Awards Network Blog

Award Program Return on Investment Series: Employee Engagement Programs

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:25:39 -0600

To continue our tradition of showing the realistic results of implementing award programs, I have been blogging on the ROI of several different kinds of incentive programs the second Monday of each month. (The three previous ROI posts have been on online sales incentive programs, online safety incentive programs and wellness programs.) This time around I would like to change gears and take a look at the possibilities of employee engagement programs.

Several studies have been conducted over the past decade to determine what companies with long term success have in common. Many of these studies were summed up in a white paper released by IncentiveCentral.org. The white paper is titled "The Economics of Engagement," and discussed the link between success and employee engagement. I would like to share some of the facts that the white paper revealed about the impact of employee engagement on an organization's bottom line.

To begin, the white paper advises, "...employee disengagement is estimated to cost the US economy as much as 350 billion dollars per year in lost productivity, accidents, theft and turnover." Employee engagement programs are becoming more and more common as companies have found that actively disengaged employees can inhibit long term success. The cost of a disengaged employee is hidden in many intangible expenses such as lower productivity, inferior customer service and decreased loyalty and morale.

Next, I found it interesting to point out that the white paper calculates the number of engaged employees to be only a little over 20 percent of the United States workforce. In fact, 66 percent of all employees are not engaged and a little over 10 percent of the workforce is actively disengaged. Furthermore, in a study on 28 multinational companies (MNC) that took place over 4 years, those with highly engaged employees had more than doubled their stock prices compared to industry averages. Conversely, MNCs identified as having disengaged employees had stock prices that were only 20 percent of the industry averages.

Focusing on engaging employees presents a huge opportunity for companies to increase their bottom line results and long term success. Engaging employees starts with consistently recognizing and rewarding workers for their contributions and loyalty. Depending on the needs of a particular client, employee engagement programs can be developed and implemented relatively quickly and the benefits of instituting such a program can be seen within the first few months of the program. By partnering with recognition award program experts, companies can create and sustain employee engagement in order to achieve long term success.

Be sure to check back next month on December 14^th to find out more on the return on investment of employee recognition programs.

Employee Recognition and Incentive Program Trends for 2009

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:15:43 -0600

Throughout 2009, many of the award programs I have helped develop or transition have incorporated new recognition and incentive components. These state of the art recognition and incentive programs often involve creative ways to entice reward program participation, provide participants with an outlet for recognizing co-workers and allow program information to be disseminated quickly and easily.

Trend #1- Generating Excitement

There are many ways that companies can entice participation by generating excitement for the employee recognition or incentive program. The most common method this year was incorporating themes into award program websites and communications such as posters and newsletters. Many of my clients ask participants for their input on possible themes to spice up the recognition or incentive program in order to draw attention and enthusiasm to the program.

Trend #2- Encouraging Peer Recognition

Many of my current clients expanded their recognition programs during 2009 to allow employees to visit the recognition website and submit nominations for peer recognition awards. I also spent a lot of time this year with new clients developing guidelines for their peer to peer recognition programs. Modern reward programs allow all employees to give kudos to co-workers for outstanding performances, lending a helping hand or going above and beyond.

Trend #3- Asking for Participant Feedback

I feel that one of the most important trends that came out of 2009 was that companies realized participant feedback at the initial set up and throughout the employee recognition or incentive program makes a huge difference in the way the program is accepted and deemed relevant by participants. By defining expectations and allowing participants to suggest how they want to be awarded in the future, reward programs can be more successful than ever. Modern recognition and incentive programs give opportunities for participants to submit feedback online and depending on the size of the workplace, via suggestion boxes.

Trend #4- Communicating by Email

Emailing participants is the quickest and easiest way to disseminate award program information. For my clients that could view emails in html, often they added photos of award events or pictures of the merchandise awards to their emails to add a little pizazz. Keeping everyone informed on the progress of the reward program not only generates excitement, it increases participation over time. Emails should always include a link to the award program website to encourage users to become familiar with the online reward program.

It is the time of year when companies begin to look at their award program results and decide how they should tweak the recognition or incentive program for the upcoming year. By incorporating some of these trends into your employee recognition or incentive program, you will be able to keep the award program fresh and relevant to employees, thus increasing participation and reaching your objectives more rapidly.

Workplace Wellness Programs for Small Businesses

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:44:33 -0600

Oftentimes small businesses face limited resources and knowledge on how to combat the high costs of healthcare. However, small businesses are often most benefited by wellness incentive programs where the well being of workers can have a great impact on employee morale and productivity. In the past year alone, healthcare costs have increased by 5% according to a Kiplinger Magazine article.

