News Items from the Recognition Council
Recognition is one of today’s hot topics in business. Check back here for recent news stories and for details on up-coming IMA and Recognition Council events/
Downloadable documents below are in Adobe Reader format, which is available free from Adobe. Don’t have Reader?
NEWS
Breaking News from the "Power of Incentives" supplement to the September 2008 HR Magazine, sponsored by the Incentive Marketing Association:
Employees as Valued Assets
Measuring Employee Lifetime Value to Boost Success In today’s continually changing marketplace, the influence of the Industrial Revolution is quickly being eclipsed by an information and service economy that relies on the value created by people, processes and intellectual capital. People and their performance, not machinery and production, are rapidly becoming the keys to organizational success regardless of the field of endeavor.
Recognition ROI…. Now More Than Ever! If you haven’t been asked to justify the return on investment of your recognition or incentive programs, consider yourself lucky – and forewarned. An increasingly competitive business environment and a soft economy are driving demand for greater visibility into program spends, justification for the programs themselves, and solid proof of ROI.
Turn Best Practices into Common Practices with On-the-Spot Recognition There’s a lot of talk these days about the link between employee recognition and employee retention. It is no wonder considering that at this very moment about 3 in 10 of your workers are thinking about walking out the door for greener pastures. Nearly half expect to be working for a different company three years from now. Every new head you have to hunt costs somewhere between $2,000 and $100,000 to get them oriented, trained and engaged; this is no small investment. So how can these employees be so cavalier about leaving your company? It’s simple: they do not feel they are recognized adequately for their work
________________________________________

Recognition Professionals International Presents: Cargill, Inc. the 2008 Best Practice—Best Overall Employee Recognition Award
NAPERVILLE, IL--Recognition Professionals International (RPI) is proud to announce the 2008 Best Practice recipients for best employee recognition programs—one of the highest honors awarded annually by RPI.
2008 Best Practice—Best Overallemployee recognition program recipient,Cargill Inc. Cargill is a global company consisting of 70 businesses, operating in 66 countries with 158,000 employees.Cargill named a Chief Recognition Officer (CRO) in 2004, Bill Buckner, who is also one of the eight senior executives of the company.In addition, Cargill has a Global Recognition Steering Team, which provides guidance to the overall recognition strategy and execution.Cargill’s financial results are a good indication that their recognition strategy is working.Their sales and other revenues (measured in millions) in 2003 were $54,390 and have risen to $88,266 in 2007.That is a 62% increase in revenues.Senior leaders believe these financial results have been affected positively by the increasing engagement of their employees.
Recognition is a key impact factor in Cargill employee engagement.Cargill uses a four-dimensional pyramid diagram to illustrate the levels of recognition.Their pyramid’s foundation is Common Courtesy and Respect, above this is Day-to-Day, Informal and peaks at Formal.Cargill believes the greatest percentage of time and attention should be spent on the bottom two tiers of the pyramid to make the biggest impact on recognition.
Recognition is key to Cargill's success and is reflected not only in executive involvement, but also in attention across the world to their employees, diversity and long-term cultural changes.RPI is proud to award Cargill, Inc. our 2008 Best Practice Overall recipient.
Cargill’s, Chief Recognition Officer (CRO), Bill Buckner and Karen Sachs, Senior Diversity Manager, Global Diversity&Inclusion will be the 2008 RPI 11thAnnual Conference opening keynote speakers.Cargill, 2008 Best Practice Overall recipient, and the 2008 Best Practice—Best In Class winning companies will receive their awards at the Annual Conference Awards Dinner, Tuesday, April 29th.
________________________________________
2008 Best In Class Award recipientsare ScotiaBank, TD Canada Trust, Bank of America and Delta Air Lines.
Best in Class recipient,ScotiaBankexcelled in three RPI recognition standard categories: Recognition Strategy; Communication Plan; and Program Change and Flexibility.With approximately 60,000 employees, ScotiaBank and its affiliates offer a broad range of products and services, including retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking to more than 12.5 million customers in some 50 countries around the world.ScotiaBank is among Canada’s largest chartered banks.Scotia Applause, the Bank’s award-winning recognition program, is the engine that helps drive employee engagement at ScotiaBank.
