Low-cost
employee incentives, recognition programs and employee rewards
So, the top brass has decided you must scale
back to save money? Make sure you don’t drive your best employees away—at the
very time you need them most. If you’ve had to cut pay and staff and now expect
more from those who remained, it’s vital to revamp your employee recognition
and rewards program.
Yes, money is great and benefits are nice, but
there’s one key thing that keeps good employees from walking away: knowing that
management appreciates them and their work. (Fact: 60% of employees say they do
not feel recognized.)
Employers can double their rewards and
recognition efforts in innovative, costefficient ways. Examples: employee-of-the-month awards, incentive pay,
employee appreciation luncheons, more time off, shopping sprees, wellness
incentive contests, plus employee rewards customized to motivate Millennials,
Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and the Matures.
Now is the time to get clever with your employee
appreciation programs. This special report, Optimize Your Employee Benefits
Program, will show you how.
Discover low-cost, inspiring ways that your organization can motivate and
express gratitude to your employees year-round.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #1
8 RULES FOR EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION AND
EMPLOYEE REWARDS
Surveys of U.S. workers consistently show that
employees want more than a paycheck from their jobs—they want to feel safe,
secure and appreciated at work.
Good recognition and rewards provide employees
with:
·
A fair return for their
efforts
·
Motivation to maintain
and improve their performance
·
Clarification of what
behaviors and outcomes the organization values.
Here are eight guidelines for recognizing and
rewarding employees that managers can use
in their departments, according to an Adecco management report:
1. Specify employee rewards
criteria. Too often, awards
for things like “innovation,” “showing initiative” and “quality improvement”
don’t define what employees need to do to win. Without that information, some
employees will be stymied before they begin. When a winner is announced,
employees may attribute a co-worker’s success to favoritism or luck. So make
the criteria for rewards as clear as possible.
2. Reward everyone who meets
the criteria. You could announce
a contest, urge everyone to participate, provide plenty of reminders during the
contest period and announce the winner with a flourish. Then what? You’ve got
one winner and a lot of losers who discover that their hard work didn’t pay
off.
For a longer-term impact, determine specific
criteria and individual goals, and then reward everyone who meets them.
Publicize each accomplishment and acknowledge every achiever. As long as the
criteria are meaningful, the more winners, the better!
3. Individualize employee
rewards. Generic rewards
create generic results. Give people what they want. Example: Before you give a
workaholic a week off, make sure it won’t feel like exile to that person. On
the other hand, before you reward someone with an exciting new project, find
out if the recipient will be thrilled or feel burdened.
4. Say “thank you” frequently. “Thank you” is always timely. It is as
useful to acknowledge small successes as it is to recognize major achievements.
It validates the importance of the work people do. And it starts a chain
reaction: Pretty soon, more people start saying it to more people, boosting
morale and improving relationships as well as furthering employee motivation.
5. Nurture self-esteem. When you give people positive, specific
and realistic feedback about their potential, their efforts and
accomplishments, that boosts their self-esteem. They develop into employees
with confidence to set and meet challenging goals, overcome setbacks and
self-manage their work.
6. Foster intrinsic rewards. Intrinsic rewards are the good feelings people
get from doing their work: enjoyment of the task, excitement about the
opportunities and pride in doing a good job.
You can’t hand someone an intrinsic reward, but
you can create an environment that encourages these feelings.
Make sure people know their work is worthwhile.
Treat problems as opportunities for innovation. Encourage people to try new
ways of doing things. And let them know when they have done a good job.
7. Reward the whole team. For team accomplishments, it’s important
to reward the whole team; otherwise, you foster competition, not cooperation,
among team members. Still, some team members may give more effort—and get more
results. In contrast, some team members may coast along on the efforts of
others. When the coasters get the same reward as the doers, resentment occurs.
One option: Meet this challenge with a
double-tiered system of team and individual rewards. Key point: The individual rewards are based on judgments from their fellow
team members.
8. Remember: You get what you
reward. Since one of the
things rewards do is clarify for employees what the organization really wants,
employees quickly determine the company values.
If you are looking for teamwork, be sure you
aren’t rewarding competition. If you want people to resolve problems, don’t
reward them for covering up complaints. If you ask for initiative, you may even
need to reward people for doing things in unconventional ways.
The bottom line: Remember that employees can feel rewarded
in many ways, not merely with cash. For top performers, increased
responsibility and lessened supervision can be rewards in themselves, as can
flexible schedules, additional time off, first pick of desirable assignments,
and so on.
The point is that employees must indeed feel that
you are rewarding them for both working hard and getting results.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #2
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION: HAVE YOU HUGGED
YOUR EMPLOYEES TODAY?
by Peter Hart, CEO, Rideau Recognition Solutions;
president, the Recognition Council
You might think that employee recognition is
about the rewards you give workers for long years of service or for retiring
after a notable career. It’s really not.
Recognition is about employee engagement. And
employee engagement starts with employer engagement. How engaged are you with
your employees? Do you know their names? Their goals? What makes them tick?
Recognition doesn’t have to be about gold
watches or cash bonuses. It’s even more effective when it’s about
relationships.
Continue (or start) to appreciate your employees
and recognize them for what they do. Know their names, their stories. Let them
know yours. Let them in on the organization’s mission, vision and values.
Establish trust.
2 rules for employee
recognition
Treat your employees well. How you treat people
today is going to determine whether your valued employees stay with you when
the financial crisis is over. I have two rules:
1. The Golden Rule: Treat your employees as you want them to
treat your company. How can you expect them to be loyal to the company if
you’re not loyal to them? How can you expect them to be engaged at work if
you’re not engaged with them?
2. The Platinum Rule: Treat your employees as you want them to
treat your customers. It’s no coincidence that some of the most profitable
companies in America are also known as the best places to work.