Although the limited resources of small businesses present particular challenges, working with a small group of people can also present unique opportunities. For example, employees can assist in the development of the workplace wellness program. Depending on the size of a business, a diverse group of employees can come together to form a wellness committee to represent employees or all employees can provide feedback on what the wellness program should do for workers and how it can be accessed. After the wellness program is developed, employees can continue to submit feedback on the program by submitting a form on the online wellness incentive program or a paper form available in a common area of the workplace.

When a company involves its employees in the startup and development of a wellness program, it can lead to employees feeling a sense of ownership in the wellness program. As employees work together towards achieving their personal health and wellness goals, they learn over time that their direct efforts have a positive impact on the wellness program.

Additionally, limited resources tend to result in creative wellness incentive solutions that can be more rewarding for participants. From disseminating health and wellness information to planning fitness challenges and offering wellness workshops, employees in small businesses can use their creativity and innovativeness to plan simple ways to communicate about and encourage participation in the wellness incentive program. WorldAtWork.org featured a survey that found common approaches for communicating a wellness program include: online resources (61%), health fairs (57%) and wellness newsletters (52%).

The return on investment possible with a wellness program, as demonstrated by recent studies, can range from $3 to $6 in premium savings to every dollar invested in wellness incentives. Because of this high return on investment possibility, small businesses can work with employees to achieve health and wellness goals and significantly improve morale, productivity and attendance while reducing healthcare costs.

Celebrating the 101st Awards Network Blog Post!

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:27:16 -0600

About two years ago I began blogging to provide readers with insight and advice on employee recognition and incentive programs. I wanted to commemorate this milestone by sharing the top ten most popular blog posts. Thank you to all of the readers and the positive feedback I have received!

Reduce Costs and Retain Employees & Customers with Incentive Programs (May 4, 2009)

When the economy presents challenges it also provides important opportunities to improve the way business is done. This article discussed how incentive programs can be designed to reduce costs and improve employee and customer retention. It was really no surprise to see this post is by far the most popular post.

Recognition Programs Boost Employee Retention Amid Recession (April 13, 2009)

Many times when managers face budget cuts their knee jerk reaction is to decrease budgets for employee recognition and incentive programs. Contrary to this reaction, recessions are one of the most important times to spend money in these areas in order to remain competitive and retain key employees during and after the economic decline.

Top Ten Reasons to Award Tangible Corporate Gifts Instead of Cash (February 16, 2009)

Although I have blogged in the past about the drawbacks of giving cash bonuses and gift cards instead of merchandise rewards, this post put the reasons in easy to understand terms. The list includes ten simple reasons why cash cannot compete with recognition and rewards and I really feel it is worth the short read.

Create and Sustain Employee Motivation Momentum with Employee Incentives (April 20, 2009)

I really enjoyed writing this post and providing advice on things managers can do daily, weekly and monthly to sustain employee motivation momentum. This is a topic close to my heart as I truly believe good managers can create and sustain employee engagement. Reading this post reminds me of a tweet I wrote earlier this year. Back in July people on Twitter were talking about unacceptable things and I posted this tweet, "It is #unacceptable to go one day at work without giving a simple thank you to a co-worker/manager for their help & contributions."

Monitoring Incentive Program Impact during Tough Economic Times (April 27, 2009)

Providing feedback to clients on how the incentive program is performing is not only important during recessions but also during economic prosperity. When it comes time to get approval for a budget, having measurable results on the incentive program is vital.

5 Approaches to Peer to Peer Recognition Award Programs (March 2, 2009)

I would have to say that my most creative and active clients have integrated peer recognition into their overall incentive program. Based on my experiences with peer to peer recognition I compiled this list of approaches to peer recognition awards and I am happy to see this on the top ten most popular blogs.

How to Successfully Kickoff an Incentive Program (March 16, 2009)

I wrote this topic as I found many of my new clients with incentive programs needed guidance on how to successfully launch the program. The post includes five tips for a successful kickoff.

Peer to Peer Recognition Program Best Practices (March 9, 2009)

As I mentioned, peer recognition programs allow managers to be creative and peer award programs permit everyone in an organization to contribute to an overall recognition culture. This post includes seven best practices for peer recognition award programs.

How to Write an Effective Employee Recognition Letter (March 30, 2009)

This was another topic that I really felt needed to be discussed in a post as many new clients of mine are at a loss for what to include in their recognition letter. The post lists out three different approaches to writing an employee recognition letter-all with the bottom line that the letter must be sincere.

New Research Reveals Wellness Program Impact (February 23, 2009)

A lot of research has been and is being conducted on the return on investment possible with wellness incentive programs. From reducing healthcare costs to improving employee engagement, this post discussed what companies can expect when implementing a wellness incentive program.

