Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER January 25, 2016 16 FEATURES Kristina Svab director of total rewards at Coast Capital Savings The Vancouver-based credit union has about 1,700 employees W hen Coast Capital Savings did a survey to fi nd out how employees felt about the credit union's recognition program, a mere four per cent said they still appreciated the branded gold pins with diamonds. And they all said no thank you when it came to other branded items such as umbrellas or barbecues, says Kristina Svab, director of total rewards at Coast Capital in Vancouver. Instead, employees wanted choice — and they now have it, after the 1,700-employee credit union switched to an online, cloud-based solution in 2011. "Prior to that, it was just an annual awards program, an ad hoc recognition, and managers all kind of did what they did. It wasn't standardized and we had no sense of what was hap- pening, you know: Were some managers recognizing all the time? Were they spending too much money, what format (were they using) and were some not doing it at all?" she says. And when it came to convincing the C-suite of the need for change, it wasn't hard. "What we did show them was the current state of the administration that we were going through, and the future state of what it could look like if we were able to go to this program online, cloud-based so that it is continuously improved, as the company has upgrades, which has no administrative impact on us," says Svab. e new program is branded the High Five Hub and includes an online feed showing recognition activity. It's also important the system is performance-linked, she says. "We can give high fi ves anytime to anyone and we've described what it is that we're thanking them for, so it's always about meaningful recognition… so that we can all learn from that and hope to emulate the same thing." It's about reinforcing positive individual and team contributions. "We really wanted to emphasize that what we do daily matters. We also wanted it to be addictive through this easy-to-use technology which would thus increase the adoption and frequency," says Svab. Managers are given an allocation of Hub dollars they can give out to people as recogni- tion, and employees can save these or redeem them for a reward of their choice, she says. "It's not your traditional 'Here's your fi ve-year pen,' 'Here's your framed picture in a gold frame' that the 25-year-old will not appreciate. In fact, I'm in my late 40s, I won't appreci- ate it. So if we're going to spend some money and really make it meaningful to employees, then it better be something they want... So we went from a very limited program with pre- selected gifts, which many companies still do, to then a modest choice of gifts, and now since 2011, we have a huge diversity of gifts." e choices range from physical gifts such as luggage, jewelry or technology to gift cards and experiences, such as travel vouchers or charitable donations. Along with retirement gifts, the recognition program gives out annual awards to people who are nominated and selected by a committee. A top winner is picked in each category, and given the award in-person at an annual "coast-to-coast celebration," along with Hub dollars, says Svab. "We did not increase our budget to launch this program, all we did was re-allocate the money to be more performance-based and attractive to all generations." And service rewards are still important, she says. Managers are alerted to upcoming anniversaries so they can print off a certifi cate and present it to the employee, who also receives Hub dollars. "You want to recognize and honour that commitment, that loyalty, that dedication to us, and so we still continue to recognize. In fact, we expanded that to recognize people at one year of service, at three years, and then fi ve, 10, 15, 20 as most companies do," she says. When it comes to the return on investment, that's hard to measure, says Svab. But when looking at the employee engagement survey, the numbers on recognition have gone up. And fi ve years later, the recognition program at Coast Capital is as popular as when it was launched, she says. With 1,700 employees, the credit union is tracking to reach 22,000 high fi ves in 2015, meaning an average of 13 per employee. "It is happening every day, people are getting high fi ves… and the stories that people share, the thank you's, are heartwarming," says Svab. "And now we know how many people are using it, now we can see that money's being spent fairly, that every- body has equal access, equal opportunity. We can run all sorts of dashboards, data, and know exactly what's going on; we have a very good pulse on what's happening." Coast Capital is hoping to have a high fi ve feed that will scroll across TV screens like ticker tape, dis- playing recent high fi ves, along with descriptions, she says. " at's exactly one of the intents, to provide meaningful recognition so you can see what it was that you did so you know what to repeat and that others can learn from that and emulate accordingly." Managers know nothing re- places shaking a person's hand and saying thanks, says Svab, "but this is a great way to cap- ture it in writing where it can be shared and learned from." was launched, she says. With 