You can’t follow these two rules by simply
paying people more. Even though employees often say they want cash, research
shows that personal, noncash incentives are much more powerful and a bigger
lift than dollars and cents or a tricked-out iPhone.
You can cut back on the tangible rewards, but
never cut back on the recognition. Research shows that the absence of
recognition is the second-leading cause of burnout and stress in the workplace.
So its presence should have the opposite effect.
Recognition is a powerful tool—but it takes a
real leader to use it right. The physical stuff like the gold watches are the
things the company usually delivers. It’s the emotional stuff that managers so
often fail to deliver. And that’s why people “quit their managers.” You can
stop it without spending a dime.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #3
6 LOW-COST EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION
STRATEGIES THAT WORK
Here are 6 low-cost ways—suggested by Business
Management Daily's HR Specialist Compensation & Benefits readers—that your organization can show
gratitude to your employees all year.
1.
Embarrassment committees. To celebrate a person’s annual anniversary on the job, form an
“embarrassment committee” to make a ruckus as colleagues deliver a cookie
bouquet and gift card.
2.
Employee Appreciation Week. During one special week, serve breakfast one
day, lunch on another and a make-your-own-sundae party on a third.
3.
Children’s art contest. A couple of times a year, exhibit around the building artwork that
employees’ kids have created.
4.
Door prizes for staff meetings. To add some fun and encourage attendance, hold a drawing for
a small door prize before all-staff meetings.
5.
“You’ve been caught” program. Encourage managers and employees to notify HR
when they “catch” a colleague in the act of going beyond the call of duty. At
monthly staff meetings, introduce all nominated employees, and mention what the
person did. Choose one winner at random for a gift certificate to a local
restaurant.
6.
Baby blankets. Send blankets to every employee who welcomes home a new child.
7.
Safety-record lunches. Host congratulatory lunches when employees meet safety goals and
department milestones.
8.
Newsletter features. Include a monthly “Employee Spotlight” column in the
organization’s newsletter. The newsletter also can include comments from
customers who have praised an employee’s work.
9.
Mini-massage. Bring
in a massage therapist every now and then to give complimentary 10-minute
shoulder massages.
10.
Birthday shirts. Have your CEO sign a birthday card for each employee and send it
to the worker along with a company logo shirt on his or her special day.
11.
Perks for extra work. Surprise employees who have worked long hours to finish a
project with a small cash bonus or a weekend at a bed-and-breakfast.
12.
Feedback from supervisors. This one might be the best. Encourage management to orally
recognize employees on an ongoing basis.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #4
TAILOR EMPLOYEE REWARDS TO GENERATIONAL
DIFFERENCES
Most organizations choose rewards based on
budgets, tradition and management choices. Or they may use surveys that solicit
preferences but don’t analyze the results according to generational
differences.
That’s a mistake more organizations are trying
to rectify.
Nearly a third (32%) of HR professionals plan to
alter their total employee rewards programs with generational preferences in
mind, according to the new Top Five Total Rewards Priorities survey by Deloitte LLP and the
International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists.
That percentage is likely to increase
significantly in the future because the workforce is becoming more
multigenerational—especially as older workers remain longer to rebuild their
nest eggs.
More organizations are customizing employee
rewards programs to accommodate the values, lifestyles, work habits and
interests of different generations. Even low-budget programs can offer rewards
that appeal to different generations.
The death of one-size-fits-all
benefits
Here are the different rewards that consultants
say best motivate the four generations:
Millennials were born between 1981 and 1999. They are
computer-literate, easily bored and require frequent challenges. They need
work/life balance and value education.
Millennials value extra break time, recognition
from clients and contributing to pet causes.
This generation also values gift certificates
for music and video; tickets to concerts and sporting events; transportation
subsidies and reimbursement; iPads, smartphones and other tech tools.
Gen Xers were born between 1965 and 1980. For them,
productivity means working smarter, not longer and harder. They balance work
and personal life and are selfpossessed, versatile employees.
This generation values flex-time, working from
home, leading a new project team and recognition from clients. Gen Xers also
value bonuses based on performance, weekend trips, tuition reimbursement and
annual salary increases.
Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. Their
careers tend to focus on one organization or industry.
Boomers value recognition, such as employee of
the month awards, oral acknowledgment from clients, parking passes and
promotions.
This generation also values cash rewards,
bonuses, free day care for a specified period, training seminars, membership in
a club or organization and dining with the boss.
Matures were born before 1946. They are
self-starters who have often sacrificed family time for work and tend to be
loyal employees. They want respect for their experience and sacrifices.
Matures value oral recognition from bosses and
clients, award certificates, extra time off and serving as mentors to age-group
peers and new employees. Matures also value salary increases, 401(k) matches,
bonuses, profit sharing and cash rewards for suggestions that lead to workplace
improvement.
Advice: These are generalizations, so survey your
staff to determine what types of rewards and recognition each age group values
most.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #5
HOW TO MAKE YOUR EMPLOYEE REWARDS AND
RECOGNITION PROGRAMS FUN
by Matt Weinstein, president
of Playfair, Inc.;
author of Managing To Have Fun
The problem with standardized reward and
recognition programs is that they are completely impersonal processes. Instead
of thinking about the specific people involved, the company provides the same
generic awards to everyone. But when an element of fun and play is added, the
experience becomes personalized and much more memorable for the award
recipient, without additional financial expense.
If you can make the reward and recognition
process fun, your employees will talk about the event long after it’s ended,
and you will have multiplied its team-building impact many, many times.
Example 1: The shopping spree
Dr. Jeff Alexander of the Youthful Tooth dental
office calculated that he could give a $200 bonus to each employee. But
Alexander knew that if he just added $200 to each paycheck, his staff would
have been excited for a little while, but probably would use the money for
something “practical.” So Alexander closed his office for two hours one
afternoon, took all 35 employees to a shopping mall and handed each an envelope
containing $200 in cash.