These top ten posts cover a large variety of topics and I hope you have time to check each one out. I feel like the blog has progressed a lot in the past two years from general topics to much more focused articles and my list of future topics to blog about grows every week. Thanks again to everyone for your continued support and supply of relevant blog ideas and research!

Award Program Return on Investment Series: Online Sales Incentive Programs

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:36:26 -0600

For the past couple months I have been blogging on the second Monday of each month on the return on investment possible from award programs (the two previous posts were on online safety programs and wellness programs). To continue the ROI series, I would like to examine how companies can maximize the impact a sales incentive program has by focusing on the three C's of high incentive returns- cost, communication and care.

Managing the Cost of Sales Incentive Programs

Sales incentive program administrators can manage the cost of the award program by simply taking the program online. Sales incentive program websites remove the need for costly printed program materials and function as a central hub for the program. Participants can visit the sales incentive program website to receive updates on their performance, browse the online award catalog and compare their performance to their peers participating in the sales incentive program. In addition, administrators can access incentive program reports online anytime, quickly determine the progress of the incentive program and suggest changes for improvement as the program progresses.

I have found that online sales incentive programs appeal to sales people who are often on the go but stay connected to their companies through the internet by using devices such as netbooks and web-enabled mobile phones. Many clients will keep participants informed on their progress and the program in general by sending out emails when goals are met or introduced to invite users to frequently access the program online.

Communicating Sales Incentive Programs

As mentioned, email is the preferred communication method for online sales incentive programs. Communication should go both ways though-from administrators to the sales force and vice versa. Sales incentive program websites allow participants to submit feedback online which can be directly emailed to program administrators for their consideration. By opening up communication, administrators can tweak the program if necessary and maximize the potential of a sales incentive program.

Caring for a Sales Incentive Programs

Setting up a sales incentive program and then simply leaving it go without any supervision or review can doom the program's future. Whether your company partners with industry experts to care for the sales program, appoints program administrators or does both, sales incentive programs require supervision and a review process to ensure a high return on investment is achieved. Participants of sales incentive programs often have customer service inquiries, questions about the incentive program website and other concerns that need to be promptly addressed. In addition, incentive program reporting should be monitored to track the success achieved compared to the cost of the initiative.

Compensation Force Blog featured an article last month on sales force compensation and revealed the results of a Watson Wyatt survey: six in ten companies listed sales force productivity and efficiency as the most significant human capital issue currently facing their sales forces. The author, Ann Bares, sums up the survey results by saying the companies are cautiously optimistic for the 2010 sales outlook while sharpening their focus on performance and productivity in the upcoming year. By following the three C's of high sales incentive program returns, companies can achieve a high return on investment and realize their specific sales goals for 2010.

Be sure to check back next month on November 9^th to find out more on the impact of employee engagement programs.

Engaging Law Firm Employees with Recognition Awards

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:48:05 -0600

I came across a startling fact the other day on Law Department Management; on average only one in four employees at law firms is truly engaged. Gallup research has shown that engaged employees are "more productive, profitable, safer, create stronger customer relationships, and stay longer with their company than less engaged employees." One of the best ways to improve employee engagement at a law firm is by recognizing and rewarding employees with a recognition program.

I have quite a few clients in the legal industry with employee recognition programs. Years of service, outstanding performance and customer service recognition awards are the most common types of recognition awards that clients in this industry utilize to recognize employee achievements and highlight contributions to peers and partners alike.

Most often law firm clients of mine hold formal year end recognition award ceremonies where recipients are presented with a recognition package. These recognition award packages are customized with the law firm's logo and consistent with the firm's branding. The recognition award packages are also personalized with the recipient's name and accomplishment as a special touch.

Inside the award package, there is a recognition letter signed by the senior partners of the law firm. This letter is often personalized and details why the employee is being recognized and how his or her personal achievements contributed to the success of the company. Next, a certificate of appreciation suitable for framing is included in the recognition award package. The certificate is also signed by the senior partners of the firm and is often a keepsake item that reminds the recipient of their recognition and accomplishment. An award catalog with over 70 lifestyle merchandise items and an order form is also included in the recognition package.

Another way that clients of mine in the legal industry recognize employees on a more frequent basis is to present them with on the spot recognition award cards. On the spot recognition is a great idea to reinforce a desired behavior immediately after (hence "on the spot") the behavior is observed. Recognition award cards can be customized and are often a fun design so that the card is carried by the recipient in his or her wallet or purse as a reminder of the accomplishment for time to come. The back of the recognition award card has online ordering instructions and a security feature so that the card cannot be duplicated or reused.