1,700 employees, the credit union is tracking to reach 22,000 high fi ves in 2015, meaning an average of 13 per employee. "It is happening every day, people are getting high fi ves… and the stories that people share, the thank you's, are heartwarming," says Svab. "And now we know how many people are using it, now we can see that money's being spent fairly, that every- body has equal access, equal opportunity. We can run all sorts of dashboards, data, and know exactly what's going on; we Anne Bloom head of human resources at LG Electronics in Toronto The company has about 200 employees in Canada T here are many reasons why employee recognition is still important, according to Anne Bloom, head of HR at LG Electronics in Toronto. "A lot of organizations today are struggling with retention of employees, and em- ployee recognition lets an employee know that they are being valued for the role that they are playing within the organization. And the way that organizations recognize employees is equally as important to that retention." LG Electronics has several recognition programs on the go, including a quarterly subsid- iary reward given to two employees who have exceeded expectations. ey are each given a $500 gift certifi cate along with having lunch with the CEO, business unit leader and Bloom. ere are also quarterly awards, in the form of plaques, that are given out to six or seven employees who have been nominated by their peers and selected by a leadership team. " ere's a form to fi ll out, a template to complete, and they have to give a really good explanation on why they are nominating this person," says Bloom. And on an annual basis, a president's reward is given to three people who have "blown the socks off of the organization in that year," she says, with each receiving a trip for two to the Bahamas for three days, four nights. e company also gives a congratulatory gift certifi cate to employees who are getting married, along with a $50 Visa card to employees on their birthdays. Gift certifi cates are more cost-eff ective than going out and buying a one-year ring or fi ve-year watch, says Bloom. " is gives an opportunity for the employee to use their recognition the way they want it to be used, not the way we dictated it should be used… it leaves it more open to positive interpretation that way, rather than an employee taking home a pen or a watch and saying, 'Look at what my company gave to me' and it goes in a drawer and it's never seen again." And while the cards are considered taxable benefi ts, it's hard to get around that, she says. " e dollar values are small enough that the hit to the employee is not going to be that outrageous. I don't think about the taxable benefi t part of it, I just think about the recogni- tion part of it and what that means." On a lesser note, LG holds 50-50 draws and hockey pools and gives out gift cards to employees in a baby picture contest. "We have a lot of recognition and ways for employees to get involved and I think it's really interesting. You can pick and choose the ones you want to get involved in. If you want to do everything, go for it, by all means, be recognized as many times as you can be recognized. And I think that that's important as well — we don't limit it," says Bloom. "And they appreci- ate it, I haven't heard any grumblings that we need to change the way we recognize people and so… I'm not going to do any investigation to change what isn't broken." Bloom also encourages managers and leaders to have year-end dinners or lunches with employees as a way to thank them. "We encourage that team-building atmosphere where the team just gets together outside of the offi ce in a more social, easy environment to interact." As for the return on investment, LG has increased its productivity quite signifi cantly this past year, she says, "and a lot of that is at- tributable to what we're doing in the offi ce and employees being better skilled and better engaged and (having a) better understanding of where the business is going. e one thing that we all believe in is transparency and open communication and just making sure that when we recognize an employee, we're doing it for all the right reasons," says Bloom. "There has to be real sub- stance, there has to be an ROI to the business that is visible. If somebody says to me 'Well, they worked beyond their ex- pectations' for the quarter or for the month, I want to know what that means, give me the detail — don't just tell me that this person is a keeper, give me the details because we cannot decide on the nominations until we know that we're de- ciding on everybody for the right reasons." As for the return on investment, LG has increased its productivity quite signifi cantly this past year, she says, "and a lot of that is at- tributable to what we're doing in the offi ce and employees being better skilled and better engaged and (having a) better understanding of where the business is going. e one thing that we all believe in is transparency and open communication and just making sure that when we recognize an employee, we're doing it for all the "There has to be real sub- they worked beyond their ex- pectations' for the quarter or for the month, I want to know what

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