“This is not your money,” he told them. “It’s my
money. But anything you buy for yourself with this money in the next hour is
yours to keep. Here are the rules: You have to spend it on gifts for yourself.
You have one hour to spend it, and you have to buy at least five different
items. Any money you haven’t spent in the next hour comes back to me. Go get
’em!”
His employees spent the next hour dashing wildly
from store to store, yelling back and forth to each other about treasures
they’d found. “That was a real treat for them—and it gave me a great feeling,
watching them having fun,” Alexander said.
Example 2: Ford has a better
idea
Ford Motor Co. spent more than $1 million on one
memorable evening, demonstrating that Alexander’s idea can be easily adapted to
fit a more extravagant budget as well. Ford rented out Nordstrom’s department
store in San Francisco one evening and gave $5,000 in spending money to each of
its 250 top-selling sales managers, who were in town for a national sales
meeting. Ford hired sports celebrities such as Tommy Lasorda and Julius Erving
to accompany the sales managers on their shopping sprees.
The bottom line: No matter what your budget, you can make
the bonus fun.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #6
EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY IDEAS: SALUTE
YOUR STAFF
Employers host employee recognition events throughout
the year, but the first Friday in March is the official Employee Appreciation
Day, according to Recognition Professionals International.
Buy bagels or lunch for the staff, close shop
early or just say thanks.
Employers have the option of extending the
holiday for a variety of reasons. An Employee Appreciation Week might include,
according to the Society for Human Resource Management, an ice cream social or
picnic, a mini music concert during lunch hour, prize drawings, family fun day,
chili cook-off or a casual dress code for the entire week.
In addition to fun events, the week can provide
various beneficial activities for the employees, such as a health and wellness
fair or workshops.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #7
7 PROVEN WAYS TO RETAIN, REWARD, RECOGNIZE
YOUR BEST EMPLOYEES
At Florida-based Baptist Hospital, the CEO
declared an all-out war on turnover, pulling out all the stops to tear down
typical corporate walls and retain his best workers.
He decided to move out of the executive suite,
eliminate executive perks, park the farthest away in the parking lot, give
employees his home phone number to call if they have questions, make daily
rounds of employees, hand-write thank-you notes to employees and send managers
to a leadership academy.
That CEO is one of the corporate leaders who
“gets it,” according to Greg Smith, author of the book, 401 Proven Ways to
Retain Your Best Employees.
Here are seven more real-world examples of
efforts by organizations to keep their workers satisfied and in their seats:
1.
Keys to the car. A CEO who used to give $200 cash spot bonuses started giving
high performers the keys to a new BMW for the week. (People would forget about
the $200 within a month, but they never forgot the BMW.)
2.
Appreciation phone calls from the CEO—to employees at home.
3.
“Take a walk in my shoes” video for the staff showing what one employee did during a typical
day.
4.
“Roast, Toast and Boast” lunches in which managers would roast a long-time employee, toast
new hires and boast about a company accomplishment.
5.
Do-it-yourself titles. Employees were allowed to create their own titles (e.g., a deli
manager called himself the “deli-lama”).
6.
“Coins” peer recognition program. Employees get three coins each quarter to
distribute to co-workers who perform beyond the call of duty. Employees cash in
their coins for prizes.
7.
Secrets of success videos. Long-time workers reveal theirs on videos that are shown to
new hires.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #8
USING THE ACA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
Rules under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which
took effect in 2014, allow employers to reduce the cost of employees’ health
insurance premiums if they participate in wellness programs that encourage
exercise, smoking cessation, weight loss and health screenings.
The rules say employers may offer premium
reductions of up to 30% for participating employees. (Prior rules only allowed
for incentives that trimmed 20% from employee premiums.) On the flip side, the
rules allow employers to charge smokers up to 50% more for health insurance.
Wellness programs must be structured so “every
individual participating” can “receive the full amount of any reward or
incentive, regardless of any health factor.” That means participation is the
key, not employee success in actually improving their health.
The rules address wellness incentives for two
kinds of programs:
·
Those in which all
employees become eligible for incentives simply by participating. Examples
include completing a health assessment or taking a wellness class.
·
Programs that aim for
achieving a specific health goal, such as trying to lose weight or reduce blood
pressure. Those programs are further divided into activities that are
“outcomes-based”—lowering cholesterol levels, for example—and “activity-based”
programs that involve physical effort, such as a lunchtime walking club.
Note: If an employer offers monetary incentives for
activity-based programs (like lunchtime walking programs), it must offer an
alternative way to cash in for employees who are medically unable to
participate.
Want healthier staff? Cash
incentives might not work best
U.S. employers continue to struggle to change
the lifestyle behaviors of their employees, according to a 2015 Towers Watson
survey.
One significant reason why: Financial incentives
don’t appear to be an effective way to get employees to participate in wellness
programs.
Driven by ongoing concerns over worker stress
(75%), obesity (70%) and sedentary lifestyles (61%), employer commitment to
health and productivity remains strong. Towers Watson found that 84% of U.S.
employers say their health programs are essential or moderately important.
What’s more, 77% of employers expect their commitment to increase over the next
three years.
Yet in the past year, only 50% of employees
participated in a well-being activity or health management-related program.
Individual program participation was even lower, ranging from 48% for health
risk and biometric assessments, to 22% for work-site diet/exercise events, to
8% for healthy-sleep or tobacco-cessation programs.
On average, employers offer employees $880
through a range of annual incentives, but employees collect only $365.
Two-fifths of all employees don’t earn any incentives at all.
Towers Watson found that many employers do not
assess the impact of their wellness programs, with only 46% measuring return on
investment.
Those who are most concerned
for their health do respond to financial incentives
The Employee Benefit Research Institute recently
analyzed the impact that financial incentives had on the first-time
participants in a large employer’s wellness program. Researchers looked at
those who completed a health risk assessment or biometric screening in the two
or three years after financial incentives were offered to workers to participate.
