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Peer
Reward and Recognition Programs
Build Employee Engagement
Gregory P.
Smith
What motivates you at work? Is it money, or something else? I asked
employees in a poll, "What causes you the greatest dissatisfaction at
work?" At the top of the list was "Lack of appreciation," which scored
higher than "pay and benefits."
For most people, money is not a motivator. Money is a de-motivator.
Let’s make one aspect crystal clear--You can’t pay people peanuts and
expect them to stay motivated. Moreover, once people feel they are paid
fairly, then what motivates them takes on new significance. Most people at
work want to feel appreciated for what they do.
Part of being a manager, is the responsibility to recognize and reward
employees for good work. Disney World has over 20 different reward and
recognition programs. The easiest and simplest recognition program is peer
recognition: Recognition from peers can be even more powerful than
recognition from managers. Employees are often in a better position to
catch someone doing something right.
Queen or King for the Month.
What do peer-recognition programs look
like? Dayton Metro Housing has the QUEST program. Each quarter, employees
receive three tokens. When they spot a fellow employee or manager
providing good customer service, they hand them a QUEST token. At the end
of the quarter, the person with the highest number of tokens is crowned
king or queen. Those with eight or more tokens are "knighted."
All the King, Queens, and Knights attend a
special banquet. At the end of the year all token winners can use their
tokens to bid on various awards and prizes. Furthermore, the individual
with the highest yearly number of tokens is bequeathed a "scepter."
Managing performance in this way follows the time-honored ABC model:
Antecedent: Anything that creates the desire to act in a certain
way, like the promise of a reward.
Behavior: How the employee acts.
Consequences: What happens after the act—like receiving praise,
appreciation, or a promised reward.
The formula for creating an energizing peer-recognition program is
FAST Fun. FAST stands for:
Focus on the behavior you want to reward. A reward and
recognition program must target specific behaviors important to the
organization. Whether it is teamwork or customer service, define ahead of
time the behavior you are looking for.
Avoid judging .
Make it easy for anyone to get recognized or rewarded. The problem with
employee-of-the-month awards is some people don’t think the process is
fair. By putting power into the hands of peers, and including things like
random drawings, employees perceive the program to be fair.
Simplicity. When it comes to peer recognition, simplicity is
the rule. Keep programs simple so that everyone understands immediately
how it works.
The easier the program is to run, the more likely it will work. After
about six months, you may want to consider changing the program in order
to maintain interest and enthusiasm.
Team owned .
Peer recognition works best when employees run and own the program. Give
them a dollar figure, and let them figure out the rest. Be sure to choose
a mix of formal and informal leaders for the implementation team. When
people "own" the program, they’ll will more likely make it work.
FUN. Make the peer recognition program as fun, entertaining,
and spontaneous as possible.
Timely .
Hand out rewards or recognition weekly, monthly, or quarterly, not
annually. Reinforcing the behavior you want takes continual effort.
Add a Random Element.
Finally, if you want people to participate,
the program has to be fun and have an element of surprise.
Our company helped develop a program for a retail employer in which
employees had access to a printed form they could use to praise co-workers
for desirable traits, like teamwork and good service. Once filled out, the
slips of paper ended up on the company bulletin board. The person who
received the highest quantity of the forms got special recognition from
the store manager. But then all the individual forms were placed in a
basket, and other names were drawn randomly for even more prizes and
recognition.
The lack of recognition and praise is a major reason why people become
dissatisfied with their jobs. Easy to implement and effective,
peer-recognition programs could be the spark that motivates your people to
perform at a high level of dedication and skill for years to come.
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