Canadian HR Reporter

n Rewarding recognitio Recognizing employees is a given at many organizations, but the how, why and when can differ considerably — along with the ROI — as we found out in talking to five HR leaders from across the country our core values and believe in our vision and our purpose as a com- pany, and then celebrate those things, and help to increase that engagement… e biggest objec- tive is to get people to want to stay because they're feeling valued and cared for, so it's to celebrate suc- cesses that they have when they're hitting… very specifi c goals and achievements." GoodLife has a monthly recog- nition program for its club loca- tions around sales objectives and targets. Members can also receive free personal training, with their trainer earning rewards, if their fi tness story is selected as part of a monthly recognition program. "I like it when you incorporate something with the direct mem- ber and with the associate togeth- er," says Free. ere are also length-of-service programs at the 15,000-employee company, starting at one year, then two years, fi ve years and so on, and GoodLife recently incor- porated fi tness gifts as one of the reward options. "Before it was a mug, a more traditional thing like a necklace, a watch, that kind of stuff , and now we still have those as options but we also have some pieces for your home gym and diff erent fi tness equipment which is more in line with and in target with what our associates want," she says. "It helps with that age piece too because not everyone wants a 10-year (an- niversary) watch from their com- pany anymore. ose days are still there but they've kind of passed at the same time." Top general managers and fi t- ness managers are also rewarded annually with a trip to a resort in northern Quebec. And GoodLife hosts an annual awards gala along with a "Top 500" event in Toronto, complete with a hotel stay, to rec- ognize the best of the best of the club associates. But the chain has realized the biggest piece is manager to associ- ate recognition, says Free. "It's the thank you's, it's the sin- cere look-them-in-the-eye, say thank you properly, saying exactly what you're grateful for and what you saw them do that was great. It's catching them doing things right in the moment. All these things and events and stuff can feel empty if you don't have that manager connection." For example, when an em- ployee gets an invitation to the Top 500 event, the manager fi nds out the day before the mass email so he can have a conversa- tion with the person and give his congratulations. "That's the piece that we've learned over the years was miss- ing in the past, and that we're re- ally focusing on now. We haven't nailed it yet... we still have some situations where the five-year length-of-service gift gets put on someone's desk instead of 'Hey, let's make a big deal about this'… (and) it almost backfi res on the manager." As for the impact of technol- ogy, Free says she has gone back and forth on it. While there are some great online platforms that give people points, they don't al- ways make sense, she says. It was suggested, for example, that a program involving birthday cards for general managers be moved to e-cards. But GoodLife decided to hold off on the move because the personal touch of the cards — which were each signed with a message by the executives — was so popular. "It's one of our best recogni- tion programs — we get so many emails and messages from people, they can't believe we took the time to sign our names, and they can see it's all diff erent colour ink and real handwriting, so it means a lot to them," she says. "Sometimes, we rely too much on technology and we can get ourselves into trouble." When it comes to the return on investment, that's hard to tease out as to which particular program is having an impact. But GoodLife does an employee en- gagement survey twice a year to see what changes might be hav- ing an eff ect. ere's also a place on the company intranet called Speak Out where people can leave comments or suggestions. "And we track our attrition, so our retention of our associates, and what's happening there, and we track it monthly and we cel- ebrate that with our leaders as well and recognize people, but we also can see how this program or change has helped or hurt rec- ognition, and tie it back to that loosely," says Free. And even if a company is faced with budget cuts, eff ective recog- nition is still possible, she says. "It's that supervisor talking to an associate and appreciating and valuing what that person does, connecting with them, under- standing their family issues, giv- ing them that leeway when they need to go home early to look after something or go to a sports game. Even though those things don't technically really fall under recog- nition, I think they do," says Free. "And if that piece is there and they can make a hero out of some- one in front of their team without making everyone feel bad so that the rest of team also wants to as- pire to be a hero as well, that to me is the key of recognition. You don't need all the other things, the glitz and glam isn't necessary — and the glitz and glam is what costs money." FEATURES Alana Free vice-president of people and culture at GoodLife Fitness Clubs in Toronto The chain has 15,000 employees and more than 350 outlets T hese days, employee recognition is not only important, it's almost a necessity when it comes to your value proposition, according to Alana Free, vice-president of people and culture at GoodLife Fitness Clubs in Toronto. "I fi nd now people are looking at diff erent employers and they're looking at those extra things as well as compensation." It's also important for engage- ment and retention, she says. "We try to focus ours more around getting people to buy into

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