The Ultimate Guide to

Employee Recognition
Engage, Align, and Recognize Your Employees
to Inspire Success
Contents
2 Introduction

3 Part one - The case for employee recognition

4 The modern workforce and changing workplace
7 Recognition catalyzes engagement and alignment
8 Securing senior management buy-in

11 Part two - The how to section

12 Plan: create your own recognition road map
15 Implement: what to know for program design and roll-out
19 Become a change agent
21 Amplify: the science of rewards

26 Are you ready?

Introduction
Top employers are facing a perfect storm in the fight for talent. Unemployment is at its lowest rate
since 20091 and job openings have increased by 73 percent.2 At the same time, Baby Boomers
are rapidly retiring and new college graduates are significantly lacking the skills businesses are
seeking. And if that isn’t enough, at least one third of the existing workforce is ready to quit.3

The number one reason employees quit is that they don’t receive recognition for the work they
do. Ninety percent of employers say they have some recognition programs in their workplaces4
but with only 13 percent of the global workforce engaged5, these programs are clearly far
from effective.

It’s not safe to assume your workforce is being suitably recognized, because the reality is
that they likely are not. Their hard work is not appreciated, nor validated in a way that evokes
inspiration. It’s time to re-think recognition— the main catalyst to engaging and aligning your
workforce, driving improved business performance.

The knowledge and services workforces are dramatically different today. They crave a purpose-
driven company, regular feedback, career opportunities, and interesting work. With 70 percent of
the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) generated by the knowledge and services industries6,
the standards and ideals of the workforce are shaping the way businesses operate.

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition will challenge conventional thinking and help you
become more future-focused, so you can respond to the needs of today’s workforce and lead
the way to employee success. You’ll learn to create a meaningful strategy from start to finish that
yields higher levels of retention, higher customer satisfaction, exceptional employee engagement
and alignment, and an unmatched culture of recognition and success.

How to Read this Guide:

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

is structured in two parts:

Part one reveals the case for employee

recognition, providing strong fundamentals
to support building your strategy.

Part two, the how-to section, provides step-

by-step tactical instructions to plan, design,
execute, and communicate your strategy.

Turn the page and dive in to the essentials

of employee recognition.

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 2

PART 1

The Case for

Employee Recognition
Face the changing workplace head on and build
your case for an employee recognition strategy.
The Modern Workforce and
Changing Workplace

Organizations Now Complement Hierarchy with

Cross-Functionality
As organizations become flatter, today’s employees have more opportunities to collaborate
and thrive. Employees have more accountability and opportunities to take ownership and
collaborate cross-functionally.

The Evolution of Cross-Functional Companies:

Yesterday Today
• Hierarchical • A uthority broadly delegated
• Top down • C ollaborative and bottom up
• Information on a need to know basis • Open information flow
• S tatus and rank determine control • S tatus and rank are not key factors
• Recognition is ad hoc • E veryone recognizes each
and disconnected other’s successes

The Drought of Skilled Employees Will Incite the War

for Talent
The war for talent is on. Successfully recruiting and retaining top talent is a big competitive
differentiator. The number of available jobs is on the rise, but the US economy will also suffer
a shortfall of six million skilled workers this year.7 By next year, 60 percent of new jobs will
require skills held by only 20 percent of the population. 8 This will impact your company and
you must shift your thinking to stay ahead of it.

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 4

 Millennials are Taking Over the Workforce
Today, Millennials make up about 36 percent of the workforce. By 2018, that number
will have increased to 50 percent. 9 This generation is unique and presents unique
challenges for top employers to inspire and retain them. Constant feedback, clear
communication, and collaborative work environments are key engagement drivers for
this group.

2014
36% of the workforce are Millennials

2018
50% of the workforce are Millennials

Gen Y is fast-becoming the majority of the workforce

2011: Baby Boomers 2030: Gen X

225 reach retirement age reaches retirement age

200

175

150

Millions 125 2018: Gen Y

Ages 18-64 makes up half of the
100 working age population
2030: Gen X
reaches retirement age 75
Pre
50 Ba
25 Ge

0 Ge

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030

2018: Gen Y
makes up half of the
working age population

Pre-Boomers
Baby Boomers
Generation X
Generation Y and beyond

5 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

Customer Centricity is the Rule
Today the customer is in complete control. Companies that prioritize the customer
experience will prevail, as they generate 60 percent higher profits than their competitors
by doing so.10 Your employees are ultimately responsible for creating repeat customers
so you must empower them to OWN the customer experience.

Adapting to the modern workforce and changing workplace is critical to long-term

business success. The foundation for new strategies begins with focusing on your
employees and prioritizing what needs to change based on the reality of this new talent
landscape. You’ll be set for success if you create a future-focused recognition strategy to
engage and align employees.

