Appendix E: Recognition and Reward Programs
Introduction
At UC San Francisco, we recognize that the collective
efforts of all staff members contribute to the overall mission of the University
and that we should encourage opportunities for those efforts to be acknowledged.
In order to attract and retain the best employees, we must aim to create
an environment where employees feel appreciated and recognized for their
contributions.
Staff members currently receive service awards after specified years of service and each year some staff members receive Performance Awards in the form of cash awards for outstanding performance, either individually or as part of a team. However, many staff members may feel they never receive recognition for their efforts.
Well-thought-out reward and recognition programs can be either peer- or management-driven, or both, and can help motivate employees to continually improve; to be innovative and manage resources creatively; to set high standards and goals; and to work together in teams. Recognition is a great esteem builder and can help create workplace loyalty and build a sense of community. It helps employees see what their co-workers are doing, and why.
Recognition Can Be Simple
One of the most effective ways to
express appreciation is often one of the most overlooked: saying thank you.
Even if most of the duties one performs are a normal part of the job,
hearing thank you in a spontaneous and timely way can mean a lot to
anyone. It should be done often, and can be done privately or publicly in front
of co-workers. Mention the task, project, or behavior you want to recognize and
be sincere.
Staff Appreciation events for some departments are a yearly picnic, luncheon, or other event to show appreciation to staff for their efforts.
Factors to Consider in the Establishment of a Program
Before
you establish a program to tangibly reward staff on an informal, ongoing basis,
consider these issues:
- Determine why you want to establish a recognition program. You may want to reward some (or all) of the following:
Time, work, or money-saving ideas that support the mission of your unit /department/UCSF
Ongoing or one-time customer compliments for service/satisfaction
Solution to a difficult problem
Outstanding one-time achievements
Outstanding attendance (particularly where public hours are important)
General ongoing contributions that you’d just like to acknowledge
- If you don’t know about employee attitudes about such a program, find out. Would it be positively received? Will you need to overcome cynicism toward or mistrust of such a program? You might want to conduct a short written survey of your employees and ensure that they can submit it anonymously, and/or you may want to invite feedback from volunteers in a focus group. One of the attitudes you may uncover is a pervasive belief that only "the usual" employees will receive any sort of recognition. It’s a good idea when you are looking at a recognition program to look at why there may be such a perception. Are those who are recognized frequently truly high performers, or are they perhaps the ones who always seem to receive the "high profile" assignments – and can those types of assignments be given to others in the unit?
- You may want to get employees involved in the program by forming a volunteer workgroup with the specific charge of program development and implementation.
- Determine how often awards could be given and who would decide to whom awards would go. (For example, "peer-to-peer" recognition could be done at any time and frequently; annual awards could be presented once per year; thank you notes could be given whenever they seem appropriate.)
- Determine who could give or nominate someone for an award, i.e., peers, staff to supervisors, supervisors, or managers only. Your survey could include a question of how employees might think the program would work most effectively.
- Determine whether the awards would/could be private, public, or a combination and how frequently they could be given.
- Make sure you can make it part of your workplace culture and inject some fun into the process.
- Determine what type of monetary and/or non-monetary awards to give.
- Once you’ve started a recognition/awards program, you’ll want to plan on continuing it, or at least determine whether it is being well received and should continue.
- After you have had a program going for a while, you may want to measure its effectiveness. This can be done through discussions with managers and staff at various levels, and perhaps through another survey.
Rewards & Recognition Tool Kit can be found at/staffing/