Throughout any given year there are many reasons for which employees should be thanked and recognized. By instituting a recognition program at the end of the year featuring recognition award packages or by recognizing employees throughout the year with on the spot award cards, a law firm can easily manage to thank its employees for all of their contributions to the firm. Consistent recognition and feedback makes providing either one of these recognition program solutions an effective way to improve employee engagement and retention in the long run.

Safety Incentive Program Solutions for Local & Long Haul Driving Companies

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:31:55 -0600

Many of the new clients that we have partnered with recently have been looking to provide safety incentive programs to their local and long haul drivers as part of their overall driver safety improvement strategy. It is no wonder considering the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, reported over 135,000 non-fatal collisions in 2008 alone. Some of our new clients have thousands of employees utilizing company vehicles and improving their driving safety record is vital to bottom line results.

There are two types of safety programs that I recommend to clients with local and long haul drivers- safety award booklet programs or onetime gifts and online point bank or ongoing incentive programs.

Improving Safety with Award Booklet Programs

Safety award booklet programs are ideal for local shipping companies with workers who are in and out of a main office on a regular basis. The safety award booklet program allows management to present a safety award to a driver who has reached a particular goal of the safety program, i.e. perfect attendance for the quarter, passing a safety belt spot check or completing a set of safety training. The safety award booklet comes with online and fax or mail-in instructions and allows the driver to select a safety award from a given priced collection of over 70 merchandise-based gifts.

By providing a safety award in public, managers of a shipping company can reinforce desired safety behavior. In addition, it allows management to send a message to the peers of the person being awarded on what kinds of safe behavior the organization is emphasizing and rewarding.

Improving Safety with Ongoing Incentive Programs

Online safety incentive programs are an excellent solution for long haul drivers as the safety program can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. As drivers reach safety goals, they receive points which can be redeemed for a safety award or banked for an award from a higher priced collection later on. When points are awarded to drivers they are notified via email along with their unique username and password to access the safety program. Drivers can look at their safety program account online to find out how many points they have earned, what kind of safety awards are available for them to spend their points on and all of the goals of the safety program that they are eligible to work towards achieving.

Ongoing programs are perfect for companies who want to roll out safety goals over time. Several of my clients with online safety incentive programs start out with simple safety goals such as achieving perfect attendance for the quarter and reporting near misses. Then each quarter after the safety program is implemented, new goals can be added to the online safety incentive program to ensure the program is relevant and successful over time. Examples of safety goals that can be rolled out after the initial set up of the safety program include: completing safety training and fatigue prevention classes, proposing an action to improve safety on the road, passing safety spot checks, participating in a safety audit, participating in a safety committee, coaching other drivers in safety compliance, renewing a safety commitment statement and reporting property damage.

In order to substantially improve the safety record of a given local or long haul shipping company, driver safety programs are often a vital component of an organization's overall safety improvement strategy. By focusing on attainable safety goals such as the ones mentioned and awarding safe behavior with merchandise rewards, clients of ours are able to decrease their workers' compensation claims and the cost of insurance while improving driver engagement and retention.

Tips for Recognizing and Engaging Sales Professionals

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:45:08 -0600

There are many ways that organizations try to engage their sales force-contests, raffles, incentives... However one of the most effective ways to create employee engagement is simply to recognize the contributions of individual sales professionals and sales teams. In this week's post I would like to cover a number of tips to help organizations effectively recognize and engage sales professionals.

Tip #1-Gather feedback

I think one of the best ways to recognize and engage employees is to gather feedback on the expectations and functionality of the recognition program. Find out from sales professionals how they would like to be recognized and rewarded and how they want to access the recognition program at the very least. When the sales force has input on the recognition program design it is more rewarding and more likely to be a success.

Tip #2-Keep the Sales Recognition Program simple

Recognition programs often include numerous ways for employees to receive recognition awards but if the program cannot be easily explained participation will suffer. By posting recognition program information in break rooms, online and in the employee handbook or welcome package for newly hired sales professionals, a company is communicating the recognition program with employees and thus sales professionals can be better informed and are more likely to participate. Some of my clients with sales recognition programs utilize posters and handouts while others rely more on emails and the recognition program website to communicate the award program.

Tip #3-Offer a Variety of Award Merchandise

Lifestyle merchandise awards are very effective for recognizing and engaging sales professionals. Tangible recognition awards have been proven to elicit emotional engagement and extrinsic motivation to participants who work hard to earn a particular recognition award. In addition, tangible awards have been shown to increase employee retention more than cash or gift cards.