Companies Face New Challenges to Inspire All

Employees—Especially Outside the Office
Understanding how to keep your remote employees engaged, aligned, and recognized
will be paramount to business success. Knowledge and service employees can work
anywhere—even outside the office. Remote employees aren’t just an extension of your
team; they are your team and they expect flexibility within their work environment. Cubicles
are quickly being left behind as we shift to a mobile workplace.

The Mobile Workplace

of businesses say
mobile devices
increased employee
76% responsiveness By 2017, 90% of enterprise
and decision- apps will be both desktop
1 in 5 people making speed 12 and mobile, up from
20% in 2013 13
own a smart phone today 11

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 6

 Recognition catalyzes engagement
and alignment
Employee recognition helps companies align employees to business objectives by reinforcing
behaviors tied to corporate results. And it solidifies employees’ emotional connection with your
company, making them more engaged. Recognition is a catalyst for engagement and alignment.
These are the three ingredients to drive remarkable business success every single day.

That’s because engaged, aligned, and recognized employees will work harder
to satisfy your customers, and in turn create greater shareholder value. Otherwise known as the
service-profit chain, employee engagement and customer loyalty are inextricably linked. These
employees have been given the development and tools to delight the customer and deliver
exemplary service that creates repeat business. This translates to higher revenue growth
and profitability.

Strong employee alignment requires that all employees “get” the big picture. Only 37 percent of
employees have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and
why.14 Employees need to understand how they directly impact your business success for their
jobs to feel valuable.

Alignment is dependent on communicating your business objectives and core company values
across the company. Recognizing employees for living your core values every day helps to
connect employees with the bigger picture and purpose, and reinforces the right behaviors
for your company. Make sure employees understand the behaviors being measured and why.
This requires frequent and effective communication, especially from managers to employees.
Organizations that have leaders who are highly effective communicators have 47 percent higher
total shareholder return.15

If you reinforce desired behaviors with positive feedback, they will be repeated. Engagement
and alignment are the invaluable results of employee recognition. Recognition makes it possible
to better leverage your best resource—your people.

Before digging in to define your recognition strategy, considering how to frame the plan for senior
management will go a long way to secure buy-in.

7 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

Securing senior management buy-in
When senior leaders are actively involved in employee recognition, companies are nine times
more likely to have strong business results.16 Everybody wins.

They’re probably reluctant to admit it, but your C-level executives view your employees as
your number one cost. And they’re right. They also think in quarters, semi-annual, or annual
timeframes, while employees work hourly and daily. However, your executives will warm up
to employee recognition if you speak the same language: using data. That will mean ROI
for financial leaders, customer satisfaction for sales leaders, and engagement for HR. Provide
evidence of the outcomes that can be achieved from a recognition strategy that engages and
aligns employees.

1. Present the ROI on engaged workplaces:

Comparative Annualized Stock Market Returns17

(1997-2012)
A recent study from a Russell Investment Group report identified a significant market increase over a fifteen
year period between FORTUNE Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list versus the S&P 500 and
Russell 3000. FORTUNE’s list is comprised of employers that offer dream workplaces, and are measured on
employee satisfaction scores. There’s no denying it, Fortune 100 Best Companies perform more than two
times better than the general market.

Best Companies
perform more than
2x better than the
10.8% general market

4.5%
FORTUNE 100 S&P 500
Best Companies
to Work For

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 8

 2. Share the impact of employee engagement on financial performance:
Engaged employees perform 20 percent better and are 87 percent less likely to leave
their organizations.18

And organizations with high engagement rates are 78 percent more productive and 40
percent more profitable than those organizations with low levels of engagement.19

Impact of Employee Engagement on Financial Performance20

27.8%
19.2%
13.7%
-11.2%
-3.8%
-32.7%
12 month change in 12 month net income growth 12 month EPS
operating income rate growth rate

High employee engagement Low employee engagement

3. Show how recognition has a strong impact on employees:

Voluntary Turnover21 Rate20

31.4% reduction in 80 percent of

voluntary turnover
employees said
recognition is a
10.5% strong motivator of
8.7%
7.2% work performance
and 70 percent
said they would
work harder
Excellent (5) Fair (3-4) Poor (1-2)
with continuous
Effectiveness of recognition programs
recognition.22
at improving employee engagement.

9 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

Employee Recognition Impacts Engagement
Meridian Credit Union

Meridian Credit Union, with $8 billion in assets, saw measurable, positive business impact
when they implemented an Achievers Employee Success Platform to engage, align, and
recognize their workforce. The company serves more than 260,000 customers, has 63 branches
and eight commercial business centers. The firm fully believes that the greatest leading
indicator of success is employee engagement. In 2009, administrative and management costs
of running their homegrown recognition program were greatly reduced by implementing the
Achievers Employee Success Platform.