Among the report’s findings:
Demographics: Older men were most likely to respond to
incentives. Offering financial incentives appeared to increase wellness
participation by about 12% among men age 50 and older—more than any other
group.
Health status: Incentives appeared attract employees who
were in generally poorer health, with relatively high rates of diabetes, high
blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity. That’s good news, because
wellness programs are most effective when they target those kinds of risk
factors.
The takeaway, according to
EBRI: Monetary rewards
attract the kinds of employees who can benefit most from a well-designed
wellness program.
Where wellness is placing on
the priority list
Spending on health care benefits was up in 50%
of organizations surveyed in 2015. In contrast, only about a quarter of
employers reported spending more on wellness programs and career development.
Source: Society for Human Resource Management survey,
October 2015
Health care 50%
Wellness 28%
Career development 26%
Financial literacy 22%
Retirement planning 18%
(% of employers reporting more spending in 2015)
Is anyone listening?
When it comes to workplace wellness programs,
the old adage that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink
is true.
Only about 24% of those who work for large
employers that offer wellness programs actually participate in them.
Most large employers (those with 1,000 or more
workers) sponsor programs designed to improve employees’ health by, for
example, promoting exercise and good nutrition, providing medical screenings
and helping workers quit smoking. However, only 60% of those companies’
employees are aware of the programs—and fewer than half of those who do know
about wellness opportunities decide to participate in them.
Wellness programs’ diminishing returns
Large employers offering
wellness programs 85%
Employees aware that they have
a wellness program 60%
Employees who participate in
their wellness program 40%
From a legal standpoint…
Wellness programs must be truly
voluntary: A wellness program
must truly be voluntary to stay on the right side of the law. A program is
arguably not voluntary if it involves penalties for nonparticipation, such as
canceling insurance coverage or shifting an insurance premium to the employee.
Employee health information
must be kept private: Health information
must be kept confidential under the federal HIPAA law and disability
discrimination laws. Store employee health information securely and separately
from other personnel documents so it isn’t accessible to decision-makers such
as supervisors.
Programs should not regulate
lawful behavior outside of work: Many states have a lawful consumables product law which
protects employees’ use of lawful substances, like tobacco and alcohol, outside
of the workplace. Some states have even broader laws that also protect any
lawful activity outside of work. To avoid running afoul of these laws, wellness
programs should not involve any adverse actions based on lawful employee
behavior outside of work.
Don’t forget about disability
accommodations: It can violate
disability discrimination laws to deny a disabled employee the opportunity to
participate in and obtain incentives tied to a wellness program. So, when
implementing a program, be sure to consider and comply with any reasonable
accommodation obligations to disabled employees.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #9
'STRATEGIC PRAISING': 6 STEPS TO
EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION
“You’re doing a good job.” “That’s a great
idea.” “Thanks for your extra effort.” For some employees, hearing those words
is better than a cash bonus. Yet, many managers can muster up such phrases only
during annual reviews—if at all.
“The number-one reason managers don't give
recognition is that they don't know how,” says Bob Nelson, author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees.
That’s why HR professionals need to teach
supervisors how to give employee recognition and provide them the tools to make
it easier. Studies consistently show that “feeling appreciated” is a key reason
employees stick around. And by making employee recognition a companywide
effort, you remove a burden from you and make rewards more personal.
Here are Nelson’s six guidelines for effective
praising:
1. Make it soon. Any recognition is good, but the best kind
is given as soon as possible after the good performance. Example: When an HP
software engineer told his supervisor that he fixed a software bug, the
supervisor grabbed a banana from his lunch and gave it to the employee with a
big “thank you.” Today, the most prestigious award in that HP department is the
“Golden Banana” award.
2. Make it sincere. Stop guessing at what rewards people want.
Ask them. Nelson says Medtronic Corp. stopped giving people “stuff” for their
years-of-service awards. Instead, they give days off because the company
finally asked employees, and that’s what they wanted.
3. Make it specific. If possible, relate the gift to the
performance being rewarded. Example: Apple Computers prints different company
core values on T-shirts (“Integrity,” etc.) and gives them to employees who
demonstrate those values. “Apple has employees who work hard trying to collect
them all,” says Nelson.
4. Make it personal. One bank asks new hires on their first day
to write on an index card the three things that motivate them (time off, lunch
with the boss, Starbucks coffee, etc.). The card is then given to their
supervisors, who can mold rewards around those “wants.”
5. Make it positive and public. When praising employees, don’t undercut it
by concluding with a note of criticism. And, when possible, convey the praise
in person and in public. With public praising, says Nelson, “you’re sending the
message that this is the type of thing that gets rewarded around here.”
6. Make it proactive. Teach supervisors how to be on the lookout
for positive behaviors. One tactic: Managers can put the name of every staff
member on their weekly to-do list. Then, managers can cross off each name as
they dole out praise that week.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #10
OFFICE GIFT GIVING: FROM WEIRD TO
WONDERFUL EMPLOYEE GIFTS
Nearly eight out of 10 (79%) executives polled
in a recent survey said some form of gift giving occurs in their offices during
the holiday season. But it’s not all bottles of wine and Target gift cards out
there.
When asked to name the most unusual or unique
gifts exchanged in the office, responses ranged from a fully stocked 125-pound
aquarium to personalized bobbleheads.
Execs were asked, “During the holiday season,
which of the following types of gifts, if any, are typically given in your
office?” Their responses:
·
51% Gifts from managers
to staff members
·
51% Gifts from staff
members to each other
·
43% Gifts from
co-workers based on names dropped in a hat
·
39% Gifts from staff to
their managers
·
19% None/no gifts given
“Given the current economy, office gift giving
may be toned down, but there still will be those who want to spread holiday
cheer by giving colleagues tokens of appreciation,” said Megan Slabinski,
executive director of The Creative Group, the staffing company that
commissioned the survey.