Tip #4-Include Public Recognition Opportunities

Jeffrey Gitomer of The Eagle Tribune notes, "Award achievement in public. Not just at the meeting- make sure it's on your blog, in your e-zine and posted on your website." Gitomer adds that when a person receives public recognition there are several unspoken benefits. "There is the incentive for that person to maintain or improve his or her performance to stay at the top. And there is huge stimulus for others in the audience to try to win an award next year."

Tip #5-Integrate different forms of recognition

Recognition should not be limited to just management recognizing sales professionals. Peers and customers or clients may also have occasions in which they would like to recognize sales professionals. Often clients of mine will allow people outside of management to recognize and reward sales professionals as part of an overall sales recognition program. People outside of management tend to submit their recognition nomination via a paper mail-in form or online. This form is then submitted to management or an approval committee for review before the recognition award is bestowed. Whether the award program involves management recognition, peer to peer awards or if the recognition comes from customers and clients, all of these forms of recognition can be integrated into an overall sales recognition program.

Sales professionals are integral to any company's success and when it comes to recognizing and engaging a sales force, the possibilities are limitless. By considering these tips when planning or re-evaluating a sales recognition program, you can effectively recognize and engage sales professionals.

Go Green with your Employee Recognition and Incentive Programs

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:59:37 -0600

A few months ago I came across a discussion on LinkedIn about the need for green products in employee recognition and incentive programs. In the past year or so I have seen many green ideas applied to the employee recognition and incentive programs that my clients utilize and I wanted to share them with readers in this week's post.

The most common way that clients make their employee recognition and incentive programs green is to take the award program completely online. For employee recognition program websites, staff members can receive an email congratulating them on reaching an anniversary milestone and provide employees with instructions to access the recognition website and redeem their award. In the case of online incentive programs, employees can receive an email letting them know when their online account has been updated with the goals reached and the points have been earned. Emailing employees is an excellent way to engage employees and maximize participation in the award program as emails can be sent in a timely fashion and contain up-to-date program and account information.

Online award websites serve as the central hub for reward program activity. From viewing the award catalog and placing an order to submitting award program feedback and peer recognition nominations, modern recognition and incentive program websites allow companies to demonstrate its commitment to environmental responsibility and eliminate the cost of paper program supplements. In addition, paper-based award program supplements often become outdated very quickly whereas online award catalogs and participant account information can be consistently updated. Online recognition and incentive programs can truly engage employees because of these capabilities.

Another common way to make an award program green is to reward employees for achieving green goals: reducing paper consumption, increasing recycling participation and taking part in car pooling or bicycling to work. Online incentive programs often contain green related goals for both individual employees and departments in order to increase environmental awareness and environmental stewardship of the company as a whole. When companies encourage staff members to adopt a green attitude they engage employees who feel they are a part of a socially responsible enterprise which can in turn increase employee loyalty.

An additional method of creating a green award program is to include merchandise rewards that are energy efficient or help to encourage green behaviors. ENERGY STAR qualified appliances such as refrigerators, dynamo or hand crank operated devices such as flashlights and radios and bicycles that employees can use to ride to work instead of car pooling are all examples of green reward merchandise included in our award catalog. By offering green reward merchandise, companies can engage employees with state of the art awards that will help to increase employee loyalty.

Many of these green ideas to decrease an award program's environmental impact are being practiced by clients of mine and are becoming more popular with new clients as well. By taking the award program online, rewarding employees for their green efforts and awarding workers with green merchandise, companies can positively impact the environment, maximize employee engagement and increase employee loyalty.

Award Program Return on Investment Series: Online Safety Incentive Programs

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:19:19 -0600

Today's post is a continuation on our return on investment series and this time around I would like to discuss the impact online safety incentive programs can have on a company's safety record. (The first blog in this series was on wellness program return on investment possibilities.)

The National Safety Council estimated in 2006 that the average economic cost of a work related injury was just over $30,000 dollars and that there are over 4.4 million injuries in the workplace every year. The total cost of workplace injuries and fatalities for American companies is about $155 billion dollars annually. When you combine the cost of workplace accidents and employee off-the-job injuries the cost soars to an estimated $361.5 billion dollars.

In order to combat the high costs associated with workplace injuries, many organizations turn to the power of safety incentive programs to improve safety awareness and safety compliance in the workplace, on jobsites and at home. Organizations are finding online safety incentive programs are now the best solution to raising workplace safety awareness and require minimal start up costs compared to paper-based safety programs of the past.

In addition to the basic set up of the safety program website, there are additional features that can really maximize safety incentive program participation and relevance. Many of my clients have integrated safety quizzes, employee feedback forms, safety contest information and employee of the month pages to encourage workers to be safe both in the workplace and at home.

