“Although employees tend to get accustomed to the turbulent environment in sectors deeply affected by the crisis, their level of anxiety is high,” said J.B. Aloy, an expert on employee management and engagement for Ipsos Reid. “Concerns about one’s professional future are clearly impacting staff motivation.”

When Ipsos Reid asked why employees feel their motivation is dropping, one respondent said,

“The atmosphere of looming cutbacks combined with an uncommunicative senior management does little to inspire team spirit amongst the ranks.”

The lack of communication between executives, management and employees is a challenge organizations face during times of crisis, but addressing it is the first step to re-engaging employees.  In fact, the survey results revealed that 43% of employees consider internal communications about changes in the workplace to be effective.

Communicating during an economic crisis

Nothing kills employee engagement or confidence in the company more than an executive team that hides from the tough questions like ‘Are there going to be more cutbacks’, ‘Am I next?’, ‘When are things going to turn around?’

The messages have to be clear, consistent and transparent; otherwise, employees will feel they are getting the runaround.

“We constantly keep information flowing through our managers and supervisors, as well as by holding quarterly town hall type meetings where all employees are invited,” says Mike Truscott, Director of Human Resources for Marriott in Vancouver.  “In these turbulent economic times the information we share is well thought out and carefully debated to ensure that when information is communicated, it is done consistently, with great care, and keeps the interests of employees top of mind.”  

Once the communication mechanisms are in place, leaders and managers can begin setting up initiatives that motivate their employees to align to corporate objectives – an important factor to re-engaging the workforce and getting employees to perform in an economic downturn.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog where we reveal one initiative that is aligning employees to a timely corporate objective – saving corporate dollars.    

About the Ipsos Reid study: Every quarter Ipsos Reid releases the results of its Build a Better Workplace syndicated study to identify key trends in employee motivation and opinion. Studies are conducted through online interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Canadian employees each quarter. For more information visit - http://www.ipsoscanada.com/pdf/Ipsos_Loyalty_ERM_BuildABetterWorkplace.pdf

This week we look at one company’s BIG Idea – recognizing employees for innovation. Find out how they do it and why it’s a success.

When Bruce Power launched their BIG Ideas program – an employee rewards and recognition program geared towards fostering innovation, they estimated they would receive approximately 1,000 BIG Ideas submissions from employees by the end of the year. Two and a half months into the program they hit 900 submissions.

Here’s a look at how Bruce Power is motivating their employees to seek out opportunities to be innovative – something the company believes is one of its key competitive advantages.

Who: Bruce Power is Canada’s first private nuclear generating company and the source of more than 20% of Ontario’s electricity.

Program: BIG Ideas
BIG Ideas strives to foster a culture of innovation and align employees to corporate goals by motivating them to bring their best ideas to the table. BIG Ideas is an initiative driven by the company’s Business Improvement Group (BIG) - a dedicated team of individuals who implement programs that improve the way in which Bruce Power operates, and give Bruce Power employees a greater voice.

The BIG Ideas program reflects BIG’s goals:
1. Create and Sustain Engagement
2. Improve the Business

How it works: Employees are recognized and rewarded for their BIG Ideas submissions with points, which they use to redeem for hot ticket products, gift certificates and experiences of their choice from an online brand name catalog.

Program Launch: February 2008

An Interview with Jack Bingham

Business Improvement Group - Program Manager, Bruce Power

1. What is a “Big Idea”?

Quite simply, every idea that improves our business is a BIG Idea.  Even the smallest improvement has value that deserves recognition. We don’t just focus on cost savings.  Bruce Power places extraordinary emphasis on safety (our employees recently achieved 13,000,000 hours worked without a single person receiving an injury that required time off work) and many of our people input BIG Ideas that will make our work even safer.

2. Why focus your rewards & recognition program on promoting innovation?

“Passion for Excellence” is an important value at Bruce Power.  Achieving excellence requires continuous improvement in the way we do our work and that means we need the support of all of the people in our company.  Recognizing and rewarding employees for their ideas and innovations is an effective way of reinforcing that passion for excellence.