“Although presents don’t have to be expensive,
they do need to be thoughtful and appropriate to the work environment,”
Slabinski said. “A gift that works in one setting may not be well received in
another.”
Asked about some of the more … er … novel gifts
they’d received or heard of, the executives offered the following gems:
·
“Someone gave a
co-worker a voodoo doll of the boss. The boss found out and
wasn’t very happy about it.”
·
“A colleague gave me
orange hair extensions. I wasn’t sure what they were for.”
·
“One employee liked to
give out portraits of himself. I’m glad I never received
one.”
·
“A person gave a
colleague a fully stocked 125-pound aquarium.”
But others raved about thoughtful, memorable and
personal gifts:
·
“My favorite and most
memorable gift was a membership to a local art gallery.”
·
“We got Ohio State
football helmets because we are all Ohio State football fans.”
·
“Each employee received
a bobblehead that was a replica of him- or herself.”
·
“An employee made a
photo collage of our art director’s children.”
·
“My staff gave me two
pounds of stone crab last year. They were delicious.”
And, finally, there were gifts that keep on
giving:
·
“We gave a certificate
to a charity in the person’s name.”
·
“We elect, as a staff,
to distribute gifts to families that are needy.”
Tip: With so-called “giving certificates” (www.charitychecks.us), you select the giftcheck amount and the
recipient picks the charity. Example: You give 10 employees $50 charity checks
that they can donate to their favorite causes. The bonus: Your organization can
take a $500 tax deduction.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #11
DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE SELECTING GIFT
CARDS FOR EMPLOYEES
Still handing out engraved pens and five-year
pins to worthy employees? That’s not what they want. Workers say gift cards
make the best employee gifts, rewards or incentives, according to surveys.
But buying gift cards from stores during a
recession could be risky. Before you spend your incentive budget on cards that
generate more problems than appreciation, do some homework. Here are six ways
to make sure your organization doesn’t waste its money on
gift cards that don’t deliver.
1. Before you buy gift cards
from a retail chain, find out whether it
has closed any of its stores or is expected to file for bankruptcy. Some stores
have refused to honor gift cards once they got into financial trouble.
2. Limit your selection to
retailers that will accept
the gift cards at many store locations and online so employees can shop where
it’s convenient.
3. Tell employees about any
limitations or conditions on
a gift card; don’t assume they will learn these on their own. Some
cards—particularly those for general shopping at malls and prepaid bank or
credit card-issued gift cards—have expiration dates or charge penalties for
every month they go unused. The top 25 retailers, on the other hand, issue
cards that do not expire, and 84% of them are fee-free, according to the
National Retail Federation.
4. Don’t buy gift cards from
online auction sites. There’s
a chance they’re counterfeit or stolen.
5. Remind employees to use the
gift cards you give them
before the cards expire or lose their value over time.
6. Keep your receipts. Some retailers will replace a lost gift
card if you have your original purchase receipt.
One reason employers like gift cards: Issuing a
cash bonus through payroll takes time, so it’s not an instant reward for a job
well done. A gift card offered on the spot is.
Tip: Hand out prepaid American Express, MasterCard
or Visa cards instead of cards for clothing or specialty stores. Employees can
spend them wherever they want—the gas station, pharmacy or grocery store. (Caution: These cards often come with expiration dates.
Warn your employees that hanging onto a card for too long could invalidate it.)
Also, if you buy gift cards in bulk from retailers, ask if they’ll throw in
coupons or discounts for employees who redeem them.
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAM TIP #12
WHAT’S WORKING: REAL-WORLD REWARDS
On-site scuba lessons, desks on wheels, employee
shopping sprees and unlimited time off are just a few of the ways innovative
employers recruit, reward, retain and refresh workers. See if any of these best
practices—some simple, some extravagant—inspire you to take a fresh look at
your company’s perks:
♦ Verizon, the phone, wireless and cable TV
giant, encourages employees to post videos of themselves showing and telling
their colleagues how to perform jobrelated tasks or solve common problems.
Through 2013, workers had posted more than 2,800 videos on the company’s
intranet video site, VZTube. With more than 2 million views, the videos have
gone viral—at least internally.
Videos depict employees demonstrating the use of
computer software and other business tools. One popular video—about Samsung’s
Droid Charge smartphone—logged 1,240 views within minutes of being posted.
♦ After its research showed that consumers
respond well to pitches that involve playing games, marketing firm Upstream
Systems “gamified” its own search for job candidates.
Applicants for five marketing campaign manager
positions competed for the job by competing in an online challenge, which
senior VP Guy Krief said was designed to attract “the right kind of candidates
for this role.”
The multinational Upstream, with U.S. operations
in California’s Silicon Valley, develops smartphone-based marketing campaigns
for consumer-products clients.
The campaign manager selection game required
would-be employees to navigate seven online “missions” set up to reveal their
language fluency, creative thinking, understanding of basis statistics and
tolerance for challenge, Krief explains.
The challenge took about an hour and led
candidates through a series of problems related to specific aspects of the
position they were seeking. They had to “decrypt” anagrams,” answer word usage
questions, solve elementary math problems, match customer emotions to
hypothetical scenarios and more.
Krief said the game-like format of the job
“application” attracted candidates who might not have applied for the job
through more traditional means.
♦ It’s not too early for the Newark, N.J.,
office of the Patton Boggs law firm to start planning its annual holiday
celebrations—because it throws two separate parties every December.
The first is for the children and guests of
staff members, and includes visits from Santa, Mrs. Claus and their many elves.
The second party is for employees and their partners, and is held at a local
country club.
The abundance of holiday cheer, say execs, is
part of an effort to create a family atmosphere and reinforce social ties among
staff members. Throughout the year, the firm’s employees mingle during monthly
cocktail parties.
In addition, Patton Boggs offers employees extra
half-days off during the summer and on-the-spot bonuses of up to $2,000 for
jobs well done.