According to an article in Today's Facility Manager Magazine from May 2009, "A recent study by Liberty Mutual found that every dollar spent on safety, management can expect a $4 to $6 return on the $1 investment."

When companies currently utilizing safety incentive programs were interviewed by the NFIB to gauge the impact of the incentive program the following results were reported:

96% said safety awareness was increased

84% saw a reduction in accidents
77% believed that incentive programs were effective

73% said absenteeism had decreased

70% said the programs were cost effective
55% experienced a reduction in workers' compensation costs

Improving the safety record of an organization can be done as this research demonstrates with the help of safety programs. The key is to engage employees to participate in the safety incentive program and encourage their safe behaviors both in the workplace and at home. Starting an online safety program is one safety solution that is both cost effective and makes safety information accessible from anywhere for participants.

Be sure to check back on October 12^th for the next segment in our return on investment series when I will cover online sales incentive programs returns.

Top Ten Ways to Retain Employees and Build a Superior Workforce-Part 2

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:33:35 -0600

Last week I covered the first five of the top ten ways to retain employees and this week I will reveal the last five tips to assist clients in building a superior workforce.

6. Thank employees for their contributions

I think that Susan Heathfield, author of Human Resources articles on About.com, summed up this point well when she wrote, "Develop reward and recognition system that tells people clearly what you want from them. It must also help people feel appreciated and recognized for their efforts." When a company develops an employee recognition program, they are communicating to staff members what behaviors are desired and when employees exhibit these desired behaviors, the company then has a specific method for thanking workers.

7. Gather employee feedback on what they expect and what they want from their work

For many people, pay is not the most important aspect of their job. By gathering employee feedback on employment expectations and allowing workers to have channels in which they can communicate their opinions, organizations can dramatically increase employee retention. "For many employees what is most important at work is the satisfaction that comes from a job well done, being recognized and appreciated for one's efforts, and having the flexibility to balance work with personal obligations," advises Michael J. Pires in his article on cost effective strategies for retaining employees. Pires continues, "Get a feel for what your employees want before implementing a new reward system. All that may be necessary are some simple changes, such as putting more effort into recognizing your employees or providing your workers with the autonomy that they desire."

8. Communicate with employees

Communicating with employees on a consistent basis is essential for retaining employees. Many of my clients use different media to regularly communicate with employees including emails, newsletters, mailed statements, break room flyers and posters in common areas. Often the media is communicating the progress of the company compared to the industry, the evolvement of the employee recognition program goals, specific employee achievements and overall organizational achievements. No one likes to be in the dark about the state of the business and often rumors result from an environment of closed door meetings and silence from executive management. Simple communication helps to prevent this and will help with employee retention efforts.

9. Offer state of the art reward programs

State of the art reward programs often include ways for employees to nominate and recognize peers for their contributions, offer high tech name brand merchandise recognition awards, allow employees access to the recognition program online and as a result engage employees like never before.

10. Engage employees

Employee engagement is not just a buzz word, over 51% of senior leaders and HR professionals firmly believe that engaging employees is the most important leadership practice and is essential to ensure organizational alignment and commitment. Employee engagement is derived from managers taking an interest in what individuals want from work and how employees want their efforts to be validated and recognized. Engaging employees translates to increased loyalty from workers and customers, higher productivity rates and better profitability overall.

By utilizing these top ten ways to retain employees, hopefully your organization can tune into employees, deliver a valuable and relevant recognition program and build a superior workforce. To stay up to date on employee retention efforts and issues I highly recommend joining the Employee Retention Group on LinkedIn.

Top Ten Ways to Retain Employees and Build a Superior Workforce-Part 1

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:55:38 -0600

Retaining survivor employees is more important than ever considering that building a superior workforce is one way to establish a sustainable competitive advantage. There is even a new group on LinkedIn dedicated to the topic of employee retention. An About.com article on employee retention calculates that losing a middle manager costs an organization up to 100 percent of the manager's salary while the loss of a senior executive can cost more than double the executive's annual salary. This week I will present five tips to retain employees and another five tips will be presented next Monday.

1. Encourage and reward teamwork effort

Many projects in the workplace are best tackled by team effort and by offering employees the chance to work in teams working relationships can be strengthened. Be sure to define each team member's role in the project and also list the rewards that can be achieved if the goals of the team are met or exceeded. Often clients of mine reward teams for delivering projects on time and on or under budget and many also reward team members for the success of the project after it is implemented.

