier than they used to, and at one- and five-year increments. “With Gen X and with Gen Y, they really are looking for companies who are going “[These companies] start thinking about how to fully welcome and engage a person from the first day.” —Hal Adler, Great Place to Work Institute The Gen Ys aren’t going to stay around for the Rolex watch.” Regardless of generation, in fact, employees are no longer staying at companies as long as they used to. And in this era of layoffs, downsizings and reorganizations, many younger employees no longer expect—or necessarily want—a long-term commitment with an employer. Motivated more by career opportunities, attractive benefits, flexible work arrangements, and more frequent rewards and perks, many employees are more fickle today when it comes to the traditional definition of company loyalty and long service. Contributing to the trend toward more recognition programs is the fact that merit budgets have decreased for many companies, says Sanicola. “So recognition programs are a way to reward people through monetary as well as non-monetary ways, to invest in them and educate them,” says Bridget Dahlgren, certified recognition professional and marketing coordinator at Crystal D, a supplier of corporate recognition awards in St. Paul, Minn. “So what we are finding is that corporations as a whole are increasing the number of recognition programs they use. And in addition to the length-of-service awards that they have maybe always had, they are now using additional recognition programs to incent employees to stay with them.” Similar to Baptist Health South Florida employees, those at Crystal D fill out a recognition profile when they’re hired, and then are asked to update it every six months, Dahlgren says. They answer questions about their favorite candy and treats, how they want to be recognized by their supervisors and what they would do if they had a surprise day off. Based on the 26 | Incentive | November 2008 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - November 2008

Incentive - November 2008 Editor’s Note Headlines Cover Story: Pop, Fizz! Incentive Interview Cracking the Recognition Code Primer Travel News Canada, City Style Potentials Here and Now Cameras: Picture of Innovation The Spirit of Giving Advertiser Index Last Word

Incentive - November 2008

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