The firm’s attorneys are required to complete at
least 100 hours of pro bono work each year, and the staff routinely pitches in
to help the homeless and hungry in their communities.
♦ Employees of Washington, D.C.-area
companies that made The Washington Post’s inaugural list of the area’s top workplaces are apparently
very well fed. Amid the medical, vacation and flex benefits cited by employees
of the top firms are a huge number of perks involving company-supplied
food.
Examples:
·
Digital marketing firm
Fishbowl in Alexandria, Va., shuttles its employees to restaurants at lunchtime
so they can eat on the D.C. suburb’s trendiest street.
·
CustomInk, an online
clothing designer in Fairfax, Va., has a frozen yogurt machine in the office
and serves a “PM Pick-up” snack every afternoon.
·
An annual Tech Chef
contest at technology and data firm DMI in Bethesda, Md., allows teams of
employees to showcase their cooking skills. Winners take home grills.
·
Architectural firm
Gensler hosts a farmer’s market once a month in the summer so employees can buy
fresh produce without leaving the office.
·
An espresso bar on the
first day of work of the New Year welcomed employees of law firm Kelley Drye
& Warren back to work.
·
Employees of the Share
Our Strength food and nutrition charity showcase their baking skills in monthly
“Bakolutions” celebrations.
♦ A group of Wisconsin businesses has
created a series of videos for grade school and high school teachers to use for
teaching practical applications for math on a manufacturer’s production line.
The Northeastern Wisconsin Manufacturing
Alliance includes employers such as KI Furniture, cheese maker Sargento and
snow blower manufacturer Ariens.
It aims to change the perception that
manufacturing is “dingy, dumbed-down and deadend,” says Andy Bushmaker, senior
HR manager for KI Furniture.
The videos drive home the point that
manufacturing employees use skills like trigonometry, software optimization and
robotics on the job.
“There’s more to manufacturing than pulling
levers; there’s opportunity for real money and advancement,” says Bushmaker,
who notes the manufacturers are recruiting the next generation of employees by
partnering with the schools.
“Young people won’t be able to capitalize on
these opportunities if they don’t have the math and technical knowledge these
jobs require. We’re helping them acquire those skills.”
The alliance also sponsors mentorship
opportunities to introduce students to careers in manufacturing. More than
1,000 students have visited KI’s plant in the past year for tours and
internships.
♦ Employees of Robert Half International
gave the business suits off their backs to help others find jobs.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing company
invited its own employees and those of nearby businesses to donate “interview
appropriate” clothing and accessories to disadvantaged job-seekers through its
“Dress for Success” program.
The 19,000 suits, separates, shoes, scarves and
accessories the company collected were distributed to thousands of job
candidates who otherwise might not have been able to make good first
impressions.
The company started the annual drive in 2002 and
through 2015 had collected more than 250,000 pieces of clothing.
♦ Employees of digital marketing firm
iProspect play foosball and shoot hoops in between working with clients who
hire the firm to boost their online presence.
The Fort Worth organization allows employees to
take breaks in a game room, a practice that President Jeremy Confeldt says
“brings a unique and casual atmosphere to our office culture.”
Adding to the casual culture: a policy that lets
employees wear shorts to work two days a week on hot days. In addition, workers
may bring their dogs to work, and they enjoy a monthly “bonding” lunch that
allows co-workers to eat together and get to know one another.
Employees earn four weeks of paid vacation after
two years on the job, can flex their schedules during the summer and miss any
three “optional days” during the year. The organization is closed between
Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.
♦ The Motley Fool tells applicants they are
applying for the best job they’ll ever
have, touting its flexible work schedules, competitive salaries, employee
benefits and friendly work environment. Among the “foolish benefits” offered by
the
Alexandria, Va., personal finance publisher:
·
Unlimited paid vacation
and sick leave. The “take what you need” policy assumes
employees will get their work done and arrange for absences in advance with
bosses. Then they can take “any reasonable amount of time off.”
·
9:30 a.m. start time,
although supervisors may approve other schedules. Most
Motley Fools work 40 to 50 hours a week.
·
An ultra-casual dress
code lets staff wear basically anything they want.
·
The company provides up
to $5,250 in tuition assistance for employment-related
college classes.
·
Fool University offers
more than 100 classes a year, from computer skills to golf.
·
New moms get up to 14
weeks of leave at 100% pay, plus $200 worth of homedelivered groceries. Dads
receive up to five weeks of leave at 100% pay, plus the
groceries.
♦ In January of 2014, the Marriott
International hotel chain began accepting applications from job-seekers who
apply via their cellphones and tablets. The hospitality giant says it is the
first in the industry to offer mobile job applications to would-be employees.
“We recognize that the job hunt is changing
rapidly,” says David Rodriguez, executive vice-president of HR, who notes that
70% of job-seekers use mobile devices to research job openings.
“We believe that investing in new mobile
technology is critical to attracting talent,” Rodriguez says, “especially
millennials and those in emerging markets who depend on their mobile devices
more than any other generation before them.”
Candidates can use their smartphones and tablets
to learn about and apply for jobs at jobs.marriott.com. They may type in their
information or import it directly from their LinkedIn profiles. The app is
available in six languages.
♦ Sheetz President and CEO Joe Sheetz says
the convenience store giant not only tries to offer the same employee benefits
as its competitors, but tries to customize perks to suit its young workers,
many of whom work relatively few hours.
So even part-timers are eligible for health,
dental and vision benefits, as well as for 401(k) matches, employee stock
ownership and quarterly bonuses.
Employees of the chain’s 460 stores who achieve
milestones can score rewards like a two-day, all-expenses-paid resort retreat.
And those who volunteer in their communities could be selected to work on
projects with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Co-workers participate in friendly
sandwich-making competitions that can earn them cash prizes and recognition
among their peers.