2. Recognize equal effort with equal rewards

Recognizing and rewarding workers equally is essential to employee retention efforts. Nothing can kill an employee award program or morale in general than treating employees unfairly when equal effort is given towards completing a goal. "One often-overlooked form of recognition is praise," claims a Utah Pulse article on employee recognition. "Saying 'thank you' for a job well done costs nothing-and can be very powerful."

3. Offer opportunities for career advancement and development

Often clients will work with their employees to develop a mentoring and training award program to improve employee retention. Offering such opportunities for employees allows workers with experience to transfer their knowledge before retirement while allowing less experienced workers the chance to develop and advance their careers.

4. Provide consistent recognition

Thanking employees goes a long way, and according to one employee retention expert, accompanying the thank you with a recognition gift makes the thank you even more appreciated. Regardless of your award program budget, thanking co-workers and staff members for the contributions should be a weekly if not daily event for managers. This consistent feedback acknowledges employee contributions and that employees are working towards the mission of the company.

5. Establish a recognition culture

Peer to peer recognition award programs help organizations to build a culture of recognition where any employee can recognize and thank co-workers. Often peer award programs involve a nomination approval process and encourage employees to recognize others by rewarding both the nominator and the nominee with recognition gifts. Employees of the month or quarter can also be selected from the pool of approved nominations submitted to further highlight employee contributions and help to establish a recognition culture.

Please check back next week to learn five more tips for organizations to consider when working towards higher employee retention.

Employee Recognition: How to Maximize End of Year Award Results

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:26:02 -0600

It is already the time of year when HR managers working for companies of all sizes begin to scramble for employee recognition award ideas to suit their specific needs. Considering that most employers have had to deal with lower budgets and fewer workers, the stress and demands placed on survivor employees makes planning an end of year recognition awards program particularly challenging and important this year. Finding an appropriate way to recognize employees depends on the size, structure and culture of an organization.

Pubic Recognition Events

Gathering all employees for a single year end recognition award ceremony is an excellent method for recognizing employees in front of peers and boosting employee morale. From formal award ceremony dinners to an informal get together, public recognition is a common way for companies to recognize employees at the end of the year. Recognition award events are a good fit for small businesses or organizations with several locations where bringing together a group of employees is feasible budget wise.

According to a Gallup Poll from 2008, the top motivator for employees is public praise and recognition, making public recognition one of the best ways to increase employee engagement and boost morale.

One-on-One Recognition Meetings

Holding one-on-one recognition meetings is a common way for managers to recognize employees and present workers with a personalized recognition award in a private setting. This employee recognition method works best in organizations with multiple locations or in companies where an employee reports directly to one particular manager. In addition, one-on-one recognition may be the preferred method for delivering praise in a private setting as opposed to a large gathering if a manager is aware of an employee's shyness.

Many of my clients select this employee recognition method as a way to provide personalized recognition and customized recognition awards to workers. Managers can write an employee recognition letter for each of the employees who report to them and cite specific incidents for which recognition is deserved. Usually the recognition letter is part of an employee recognition award packet containing a certificate of appreciation suitable for framing, a recognition award gift collection and an order form. All of the pieces of the recognition award packet are customized with the company's artwork and personalized with the employee's name for a special touch.

Mailed Recognition Letters or Employee Recognition Emails

Sometimes presenting recognition awards in person is not feasible and in these cases clients of mine tend to mail or email their recognition letters and award packages. Organizations with telecommuters and off-site workers tend to use this recognition method the most. Often a recognition award website is created for employees to view a recognition letter online and place their recognition gift order online as well. This allows employees to access the recognition program anywhere, anytime.

I hope this discussion helps you to end 2009 on a positive note by planning an employee recognition program that is both appropriate for your organization's structure and culture while having the greatest impact possible for your specific budget. By thanking your survivor employees with sincere recognition award ideas, your company is recognizing the sacrifices made this year and helping to sustain employee engagement in the future.

Award Program Return on Investment Series: Wellness Program ROI

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:04:45 -0600

Showing our clients recognition and incentive program return on investment facts and figures has been an important goal for us in the past and continues on in the future. We are now dedicating the second Monday of each month to an ongoing series on award program return on investment. The goal of this ROI series is to present client case studies and award program research to demonstrate the importance and impact recognition and incentive programs can have when properly designed and implemented by industry experts. To kick off our recognition and incentive program return on investment series, let's examine the impact a wellness program can have on an organization.

In order to achieve the highest return on investment possible, wellness programs must be properly designed and consistently communicated throughout the program. Most wellness programs are overseen by a wellness committee composed of managers and employees. Once the wellness program is established in a company, the results can be monumental in orchestrating a sincere change in employee behavior towards health and wellness.

