I worked for a large company for 9 years that was brilliant at recognizing employees. There is no question that this culture correlates to its well-known stellar customer satisfaction track record.

The “being recognized by the boss” rewards are great, but we saw even more traction with being recognized by each other. The “You’re The Best” award was a monthly recognition of the person who received the most notes from co-workers thanking him/her for anything from “moving that file cabinet” to “delivering that report faster than expected.” Even more special is that leadership put incredibly emphasis on this award, scheduling a monthly full-staff breakfast to announce the award.

Thanks for opening the conversation on this. It’s a crucial topic for businesses, especially during trying times.

Sidra

When a goal/reward is achieved it should feel like you’ve had to work for it and through this you grow as a person too.

I agree with Tom’s comments about the “Rate My Performance” caption. It would NOT work in the UK and would just be laughed out. That’s not to say that we don’t like receiving feedback in the UK because we do but like with all things “It’s how you say it” that counts. So we would have to change the wording for it to work but in principle it’s a great idea – it’s just the cultural implementation that would need to change.

I also reward my staff as and when good things happen. I don’t wait for a couple of months to give an appreciation gift – I reward there and then because it has a huge impact on them. A regular quartlerly gift becomes common place and the element of surprise is lost but I understand where you are coming from.

Gee, us Brits sound a cynical lot!

Having said that it just shows you the nuances and differences in culture and the approach you need to take to make things work

Sean

I’m now self-employed, but I would find the idea of being ‘rewarded’ in this way very demeaning. It almost sounds like training an animal to perform tricks.

In my previous job our boss tried to implement a rewards scheme. The incentive was there, but the target was never achievable and we quicker felt it was a waste of time even trying to achieve them.

I think performance based rewards, when done correctly can work well. However they need to be achievable and not invade too much on the personal space of the employee.

Evan’s Response:

Hi Tom – thanks for the feedback and congrats on stepping out and forming your own business!

The key here is that the rewards are very much within reach. If your former boss made it impossible to reach the rewards then it was a flawed system.

My interns love the ability to make more money and it doesn’t really take that much extra effort – just make sure the customer is happy working with you and be responsive to their needs.

I think any employee who deals with customers and is afraid of negative customer feedback isn’t going to last long in their position.

So far the program has worked out wonderfully and has helped create an even greater customer-centric work culture.

I would encourage you to look at your own rewards / incentive program for your business as you grow your company and bring on staff. Again, make sure the rewards are attainable (unlike your old boss) and remember that the actions you reward will be repeated to select the appropriate actions.