Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 5, 2015 FEATURES 13 RECOGNITION Sooner rather than later It can make sense to recognize earlier milestones By Alan Whittaker E mployee recognition pro- grams aren't the same today as they were 10 or even fi ve years ago. With rapid changes in the workplace, em- ployee recognition programs vying to be eff ective and valued must adapt and change at the same time. While it used to be common practice to reward fi ve-and 10- year milestones, and other long- service awards, it is now more common to see shorter times- pans for employee recognition milestones. Today, many compa- nies are recognizing employees at one, two or three years of service (see sidebar). Changing workplace One reason to shorten and ad- just recognition milestones is the changing nature of the workforce today. While it used to be quite normal for an employee to fi nd a job and advance through the ranks with one company — for years, if not decades — today's situation tends to be much diff er- ent. More than ever, people are seeking better-paying positions or positions that meet their edu- cation or credentials, so they take "in-between" jobs until they can fi nd something better. Another contributing factor is the need for greater recognition — employees often leave their jobs due to a lack of recognition. is contributes to higher turn- over rates and creates a huge re- tention issue that is only expected to rise in coming years. It's not uncommon now for an employee to stay for only a year or two with one employer and then move on. But it's not just the employees who have changed, it's the work- place itself. For many businesses, staying in the game has become so competitive that it's necessary to streamline operations — includ- ing staffi ng. For many employers, it's simply a luxury to think of hav- ing full-time positions, complete with benefits and retirement packages — that's just not in the cards. Instead, businesses are now off ering more part-time positions, job sharing and shorter-term po- sitions in an eff ort to reduce costs. Another consideration is the presence of multiple generations working together, along with an increase of younger people coming into management-level positions. e eff ect on the workplace is interesting and dynamic but it can also be tricky because of the age gap and diff erent values among the various generations. e key here is for employers to use these diff erences to their ad- vantage, to make the most of them — recognize what's important to them and fi nd ways (even if they are very small) to give employees what matters most. Many younger generations ap- preciate types of recognition that diff er from those their elders pre- fer. Tailoring a recognition pro- gram to fi t each group of employ- ees will have a positive eff ect on the workplace and produce better re- sults when it comes to day-to-day operations, attracting new talent and keeping the stellar workers. Shortening milestones. e core response to all these is- sues is to shorten the length of recognition milestones. Keeping timeframes quite short allows small changes to have a bigger impact on the overall team. Employers can recognize one- year employees with small token awards such as a certifi cate, lapel pin, corporate pen or a similar item in the $10- to $30-dollar price range. Employees with three years of service would normally have a choice of an award from an employer recognition website, with companies usually spend- ing anywhere from $30 to $70 on these awards. Paired with the reality of higher employee turnover rates, shorter recognition time frames allow employers to potentially keep tal- ent that may have considered their employment temporary. Valuing and encouraging contributions from employees at one-, two-, three- and fi ve-year milestones is a great place to start. Alan Whittaker is vice-president of sales and marketing at Williams Rec- ognition in Montreal. For more infor- mation, visit www.williamsrecogni- tion.com. Earlier recognition There's an increased interest in early recognition, according to a 2015 survey by Michael C. Fina, provider of employee recognition and incentive programs. While one-half of respondents indicated their service award programs begin at the fi ve-year mark, one in four said they are now recognizing employees after one year of employment, found the survey of more than 400 HR professionals in the United States. "The earlier you start building a meaningful connection with an employee, the better," says Cord Himelstein, vice-president of marketing and communications at Michael C. Fina. "For decades, the fi ve-year mark was the benchmark to start a service award program, but younger workers are used to instant feedback and a more social workplace." Ninety per cent of the respondents offer service award programs. Top goals for recognition programs include: • increasing employee engagement (71 per cent) • improving retention (47 per cent) • motivating high performance (44 per cent). Keeping timeframes quite short allows small changes to have a bigger impact on the overall team.

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