Analyzing the impact of engagement by comparing the top and bottom quartile of engaged
employees showed that each highly engaged employee (top quartile) was responsible for
over $2 million in growth, while each of the least engaged employee (bottom quartile) were
responsible for $1.29 million. The most engaged employee was solely responsible for a
4.7 percent increase in the company’s client-base, while the least engaged employee was
responsible for just over 1 percent. Meridian’s operating margins increased over 10 percent
for employees within the top quartile of engagement. On the other hand, the bottom quartile
of engaged employees caused -1.2 percent in operating margin growth. and alignment—every
day. You’ll build your reputation as a top employer and attract the best talent. So what should
you do next? Make your case. The investment you have today in recognition or rewards can
be better spent and deliver more impact and ROI. Gather relevant information about your
company and ask questions.
Survey employees to determine whether you have low or average engagement scores.
Present the findings to your executives and show them you can reduce your company’s
costs and have a positive impact on the results that matter most, revealing the ROI of
employee recognition.

Engaged employees were the key drivers of success for Meridian’s improved financial results.
Their recognition program was responsible for driving the behaviors that created better
alignment and improved business performance.

Your Next Move

An employee recognition strategy that has buy-in from senior leaders can transform your
company by creating a culture of recognition that promotes strong engagement
PART 2

The How-to Section

Learn to plan, design, communicate, and roll-out
Plan: Create your own recognition road map
Learn to plan, design, communicate, and roll-out your
employee recognition strategy.
Modern recognition strategies are necessary to win in today’s competitive business environment.
Old-school strategies miss the point about engagement, alignment, and recognition, and can
actively disengage employees with untimely and meaningless rewards. Avoid the pitfalls of old-
school programs by creating a modern recognition strategy that engages, aligns, and recognizes your
employees. A consolidated program provides valuable insight and eliminates manual processes
for tracking results. Your winning strategy must be transparent and advanced—just like the modern
workplace. Here it is: your step-by-step how-to guide to replace dated programs and make significant
business impact. It’s ultimately up to you, so what are you waiting for?

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2013 CEO Survey included a quote from Jean-Pascal Tricoire, president and
CEO of Schneider Electric SA, France. He said, “People need a sense of purpose. Gross margins
are not the stuff of which dreams are made. And even without going so far as to talk of dreams,
you cannot inspire people to take action, create, or motivate without instilling a sense of purpose,
especially when times are difficult.”23 Even in the face of global economic turbulence, companies with
an engaged, aligned, and recognized workforce can succeed. And yours can, too.
Employee recognition is the spark that gets it all going.

“People need a sense of purpose. Gross margins are not the

stuff of which dreams are made. And even without going
so far as to talk of dreams, you cannot inspire people to
take action, create, or motivate without instilling a sense of
purpose, especially when times are difficult.”

It fulfills our intrinsic need to achieve and motivates us because of our inherent desire for acceptance
and belonging. Recognition provides the avenue for purpose to be infused into daily actions. It
provides perspective as recognition shows the receiver how their work connects with all levels of the
bigger picture—how it impacts the people around you, the department, the company, the purpose of
the organization. Recognition infuses everything with energy.

The next section will help you implement an inspiring recognition strategy that engages and aligns
your employees.

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 12

 Five Steps to Charting Your Road Map

1. Determine Your Company’s Starting Point

Before you can cross the finish line, you must understand where to begin. Before planning
changes, investigate the current state by answering, “What does our current employee
recognition, engagement, or alignment strategy look like?” With a complete picture of what is
in place today, determine industry best practices and benchmarks, which will help you better
visualize the direction you need to go.

Best practice: Undertake an employee engagement survey to obtain real up-to-date data and
use the insights to guide your next steps. Then, conduct focus groups with employees and
managers and ask for feedback about survey results.

2. Ensure Your Strategy is Mobile-First

According to Gartner, there are more connected mobile devices on earth than there are
people. The workforce is now more mobile than ever before. Gartner also expects 80
percent of businesses to support employees who use tablets by 2014. 24 Employees can
work anywhere in the world. Mobile technology can help you create and sustain a culture of
recognition, even for offline employees.

Best practice: Build a culture of recognition for your offline and geographically dispersed
workforce with a mobile-first strategy.

13 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

3. Enable Managers with the Purpose Behind Recognition
Explain to managers the “why” behind recognition. For example, recognition could be
used to align globally dispersed employees or inspire better teamwork and productivity.
Recognition helps employees rise to the occasion and go above and beyond. Help
managers understand why it’s paramount to your business. Most importantly, separate
general compensation and recognition (compensation is only part of employees’
basic needs).

Best practice: Determine the reason for employee recognition, such as “aligning
all employees to business objectives”for example, then communicate it to
your team.

4. Align Business Objectives and Corporate Values with Recognition

Not only does recognition reinforce exemplary behavior, but you can utilize a platform to align
employees to business objectives and company values with recognition.