3. Why is an innovation-based program like this important for your industry?

As the first and only private nuclear generation company in Canada, we embrace opportunities to be more competitive as an electricity producer.  Being successful in a competitive electricity market demands a high level of commitment and involvement by our employees.  By fostering innovation, collaboration and engagement, BIG Ideas is helping us to achieve the performance excellence we aspire to.

4. What challenges have you encountered thus far engaging employees in the program? How are you overcoming it?

The initial challenge of communicating the BIG Ideas program to thousands of Bruce Power employees was almost effortless with the high level of support we received from Bruce Power’s CEO and the senior executives of the company.  Duncan Hawthorne, our CEO, was the first to submit an idea into the new system and he did so in a live broadcast to over 2000 people during one of his quarterly discussions with all Bruce Power employees.

Now our biggest issue is a large volume of idea submissions coming in at a rate far higher than we originally expected.  It’s the kind of challenge that we’re happy to be dealing with.

5. What is an example of a “Big Idea” that is being put into action?

The first BIG Idea that was put into place is a good example.  Here in Bruce County, we’re infamous for the raging winter storms that blow in from Lake Huron, bringing horizontal snow and reduced driving visibility.  One of our bus drivers submitted a BIG Idea to install solar-powered flashing stop signs that use high intensity LEDs.  She thought they would be much more visible when driving in the blowing snow we frequently experience.

Our Site Services folks quickly sourced a supplier, obtained one and installed it for testing.  A safety improvement like this is a great example of the benefits we receive when we welcome good ideas and take action to make them a reality.

I Love Rewards adds another $1.8 Million to Series B

Posted by Rob Lewis on Wed, June 17, 2009 10:45 AM • Filed under Toronto , Venture Capital

In May we reported that Toronto’s I Love Rewards had secured $6.9 Million in Series B funding led by GrandBanks Capital with prior investors JLA Ventures and Laurence Capital participating.
Today they announced that they have closed that Series B financing round with a total of $8.7 Million in funding thanks to an additional $1.8 Million from the Ontario Venture Capital Fund (OVCF). This announcement marks the first direct co-investment made to a company by the OVCF.

The $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund is a joint initiative between the Government of Ontario and leading institutional investors to invest primarily in Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth equity funds that support innovative, high growth companies. OVCF is structured as a fund of funds with the primary objective of generating attractive returns for its investors. The Fund is managed by TD Capital Private Equity Investors.

This financing round caps off a tremendous last 12 months of growth for I Love Rewards who has seen a 187% growth in gross billings and a 253% increase in customer acquisition. The company has raised a total of $13.6 Million in the past 18 months.

Today marked an important day for I Love Rewards. The Ontario Venture Capital Fund (OVCF) invested $1.8 million, closing I Love Rewards‘ Series B financing round with $8.7 million in total.

The OVCF is a joint initiative between the Government of Ontario and leading institutional investors. The lead investors include the Government of Ontario, TD Bank, OMERS Private Equity, RBC, the Business Development Bank of Canada, and Manulife Financial. At a time when US venture capital investment was down 50% in Q1 2009 and the Canadian venture capital market has reached its lowest level in 12 years, securing financing from leading investors is a challenge for high-performing growth companies.

This financing round caps off a tremendous last 12 months of growth for the company. Despite the expectations set by the current state of the economy, I Love Rewards has seen a 187% growth in gross billings and a 253% increase in customer acquisition. The company has raised a total of $13.6 million in the past 18 months, including a successful series A financing round in 2008 led by JLA Ventures.

“We’re thrilled that the OVCF has chosen I Love Rewards as the Fund’s first direct co-investment,” said Razor Suleman, Founder and CEO of I Love Rewards. “The success of this round will enhance our capabilities as we realize our vision of being the global leader in web-based rewards and recognition.”

“We are very happy to share the news of our investment in I Love Rewards, and are delighted to include this high-potential Ontario-based company in the OVCF portfolio,” said Melissa McJannet of TD Capital Private Equity Investors, manager of OVCF. “Razor and the I Love Rewards team have proven that they have what it takes to continue to grow and prosper in Canada, and we look forward to supporting them as they expand into the United States and beyond.”

