Rewards & Recognition

Top Employee Recognition Goals: How Many Does Your Company Embrace?

by Derek Irvine on Jun 14, 2013, 8:00 AM | No comments yet

WorldatWork just released its 2013 Trends in Employee Recognition report.

The timing is ideal, as earlier this week I blogged about the importance of behavior-based recognition and WorldatWork’s press release about the new report proclaims: “For the first time in the survey’s 11-year history, programs to motivate specific behavior jumped to a top-tier goal, cited by 41 percent of organizations in 2013 vs. 25 percent in 2008.”

Indeed, four of the top five recognition goals for organizations across industries are the focus of strategic, social employee recognition programs. Read more…

Culture, Rewards & Recognition

A Culture of Recognition: It’s the Challenge of Simple, But Not Easy

by Derek Irvine on Jun 12, 2013, 11:37 AM | No comments yet

I have the honor of doing what I love for my job: I help company leaders transform their cultures into ones of appreciation and recognition.

Creating these cultures is simple – empowering everyone to “catch someone doing something good” – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Strengthening culture rarely is.

Recently, I read this story from Terri Robberson on the blog The HR Difference: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

How to Drive Better Performance Through Employee Recognition

by Derek Irvine on May 31, 2013, 7:00 AM | 4 Comments

As regular readers can imagine, I’m a big fan of research.

Research from multiple angles and sources can lead us to better decisions and applications. In addition to the external research I make a practice to seek out (from the usual suspects of Towers Watson, Hay Group, Mercer, Deloitte, etc.), I also greatly enjoy the semi-annual research Globoforce conducts with SHRM on the employer/management take on the current state of employee engagement, retention, performance, organization culture and the like.

Our most recent survey just came out. The Spring 2013 Report – Driving Stronger Performance through Employee Recognition – uncovered several interesting findings as featured in the press release about the report: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Retaining Top Talent Is More Than Just Telling Employees “Thank You”

by Derek Irvine on May 15, 2013, 8:10 AM | No comments yet

In the last few months in my travels to lead workshops with clients and to present at various HR and strategy conferences around the world, I’m hearing a repeated refrain about employee retention.

In my (admittedly unscientific) survey of these large, global companies, the importance of culture as a main component of a retention strategy is once again rising to the fore.

Some companies have maxed out their compensation and cannot compete for talent based on pay alone. Others know the only real difference between what they have to offer top talent from the competition is the strength of their workplace culture as an exciting, innovative and appreciative environment.

Or, as a recent Chief Executive magazine article put it: Read more…

HR Insights, Rewards & Recognition

Here’s What CEOs REALLY Want to Get Out of Their HR Leaders

by Michelle M. Smith on May 8, 2013, 7:00 AM | 3 Comments

Your CEO doesn’t want you to be a human resources leader — they want you to be a business leader with human resources expertise.

While that may just seem like a clever turn of phrase, there’s a growing body of research that supports this concept and HR leaders would be well-served to heed the advice.

Consulting firm Schuster-Zingheim provides research and guidance for HR through direct interviews with CEOs, COOs, and CFOs on how the C-Suite expect HR professionals to align employees with their organization’s future. Read more…

Rewards & Recognition, Talent Management

Some Clear Lessons to Remember For Better Employee Engagement

by Derek Irvine on May 1, 2013, 8:15 AM | 1 comment

I enjoy Abhishek Mittal’s Mumblr blog.

Abhishek is a senior consultant for Towers Watson, based in Singapore. Recently he shared a case study on XL Axiata, an Indonesian mobile services operator and division of Axiata Group.

In the case study, Xl Axiata explains four key steps they took to create an engaging work environment for employees, including a Performance-Based Culture: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition, Talent Management

Strategic Recognition? It’s Key to a Great Manager-Employee Relationship

by Derek Irvine on Apr 24, 2013, 8:10 AM | 2 Comments

If present trends continue, this week’s series of blog posts may be an ongoing theme of “isn’t that obvious?”

Yesterday, I shared results of the Parnassus Fund (consisting of companies that treat their employees well and with respect), which performs consistently better than the S&P. Today, I’m sharing an article about Gallup research showing the manager/employee relationship is critical to employee engagement.

I’m sure we’ve all uttered the truism: “People leave managers, not companies.” Well, this is the research to back it up as featured in an Incentive magazine article: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition, Talent Management

Engagement? You Don’t Get Much Honoring an “Employee of the Month”

by Deborah Herman on Apr 16, 2013, 10:25 AM | No comments yet

What drives someone to wear a t-shirt like this?

Just lost his job? Wishes he could retire and play video games all day? Is he a rebel at work and proud of it? Or is it some inside joke and I’ll never know the answer.

Who knows? And, I wasn’t going to ask him that question at 4 am while waiting to get on a bus. Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Don’t Judge Strategic Recognition Programs by Attendance Award Results

by Derek Irvine on Apr 11, 2013, 8:10 AM | No comments yet

As long-time readers of this blog know, I like to stay on top of the latest research and news in the employee recognition, rewards, engagement and motivation industries (and there is quite a good bit of it).

And I’m glad I do, because research like this out of Harvard Business School proves the point of a narrow focus being used to paint results much too broadly.

The research working paper is titled The Dirty Laundry of Employee Award Programs: Evidence from the Field. Here’s the abstract: Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Are You Encouraging Cheating With Your Incentives Program?

by Derek Irvine on Apr 4, 2013, 7:00 AM | No comments yet

All over the news in the U.S. is a story about a cheating scandal in the Atlanta Public Schools.

My understanding of the situation is that some teachers and administrators would gather for “erasure parties” to erase and re-enter correct answers on students’ standardized tests. Now, these educators are being jailed and prosecuted for fraud, and the reputation of the Atlanta Public Schools is ruined.

Why would teachers do this? Because the “No Child Left Behind” education policy rewards schools based on how students perform on these tests, especially for dramatic improvements.

From the news coverage, I understand there were great benefits to the educators making their schools appear much stronger in improving standardized test scores. Read more…

Rewards & Recognition

Top Employee Recognition Goals: How Many Does Your Company Embrace?

A Culture of Recognition: It’s the Challenge of Simple, But Not Easy

How to Drive Better Performance Through Employee Recognition

Retaining Top Talent Is More Than Just Telling Employees “Thank You”

Here’s What CEOs REALLY Want to Get Out of Their HR Leaders

Some Clear Lessons to Remember For Better Employee Engagement

Strategic Recognition? It’s Key to a Great Manager-Employee Relationship

Engagement? You Don’t Get Much Honoring an “Employee of the Month”

Don’t Judge Strategic Recognition Programs by Attendance Award Results

Are You Encouraging Cheating With Your Incentives Program?

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