Employers know they need to find ways to motivate high-achieving employees to, in turn, keep them. According to the Incentive Research Foundation's new white paper, "Critical Findings for Recognition Travel Programs," creating an all-employee recognition travel program might be a great place to start.
In the white paper, the IRF details findings from a case study of a company that has established a recognition travel program for non-sales employees. Traditionally, awards programs have been reserved for salespeople who must fulfill quotes. Through interviews and survey responses, the IRF discovered six significant findings regarding factors such as employee alignment, nominations, executive support, evaluations and measurement.
"One of the most interesting discoveries was the power of the nomination process itself," said Jeff Broudy, chairman of the IRF board of trustees. "Even though the program was designed to reward only two to three percent of the employees, nearly half of the potential winners indicated that they were motivated by it."
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Broudy said that success is also clearly connected to the level of executive buy-in and involvement in establishing award categories, reviewing the nominations, selecting winners and viewing it as more than just another HR procedure.
Key findings include:
1. The program should match the culture: "The firm studied used a well-defined and carefully communicated rewards program to define and reinforce the behavioral traits that defined its spirit, personality and internal brand in the context of relevant business outcomes."
2. Management support is vital: "The studied organization had been successful in promoting the program using an integrated marketing campaign across multiple media formats (email, posters, Intranet, audio, video, etc.). This firm also knew that senior level visibility was essential to both the program's internal awareness and acceptance. They recognized that the goals of this initiative could only be met if line managers embraced the business logic of the program and participated freely."
3. Clarify the nomination process early and often: "Including all employees as potential nominees is the key to generating excitement. Enterprise-wide eligibility helps to uncover individuals and/or teams worthy of acknowledgement. But that is just one consideration. Making the mechanics of the nomination process easy for all employees is another. A streamlined nomination approach increases participation and sustains support of the program."
4. Evaluation and selection must be transparent: "Since subjectivity is a key determinant in winner selection, the evaluation process requires planning. Key considerations include: who to involve in the evaluation/selection of winners, what criteria will be used in determining who wins, and to what extent the organization will share details about the process."
5. Warning: Measurement can be a challenge: "Tracking meaningful financial measures and gauging the ROI of a nomination-based travel program can be a nuanced exercise. In this case, the executives who oversaw the program instinctively believed it was accomplishing its goals because they were closely tied to the award category selection and the winner selection."
6. Incentive travel is just one piece of the puzzle: "Although those nominated will initially feel recognized, a nomination-based travel program will, by its nature, delay the majority of gratification until it operates. Forward-thinking companies should integrate other events (primarily communications) to increase the frequency of program touches. Building a campaign in support of the annual operation is one way to keep the message fresh, contemporary and relevant."
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