Consider this fact provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Researchers estimate that preventable illnesses make up approximately 70% of healthcare costs." By educating employees on preventing illness with a wellness program, companies can mitigate these high healthcare costs.

The Wellness Council of America reports that measurably effective wellness programs cost between $100 and $150 per year for each program participant. These effective wellness programs can have a return on investment of $300 to $450 per participant and often involve engaging employees with health and wellness goals that will reduce healthcare costs and decrease absenteeism. When employees reach their health and wellness goals they are presented with rewards and recognition to commemorate their accomplishments.

This high return on investment for wellness programs is also noted by Health2Resources.com, which found eight out of ten employers who calculated their wellness program returns on investment in 2007 more than broke even.

An important trend to notice in these successful wellness programs is the term of the program, successful wellness programs tend to last from at the least two years to at most five years. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates a return on investment from $3 to $6 in healthcare cost savings for every $1 invested in wellness programs that last from two to five years. Wellness programs must last this long duration in order to create a lasting change in the health and wellness of employees at a given organization.

The returns provided by wellness programs for companies are measurable and justifiable as this research demonstrates. However, the intangible results that wellness programs create are often more important than the tangible results that can be reported. When preventable illness and conditions are avoided and employees are able to change unhealthy habits to extend their quality of life, there is no greater return on investment.

Be sure to check back in on our award program return on investment series on September 8th^th when I will discuss online safety incentive program returns.

Incentive Program Traps lead to Employee Disengagement

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:10:08 -0600

While in a conference call last week, I encountered a potential client who was looking to establish an incentive program to engage employees with an incentive award program. However the design of the incentive program they were looking to implement contained some classic incentive traps that I wanted to discuss this week. Even though organizations approach incentive award programs with greatest of intentions, the following incentive traps will doom a program to not engage an audience or achieve company objectives.

Trap #1: Stand-Alone Raffles/Sweepstakes/Contests

Raffles, sweepstakes or the like fail to award all employees who have reached incentive program goals and can consequently create employee disengagement and resentment. In order to make an incentive program relevant and worth participating in for workers, managers need to take the WIITFM (What Is In It For Me) approach to design the award program. I recommend that employees who reach incentive program goals be recognized and rewarded regularly. A great way to incorporate a contest in an overall incentive program is to take the incentive points that were awarded to employees who no longer work for the company and redeem them for one incentive gift that can be raffled off at the end of the year.

Trap #2: Too few incentive gifts or too many incentive gifts offered

Often clients will ask me if they can limit the number of items in our incentive award catalog from about 70 gifts per collection to just a handful. The problem with limiting employees to a one size fits all incentive gift is that many times the person who does the limiting is picking out the items that he or she would prefer to select whereas individual tastes vary in an organization. Our lifestyle incentive merchandise collections offer options suitable for different demographics and tastes without overwhelming participants.

Alternatively, a few clients of mine have asked to combine incentive gift collections so employees select one award from over 210 items. Research from Columbia University shows people have a much harder time selecting an incentive gift when given too many choices. When employees are overwhelmed with options, the incentive program will have lower redemption rates and participation can suffer.

Trap #3: Offering participants cash or their choice of a merchandise incentive

The recession has many companies considering a cash option for employees who reach incentive program goals instead of rewarding them with merchandise incentives. When employees are awarded with cash it is common for the reward to be spent on necessities such as household goods, car payments or the employee may simply save the money. A company that awards employees with their choice of tangible merchandise awards ensures that the gift selected will be something that is wanted and appreciated rather than simply needed. Since employees don't have the option to spend their incentive on everyday needs they do not have to feel guilty about selecting something special for themselves that they might not otherwise be able to justify purchasing due to the recession. There are many other reasons why cash is not the best option for incentive gifts and these can be found in the blog Merchandise Motivates - Cash and Gift Cards Can't Compete with Tangible Awards in the Employee Recognition Arena.

Trap #4: Rewarding end results instead of the efforts people make to achieve the desired results

Many companies make the mistake of rewarding employees who reach 1,000,000 accident-free hours instead of consistently rewarding workers who practice safe behavior or report safety hazards that lead to a great safety record. Especially in the example of safety incentive programs, it is vital for organizations to encourage the reporting of accidents or safety hazards in the workplace in order to truly create a safety culture in the workplace. When a company rewards employees only after a certain amount of time has passed with no incidents reported, they may be unintentionally encouraging employees to underreport accidents and safety hazards. Safety milestones should be celebrated and rewarded but the behaviors that create the safety record also need to be recognized and rewarded.

Organizations should be cognizant of the perverse incentives that exist in the recognition and incentive industry. All of these incentive traps can be replaced with better incentive practices that will both entice participation and engage employees.