“Being recognized as a global employer of choice enables ScotiaBank to attract and retain high-performing employees. We know that satisfied and engaged employees increase customer satisfaction which, in turn, generates positive long-term results for stakeholders, as well as added value for the communities we serve.”Rick Waugh, ScotiaBank President and CEO ________________________________________
Best in Class recipient,TD Canada Trustexcelled in two RPI recognition standard categories: Management Responsibility, and Recognition Program Measurement. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, TD Canada Trust (TDCT) with 22,000 retail employees and 1,100 branches is the personal and commercial banking business line of TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG), offering products and services to more than 10 million customers across Canada.TDCT Executive Vice President, Brian Haier instills strong emotional and financial commitment in the Champions recognition program and has grown the national reward and recognition budget from $7 million to $10 million over the past three years. In 2007 TDCT Champions program-specific survey, found 79.7% of employees were extremely/very likely to recommend TD as a great place to work based upon their experience as an employee.Also in 2007 TDCT developed a base formula for measuring R&R ROI, using employee and customer key metrics to be completed on an annual basis. ________________________________________
Best in Class recipient,Bank of Americaexcelled in RPI recognition standard category: Recognition Training.With 200,000 global associates, Bank of Americaidentifies that as it uses recognition to promote core values and reinforce its importance, associates will exemplify The Bank of America Spirit, leadership model competencies, and core values.Clear expectations for recognition roles, responsibilities and opportunities are outlined for each associate.Senior Leaders take time to review accomplishments and recognize teammates in team meetings. Managers begin each team meeting by recognizing associates.Associates lead by example and thank others with a Spirit Card, note or phone call for a job well done. In its most recent associate satisfaction survey, 76 percent of associates agreed with the statement“I receive recognition when I do a good job.” “We have more than 200,000 associates we are trying to reach,”says Kevin Cronin, recognition and reward executive, Global Marketing.“Some organizations of our size may say you can’t reach all of your associates.Recognition programs allow us to break down barriers and help carry out vision.They are a critical component of how we deliver the Bank of America message to our people.” ________________________________________
Best in Class recipient,Delta Air Linesexcelled in RPI recognition standard category: Recognition Events and Celebrations.Delta Air Lines operates in an extremely challenging, competitive environment, serving and recognizing more than 50,000 employees, across multiple countries and cultures. Delta prescribes specific guidelines and processes for formal events, local events and informal celebrations.All recognition events and celebrations are handled using internal resources and management is highly visible at many events.The annual Chairman’s Club Recognition Event is the largest and most time and labor-intensive activity of the Delta Recognition Team.Gaining Altitude is Delta’s primary enterprise wide, peer-to-peer recognition program.All full-time, active employees are eligible to participate in the program.In 2006, Gaining Altitude generated more 23,000 nominations, an increase of 20% over 2005, and continued to grow in 2007. “If we take care of our employees, they will take care of our customers.” C.E. Woolman, Delta Air Line’s founder.
________________________________________
Congratulations to all 2008 Recognition Professionals International Best Practice recipients!
Watch for the 2008 RPI Best Practice White Papers--coming soon towww.recognition.org. ________________________________________
2008 Recognition Professionals International 11th Annual Conference Join usin Newport Beach, California April 27th-30th where employers from all industries, levels and departments including human resources, benefits, compensation and management professionals from around the world will meet to network with their peers and learn how to develop effective employee recognition systems that enhance employee engagement and performance. Certified Recognition Professional courses to be held at Newport Beach, California April 26, 27, 30, 2008 in conjunction with the RPI Annual Conference.
About Recognition Professionals International (RPI) Headquartered in Naperville, Ill., Recognition Professionals International (RPI) formerly known as National Association For Employee Recognition (NAER). Recognition Professionals International (RPI) is the only non-profit professional association at the forefront of employee recognition through its sole focus on recognition innovations and education as a systematic method for improvements in the workplace. RPI fosters excellence in the recognition industry by ensuring that members are always at the forefront of developments and practices in workforce recognition as an influential contributor to the company's bottom line. RPI is endorsed by top authorities in the industry, and is the only association offering Certified Recognition Professional® (CRP) courses. Recognition Professionals International has an impressive membership (Fortune 500, 81% practitioners (end-users), top providers, etc). For more information about the RPI Best Practice Program, research studies, Certified Recognition Professional® courses and additional resources RPI offers visit our website www.recognition.org or call 630-369-7783.
Picket News – 04/04/2008
A Method to the Madness: Real Life Best Business Advice Whether you're running a large corporation or a small business, every 'chief executive' can benefit from some simple tactics to improve organizational management, employee performance and customer satisfaction.
Orlando Business Journal – 04/04/2008
Most people think spontaneity means acting without planning, yet it is possible to plan for spontaneity. When it comes to employee recognition, in fact, the better you plan, the better you will be able to take advantage of recognition opportunities as they arise.
The Courier-Mail – 04/04/2008
When trying to retain staff it is often assumed that only money talks. But according to a UK survey, a few simple words can be just as effective.
Time – 04/18/2008, 04:09 am
It's natural to want your employees to be happy. When people come to work with a spring in their step, chances are they do their jobs with more gusto, stick around an hour longer, go that proverbial extra mile--all of which boosts productivity and filters to the bottom line.
________________________________________
EVENTS
|