The gold watch and its acolytes are not dead.
Survey results from a study conducted by employee recognition experts at Michael C. Fina found that 90 percent of responding company representatives said their employers have active service award programs for employees who reach certain employment milestones.
Not only that, the study said, 60 percent of employers plan to enhance their employee recognition programs within the next year.
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Michael C. Fina, which surveyed 400-plus HR professionals who attended the Society for Human Resource Management annual conference, noted that the response acknowledges workers' increasing thirst for kudos for a job well done or for sticking it out with a single employer for an extended period. Four in 10 respondents said they are now recognizing employees after a full year of employment.
"The earlier you start building a meaningful connection with an employee the better," Cord Himelstein, vice president of marketing and communications, Michael C. Fina. "For decades the five-year mark was the benchmark to start a service award program, but younger workers are used to instant feedback and a more social workplace."
In the presentation, the firm reported that those surveyed identified the following categories as their top recognition program goals:
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Increasing employee engagement (71 percent);
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Improving retention (47 percent);
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Motivating high performance (44 percent).
"The most popular recognition initiatives, beyond Service Award programs, include Above and Beyond Performance incentives and Peer-to-Peer nominations. However, there is a growing trend around wellness initiatives. Forty percent of respondents plan to increase recognition and incentives that are tied to wellness efforts," the firm reported.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