In addition to their successful funding round, I Love Rewards was recently the recipient of the Top 10 Technology Companies award and WorldBlu’s 10 Most Democratic Workplaces award, and was named one of the Top 50 Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.

I Love Rewards is a web-based provider of employee rewards and recognition, sales incentive and service award programs that works with top employers and leading companies such as Microsoft, Marriott, ConAgra and Bell. For more information please visit www.iloverewards.com.

The $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund is a joint initiative between the Government of Ontario and leading institutional investors to invest primarily in Ontario-based and Ontario-focused venture capital and growth equity funds that support innovative, high growth companies. OVCF is structured as a fund of funds with the primary objective of generating attractive returns for its investors. The Fund is managed by TD Capital Private Equity Investors. For more information on OVCF, go to http://www.ovcf.com/.

For press inquiries, please contact:

Christina Weber
christina.weber@iloverewards.com,
416-531-1531 ext. 299

Let the experts speak!

The panelists – all whom of are known for their winning people practices, were:

• Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO of I-800-GOT-JUNK?
•  Karen N. Wensley, Canada’s People Leader, Ernst & Young LLC.
• Gord Johnston, Vice President of HR, Bayer Inc.

With the recession taking its toll on the workplace, Brian, Karen and Gord stressed the importance of maintaining an employee-focused culture. Leaders must understand that their employees are feeling the pressure too, and looking to their managers for support and motivation.

Here are the panelists’ key points on the role leadership plays in driving engagement and creating a healthy, vibrant workplace culture during an economic downtown.

Find employees that will live the culture and champion the vision.

In good economic times and bad, Brian Scudamore’s motto doesn’t change – “Find the right people and treat them right”. For Brian, the ability for a leader to find people who are passionate, willing to learn and want to be part of the company’s future is essential to ensuring long-term growth and sustainability. CEOs don’t always have the answers. If managers and company leaders invest in their employees and culture, their employees will help the company find a solution.

Leaders and managers have to be up-front and center, communicating with employees regularly.

As Gord Johnston noted, employees value transparent communication during tough times. They want to know how the company is doing, where it is headed and what the company’s leaders are doing to overcome the challenges of a down economy.

Listen then empower

Karen Wensley believes leaders need to first listen to their employees to get valuable feedback, and then empower them to make decisions. This two-prong approach is the best way to boost morale and build an engaging workplace culture.

Watch the Top Employer Strategies video for more tips from our panelists on leadership. Below is Part 1. For more please visit our YouTube channel.

Laszlo Bock, the VP of People Operations for Google said that the algorithm helps the company, “get inside people’s heads even before they know they might leave.” This has stirred up a lot of talk and media attention about how Google is handling their brain drain problem.

Why does Google have a brain drain problem?
A May 19th Wall Street Journal story found that current and former employees believe Google is losing key people because they don’t feel they are making an impact. The problem is a lack of engagement and alignment.

Is math the answer?
Once Google has identified those who are ready to walk out the door, what are they doing to keep them? Here’s an even better question: what are they doing with the data to prevent employee disengagement?

Valerie Frederickson, CEO of Valerie Frederickson & Company, a leading HR consulting firm based in Silicon Valley argues, “Data around why employees disengage is like data around why there’s a recession: maybe it’s interesting, maybe you can use it to beat yourself up, but it’s still looking backward and doesn’t help solve the brain drain so many employers will face this year.”

Collecting and analyzing data is a starting point, but by no means is it the desired outcome. People who have “checked out” or are otherwise disengaged in their work are the last people companies like Google should be concerned about retaining.

What companies should be concerned with is keeping their top performers and figuring out how to keep them engaged. Employers need to take a positive, proactive approach that uses data to identify their A Players and then put the right motivators in place to align, recognize and reward them. Their increased productivity and morale is crucial to the company’s ability to compete, something Google is worried their brain drain will put in jeopardy – “[Google] had turned to mathematical formulas because it was “concerned a brain drain could hurt its long-term ability to compete.” , reports the Canwest News Service.

Doing the math is the easy part. It’s what employers do with the data to engage employees that counts.