♦ Nestlé Purina Petcare’s employee benefits
program offers workers a little help with their own pets.
The pet food maker offers $200 to any associate
who adopts or becomes a pet owner to help defray initial costs. Employees at
the firm’s St. Louis headquarters may bring their pets to work with them every
day.
The company also offers child- and
parent-friendly benefits, including:
·
An infant formula
program that provides store coupons for any type of Nestlé infant formula
·
A program that
reimburses staff for some adoption costs.
·
On-site day care for
children from 6 weeks to 6 years old.
The company also has an on-site medical center
that offers yearly health screenings and treatment of minor illnesses.
♦ Execs at Geneca, a Chicago-based custom
software development firm, took a cue from the hit TV show “Shark Tank” to
encourage its 100 employees to come up with innovative ideas.
The competition—set up like a science fair—is
called the “Innovation Challenge/Shark Tank.” Winners receive funding from the
company to develop new products, even if their ideas fall outside of their
official job duties. The contest’s first winner was a 10-employee team that
created an application to recognize employees for exceptional work by
permitting them to award each other prizes. The company rolled out the program
in the fall.
Geneca execs let the team work on their idea
while on the clock, and, in fact, encourage staff to be creative during their
40-hour workweek—and then go home.
The privately owned firm doesn’t base employee
bonuses on billable hours, but rather urges employees to work just 40 hours a
week and to take all their vacation time.
CEO Joel Basgall says he also encourages
employee teams to take on tasks outside their job descriptions. Example: When
the firm outgrew its office and rented the one next door, a team of computer
professionals knocked down the adjoining wall and reconfigured the plumbing.
Result: Nearly zero attrition.
♦ Recruiters at investment advisory firm Andrew
Garrett are hoping to attract women financial advisors by telling would-be
candidates that “no workaholics need apply.”
In its publicity materials, the Manhattan firm
calls itself an “understanding, familyfriendly company” that helps female
employees succeed by “finding the right balance between profession and
parenthood.”
“Unquestionably,” notes CEO Drew Sycoff, “people
who are happy at home are happier at work. So here we have no 20-hours days.”
In fact, says Sycoff, employees are encouraged
to attend their children’s school plays, parent-teacher conferences and soccer
games, and to stay home from work when their kids are sick.
♦ Employees of Boston’s Four Seasons Hotel get
employee news via an in-house,
co-worker-produced newscast.
Every two weeks, employees put together a
10-minute show that airs on TV sets in staff areas. The broadcasts usually
include interviews with employees from a different department each time.
Employees rotate as “anchors” who conduct the
interviews as a sales coordinator videotapes. The public relations director
writes the script, and other employees edit the tape and insert music.
“Experience News” has featured a hotel chef
delivering turkeys to a local food bank, a Haitian doorman recounting a trip to
his homeland after the 2010 earthquake there and introductions to each member
of the maintenance staff.
There was also a primer on perks the hotel
offers its guests—like an ice cream sundae cart that can be ordered via room
service.
♦ Houston-based Swift Worldwide Resources gives
all of its employees a day off—the same day—to volunteer in their communities.
On “Swift Day,” employees at the oil and gas organization’s 23 locations around
the world work on teams to volunteer at local charities.
Each team selects its own service project. In
Houston, the company’s headquarters city, teams collect donations of clothing
and help with clean-up at a charity function for Dress for Success. They
prepare meals for Kids Meals Houston, Meals on Wheels and a local food bank.
Recently, Team Calgary spent the landscaping day
to help a Franciscan monastery prepare for a festival. In Australia, employees
volunteered at a dog refuge, which saves hundreds of neglected and abused pets
every year.
♦ The New York-based health insurance company
EmblemHealth handed out cash rewards ranging from $375 to $750 to more than
1,000 of its 5,000 employees. It rewarded activities like taking online
classes, participating in fitness challenges and working with wellness coaches.
The company’s results-oriented “myHealth PATH”
program also offered cash rewards for healthy behaviors like having “well
visits” with doctors, getting tests and screenings, joining a gym and
participating in workplace walks.
Almost two-thirds of the participants claimed
the program helped them significantly alter their behavior. In addition, 60%
said the program eased their stress levels; 35% said it helped alleviate
symptoms of depression.
EmblemHealth officials have said their wellness
incentives translate into short- and longterm cost savings, improve retention
and help employees adopt healthy lifestyles and feel better.
Dr. William Gillespie, EmblemHealth’s chief
medical officer, said participants are more likely to complete preventive
health screenings like mammograms and take advantage of preventive and
outpatient health services.
♦ To attract 3,000 new salaried employees in
2013—800 more than the company anticipated—Ford Motor Co. launched a recruiting
campaign that relied heavily on social media.
The campaign, titled, “The Distance Between You
and an Amazing Career Has Never Been Shorter,” started the application process
on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter instead of through more traditional means,
such as mail or telephone.
“The type of talent we want at Ford are often
searching for and evaluating potential employers on social media sites, so
expanding our recruiting efforts on these channels ensures we have a strong
presence throughout their selection process,” said Felicia Fields, Ford’s HR
president. Plus, she noted, the focus on social media helped the company
portray the “fresh and innovative image that reflects Ford and what we stand
for.”
In addition to the social media campaign, Ford
also is increasing its recruiting presence on college campuses.
♦ Sociable employees of Boehringer Ingelheim
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (BIPI) never have to eat lunch alone, thanks to a new
mobile app that connects coworkers who might otherwise never meet.
After a BIPI social media strategist found
himself without anyone to sit with in the company cafeteria in Connecticut, he
and a colleague created Lunch Roulette, an app that matches solo lunch-goers
with colleagues looking for someone to spend the lunch hour with.
Participants select which days they want
company, what time they want to eat and the cafeteria where they’d like to
meet. The app matches them with others—they may request one lunch companion or
a group—who have signed up and then emails all parties a calendar reminder.
