Staff Recognition and Reward Programs

Based on our extensive experience in the field of incentives, motivation and reward plans and systems, we offer a number of recommendations and two options, a low tech and a high tech approach for our clients to consider.

Some key things for you to consider up-front are:

• The people and the teams should compete against expectations, not against each other! Hence this should not be a competitive internal model, which often has a negative impact on the overall organisation culture and satisfaction of staff.
• The program is driven by identification and recognition of every team or individual who provides good service and/or improves their performance. It is not just rewarding the tip of the iceberg, but the whole iceberg!
• Through this program we reinforce and recognise people who are meeting an expected standard of work or performance, and then, over time, encourage them to progress to providing above and beyond service, and delivering well on the core values of the organisation.
• Hence we recommend a variation to your current ideas in terms of rewarding individuals and teams that perform well and provide good service, not just the ones that are the best.
• Rewards are an outcome of performance improvement shown through a-thanks-and-recognition approach, not just a monetary value or the giving away of vouchers.

“Pacific Consulting were very valuable in developing and rolling out our new staff recognition and reward program by providing us with insights and advice from their extensive experience with other organisations. A year and a half later it continues to work well!”

Bruce Rose
Group Manager Organisation Development
Shellharbour City Council

Our Specific Recommendations

Whichever option best suits the client’s needs, we recommend:

1. It is best not to set up a process solely based on 'best of the best' with a small number of winners and a big number of losers. Rather it is much better to spread the recognition and reward across more people, maybe giving them less in dollars, but driving the performance and personal satisfaction through behaviour change of the mass of people in the middle performance category while also rewarding the high achievers.
2. We find that rewarding both contribution and service levels is highly valued by employees. Further, if the program can engage the people and the teams through providing choice of reward for them to claim, it will far outweigh the dollar value of a bonus.
3. Our experience shows that monthly rewards are too short a period and therefore may be devalued by the participants. We recommend monthly, quarterly and annual awards to give the greatest benefit from the program.
4. Nominations are to be undertaken so that it is transparent to the participants, their manager and the panel. In local government this aspect of transparency is the key to the success and particularly the longer term sustainability of such programs. Importantly the rigour and fairness around nominations are key elements of the sustainability of such programs.
5. Research on monetary reward and bonus systems clearly indicates that unless the amount of money after tax is seen by the recipient as significant it does not drive a change in behaviour or increase motivation. Simply, this research proves that a few hundred dollars will not make a person get up in the morning to go to work or to work harder or more efficiently!

Two Options for Consideration

Option 1 is a straightforward and ‘low tech’ approach, with individuals and/or teams being rewarded with a financial amount within a budget. Vouchers are a worthwhile additional reward item. The rewards would be based on performance criteria and demonstrated behaviours and achievements, where one team is the best compared to other teams, or alternatively rewarding several good teams or even individuals.

Option 2 is a more contemporary tried and proven ‘high tech’ approach where recognition, rather than reward by itself, is the key focus.

This process is a fully online, turn-key service to deliver on the program without any administration being required by the organisation. It is based on a communications infrastructure to ensure that people are clear on what the program is about, what their expectations are and how they are tracking. This is performance-based communications to the people themselves, which they can access online for more detail.

The downside of such a program is that there is a need upfront to determine the best communication mode and to tailor the existing software to meet the organisation's exact requirements. The process needs to be throughout the year. Hence there needs to be a greater investment in this option than in the low tech approach.

Consulting Team

The team is led by Ross McLelland, Director of Pacific Consulting, to build on his extensive experience in working with local government and to reflect his qualifications as a Global Remuneration Professional.

For option 2, the online system has been developed and implemented for many clients across Australia over the last 15 years by Synchro Marketing, an Australian motivation and incentive reward company based at North Sydney. The Project Manager for Synchro is one of the Directors, Mark McCowan.