New Valuation

How is the business of recognition evolving? HRM sat down with Recognition Professionals International President Lisa Massiello to find out.

You’ve been in the recognition business for quite a while. Have the changing demographics of the workforce made a big difference to the way programs are structured and the types of rewards they offer?
Lisa Massiello. The demographics of the workforce are definitely changing. What we’re finding is besides the generational changes, it’s more of the virtual employee changes or the realities of having leaders in different states from their employees and teams that are scattered across the country. If we go into the generational stuff, I think that even though there is the thinking that and says, ‘Oh, Gen Y wants this, Gen X wants that, and the boomers want this,”’ I don’t believe recognition programs should be developed specifically to one of the generations. I think the program should be flexible and be attractive to all employees. If we started doing recognition, focusing on just the Gen Y’s, how would that make the boomers feel?

I’m actually more interested in coaching and consulting with leaders. It’s about knowing your employees. Knowing what makes employee X feel valued and knowing what motivates employee Y and know how to recognize employee A who’s sitting over in California. One thing that is spiking in popularity across not just our organization but everywhere is peer to peer, instant recognition. It is just skyrocketing, and that is the online methods that make it very easy to recognize someone.

E-cards have become very popular, but a way for employees to touch another employee that they don’t see often but they talk to regularly.  They want to be able to say thank you quickly and promptly. We’re seeing these changes because our employees are sitting all over the place. If you want to send a thank you note to someone who is sitting in Minneapolis, that’s the way to do it. I’m seeing those changes more than people getting the gift card type of recognition. Historically Wachovia’s had a huge peer-to-peer program that’s very well received. On average of 35,000 free e-cards are sent peer-to-peer each month.

We’re emphasizing a culture of recognition, starting with the employees rather than from the top down. We campaign hard to encourage our people to remember to say thank you to everybody that they work with and who helps them. It doesn’t have to go through an approval process. It’s just a way of keeping people feeling more and more appreciated, Whether you’re getting recognition from the person that sits in the cube next to you or from someone based in a different office, you’re going to perform better, the company’s going to perform better, and the customer’s going be happier. It’s a win-win for everybody.

Does recognition take on a new significance in the current economic climate where bonuses and wage increases might be a little thin on the ground? Can recognition take up some of the slack?
LM. I would say yes, of course. What we’re currently seeing is more team recognition as opposed to individual recognition. Recognizing teams who have worked really well on a project can have a huge impact. It’s invigorating to have these individuals being recognized for a job well done and bringing a project in on time or under budget, and then they pass that recognition on to of thanking the people that helped them. I think that once you stir up the people and offer other ways of engaging them, be it some time away or a better project to work on, I think that type of recognition can really work.

It doesn’t have to necessarily be a rewards and recognition program. It’s a chance to be heard, to have lunch with their boss or have a team lunch with the boss’ boss. These special options are ways of recognizing employees, and I think that helps people, especially during these challenging times. I often tell leaders, ‘Just take an hour every couple of weeks and sit with your team and just say what’s on your mind. Just have a cup of coffee and even do a bridge line with those that are not in the office, and share some thoughts.” That makes them feel engaged. That makes employees feel recognized and part of an organization, so they’re going to pay it back.

It seems that a lot of your work is really about bringing people together and getting conversations started. Does building these human relationships really pay off?
LM. Very much so. We recently did a survey and a lot of the feedback was from managers. We asked them to share what are some of their little secrets, and I can tell you a huge percentage put in, “I love the coffee chats. I like to take a different teammate to lunch once a week.” They don’t charge it to the company, but it’s their way of connecting with individuals.  I ask a lot of managers – you know you have a new hire. I always tell managers that, if they have a new hire, make sure to check in with them. Don’t just put them in a desk and say, “This is your job, now go and do it.”

Check in with them once a month for three months just to see how they’re doing. Take them to lunch and talk with them. That makes an employee feel more like they’re a part of this organization. Communication is key. It’s also about sharing information down. It’s not just giving the employees the opportunity to share up but to share down, to ensure that all communication has a way of getting to all types of employees whether they’re sat in front of computer or not.

What do you see as the key trends currently impacting on the recognition space?  Do you envisage any big changes in the coming years?
LM. Even though we’ve had a really bad year across the whole economy and we have seen some companies scaling back, I actually think recognition is becoming a high priority for a lot of organizations. Over time, to me, that’s actually the most significant change I’ve seen. I would say more and more people are realizing that it’s a huge, powerful thing to do, and so more and more people are looking for education and training and everything else they can do to learn about the best practices and the right ways to do things. They want to understand how they can bring value to their company for the small amount of budget they have by doing the right things and making the most impact with it. I would think that to me is the most significant. The companies that are standing behind recognition are standing behind it strongly. Another negative significance of some of the trends of some companies letting recognition go is that it is also going to have an impact on so many other industries, the incentive industry, the travel industry and the meetings and events industry. If you cut back too much, it’s all going to roll downhill. But I’m most impressed by the companies that are standing strong and saying, “This is extremely important. Making this a great place to work is one of our organization’s goals.” That is phenomenal.

The idea of company culture is also one that is increasingly prominent, and recognition has a big role to play in that. When you see the growth in surveys and the growth in studying of diversity and the increase of onsite training provided to employees, all of that contributes. I’m talking about some of benefits that they’re starting to give employees which are much more focused on lifestyle. It could be time away for an adoption, or community service time off or in charity donations in your name. Those are all other things that fall into that recognition and engagement category that sometimes employees forget is part of the whole package that is significant. It’s not always about giving money or gifts. If you gave someone two hours to go see their daughter’s dance recital, you’ve given them the world. Sometimes that’s all they want; just a little bit of time.

You better recognize
Massiello discusses the risk of seeing recognition as a target for cost-cutting

There have been some examples of organizations that have cut back, and I think those are the organizations that don’t quite get it, that they don’t see the correlation between the engaged and happy employees or the motivated employees and different ways that it equates to a better bottom line. Some of the larger organizations most definitely get it. I happen to work for one that does. At the RPI we have seen a trend of a lot of certain organizations cutting back in that field. I think there will be some long term effects because these companies are going to have problems retaining employees and some potentially serious trust issues with leadership. If recognition is getting cut, what’s going to get cut next; benefits, health coverage? Employees could just start jumping to conclusions. They’re going to make their own assumptions and possibly start shopping around for other places to work that make them feel more valued and connected to the organization.

Lisa Massiello is President of Recognition Professionals International and Employee Engagement Leader for Wachovia’s Operations, Technology and eCommerce (OTE) division.  This department has over 19,000 employees and the leadership team is based in Charlotte, NC.  Her role is responsible for developing and promoting employee recognition programs for the department’s 19,000 employees, consulting and educating various levels of management on the best practices for employee recognition and motivation, and working with key leaders on their role in employee engagement within their own departments.