Most of the time, lunch “dates” are between
colleagues who have never met.
Within weeks of the app’s launch, more than 350
partners had been matched for lunch. BIPI’s CEO dined with a young employee
from marketing, and the app’s creator ate with a database administrator who had
some ideas for improving it. Some employees are using the tool to network, so
the developers are tweaking the app to allow users to request matches with
colleagues from specific departments.
Download it for your own use: BIPI is offering
the app free to other organizations. Email info@lunchroulette.us.
♦ Walmart promised in 2013 to hire any honorably
discharged veteran for up to a year after he or she leaves active duty.
Through its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment,
the retail giant aimed to hire more than 100,000 veterans over five years.
Walmart CEO Bill Simon has said the discount chain is the country’s largest
private employer of veterans. He wrote to 50 U.S. CEOs to urge them to commit
to hiring more veterans.
He called veterans “quick learners and team
players and ... leaders with discipline, training and a passion for service.”
The Walmart Foundation has committed $20 million
through 2015 to helping veterans and their families transition from the
military into the civilian workforce through programs that provide job training,
transition support and education.
♦ Domino’s Pizza recognizes employees for their
best work, even when it’s not about pizza. The winner of the international
chain’s national Delivering More award won it after he dropped the pizza he was
about to deliver and jumped into a river to help rescue a drowning man.
The company congratulated the winner, a store
manager in Great Britain, for “going above and beyond in [his] commitment to
promote the brand.” The manager also got a letter from local police, who honored
him for saving the drowning man.
Domino’s Delivering More award goes to a store
or employee who makes a connection with the local community and displays
passion and dedication to providing excellent customer service.
♦ Taking a page from Twitter, which limits users
to 140 characters per message, Pizza Hut invited applicants for a digital
manager position to pitch themselves in just 140 seconds.
Four hours of speed interviews were conducted by
Caroline Masullo, Pizza Hut’s director of digital and social marketing, who
likened the quick pitches to an “elevator speech.” She said they revealed how
well job candidates could communicate quickly and concisely with consumers who
have become accustomed to getting their information that way.
Masullo asked applicants why they should get the
job of “manager of digital greatness,” and threw in some specific questions
that tested their knowledge of social media.
♦ Managers and HR pros aren’t the only ones who
vet job applicants at grocery chain Whole Foods. Employees weigh in on each new
hire as well.
Candidates who are called in for job interviews
often face panels of their would-be peers. Reason: The organization’s execs say
the diversity of interviewers during a team Q&A brings all aspects of the
responsibilities of the position to the event. Plus, employees can educate the
applicant about the job and the organization, helping him or her to make a
better decision about whether to accept a job there.
New hires start their jobs with a 30- to 90-day
orientation and training process. Afterward, the team leader recommends whether
the candidate should be placed on the team, and the team members vote yes or
no.
♦ Execs at Denver-based ReadyTalk, a provider of
web conferencing and webinar services, are encouraging their workers to get
outside more. Employees, including many desk-bound software developers, have
access to office bikes for running downtown errands.
Indoors, they can attend twice-a-week yoga
classes at the workplace. The company also has an on-site gym and locker room,
and offers massage at the office—along with visits from an acupuncturist and a
chiropractor. Plus, kitchens are stocked with healthy snacks such as fruits and
vegetables.
“Healthy, engaged employees are the key to us
sustaining success over time,” notes CEO Dan King, who says he looks for
employees who “have many passions beyond what they do for ReadyTalk…. We do our
best to accommodate people’s personal needs so that our employees can bring
their best to work every day over the long haul.”
♦ After a major merger, Sims Metal Management in
Princeton, N.J., polled employees to learn how engaged they were in their work,
and got an overwhelming response.
More than 90% of employees of the world’s
largest metal and recycling company responded to the organization’s first-ever
employee engagement survey. Execs attribute the impressive showing to these
factors:
·
The CEO made it clear
the survey had his backing.
·
The company assured
employees that responses would be confidential, and that they would see the
survey results—good and bad.
·
Management pledged to
use the results to make appropriate changes.
The survey found overall employee engagement was
77%, which Sims says is higher than the manufacturing-industry average.
♦ Coal miners, supervisors and mine-safety
directors who participated in Massey Energy’s football-themed safety contest
cut loss-time accidents at the West Virginia coal company by 47% in just one year.
Employees were assigned to “football” teams at
their locations and competed with other employee teams for the best safety
performance records. Teams won points for each individual member who worked a
month without a lost-time accident or a disqualifying absence.
At the end of each quarter, employees on teams
with no lost-time accidents became eligible for a prize drawing.
At the end of the year, they could win a grand
prize. Winners could choose their rewards from a catalog that included hunting,
fishing and camping items, along with electronics, home appliances and lawn
tools.
The program was named the “Raymond Safety Bowl”
after a former employee who was legendary for his workplace safety habits.
By the end of the program’s first year, Massey
Energy experienced its safest year since it opened in 1916. In addition,
absenteeism decreased.
The company estimates it reduced the cost of
lost-time accidents by $5 million.
♦ Employees of Mercedes-Benz Financial
Services tapped their inner art critics to better understand their co-workers.
In partnership with the Detroit Institute of
Arts, the Farmington Hills, Mich.-based company exposed workers to the work of
artistic masters from different continents and different centuries in a setting
where they could express their views on the artwork—and learn about their
colleagues.
In small-group settings, employees were asked
what they saw in a piece of art. Someone who offered an observation was pressed
for supporting evidence with the question, “What do you see that makes you say
that?”
Called “Visual Thinking Strategies,” this
open-ended, inquiry-based conversation gave each employee in the room some
insight about the intellectual and cultural frames of reference that influenced
their colleagues’ points of view.
The sessions used art to help employees build
skills in observation and attention to details; communication and
understanding; and creative and collaborative problem solving.
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