Best practice: Determine your end goals. Are they increased employee engagement or retention?
Or are they aligning one global culture?

5. Consider how Recognition Impacts the Employee Life Cycle

Talent management is multi-faceted and requires multiple systems and processes. An employee
recognition strategy must work in harmony with all aspects of the employee life cycle.

Best practice: It’s best to implement a tool that seamlessly integrates with all your HR systems.
Opportunity to leverage recognition exists at every phase of the employee life cycle. See chart
below for more.

Employee Life Cycle

Attraction Recruitment Onboarding Development Retention Separation

& Performance

• E mployee Value • Referrals/ • Orientation • M anaging • Engagement • Exit Interviews

Proposition Sourcing • L MS supported Performance, • Leader and
(EVP) • Social onboarding Coaching, Manager
• B est Employer Technology • B enefits Feedback effectiveness
Status (Wellness • L eadership • S uccession/
& Safety Development Growth plans
Programs) • Sales • Career
Incentives discussions

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 14

 Implementation: what to know for program
design and roll-out
10 Critical Success Factors for Designing Workforce Recognition
This list includes the core elements you will need to consider to design a stellar program. We’ve done the
research so you can focus on what’s most important.

1. Budget
Companies typically spend as much as 1 - 2 percent of payroll on recognition programs, although
most focus on rewarding tenure. 25 It’s important to allocate the appropriate budget for recognition
programs that foster frequent recognition, making it a daily habit. View this spend not as a cost,
but more as an investment in your number one asset.

Decide how much you will spend, and how you will tie performance goals to the right behaviors
in order to demonstrate an ROI. Your executives will require updates AND data not only to create
your program but keep it running long term.

2. Frequency
Align recognition frequency with all other aspects of your strategy. Only 22 percent of employees
report that they are recognized regularly. 26 Therefore, recognition must be frequent.

The best part? Recognition can actually occur continuously and not cost a penny. It’s free.

3. Criteria
Determine the behaviors that align with business objectives and corporate values. Outlining proper
behaviors that are aligned to company values helps give your program more structure and credibility
and enables recognition to powerfully drive success.

Communicate recognition criteria with your entire organization so employees understand why desired
behaviors are aligned with company values.

4. Recognition for one and all

Everyone in your organization must use the recognition program if it will have a lasting impact.
Recognition can and should happen anywhere, at any time, on any mobile or desktop device.
Create a program that encourages all employees to recognize each other regardless of physical
location or title.

5. Peer-to-peer Recognition
Remember, even the most competitive organizations are becoming far more collaborative and
transitioning away from traditional top-down hierarchies. To create a cross-functional culture of
recognition, you’ll need to enable peer-to-peer recognition.

Enable peer-to-peer recognition to spark participation at all levels of the organization; otherwise you
won’t see the results.

15 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

6. No Barriers to Recognition
Competitive organizations eliminate any approval processes for recognition and implicitly trust their
employees who participate. This is more empowering for the employee. Recognition should be organic
and seamless.

Recognition provides employees with unsolicited, positive feedback, so make sure to eliminate any
barriers or approval processes for employees to recognize.

7. Visibility
There are three types of recognition: public, group, and private. Often, making employee recognition
visible to the entire organization is an important consideration. Visible recognition can occur in the
following ways:

Public: Online newsfeed

Group: In front of the employee’s team
Private: Employee/manager one-on-one

Consider making employee recognition visible to your entire organization, as it will help reinforce the
right behaviors and provide ongoing participation momentum as employees can see the successes
recognized and shared by their colleagues.

8. Delivery
You know the value of receiving something thoughtful. Excellent delivery will help your employees feel
valued. Recognition can be delivered face-to-face, in a letter or email, at an event, or online.

Evaluate the standard template or format for recognitions—it should look as good as the message being
delivered. With global workforces, personalized and meaningful electronic recognition is the way to go.

9. Consistency
A consistent employee experience for your entire workforce must include engagement and
alignment so employees feel connected to a unified culture and experience. Within a company-
wide recognition program consider including different program features that reflect the specific
needs of each locale while ensuring the overarching program is consistent.

Offer a unified employee experience, even if some parts of your program need to be customized to meet
global requirements.

10. Measurement
Carefully consider what success looks like and how you’ll measure it. You must be able to demonstrate
the impact of your program on your employees (improved engagement, retention, etc.) and on
business performance.

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 16

 Jump-Start Your Recognition Culture with an Exciting and
Engaging Launch
The way you roll-out your program is just as important as the design process. Employees should feel energized
about your new recognition program and inspired to use it. That’s why we’ve put together a cheat-sheet with
some best practices for your program launch.

Spread the Word with Clear Communication

After you’ve determined your objectives, incorporate them into a communications plan and marketing
collateral. Best-in-class communication efforts begin during the design phase, so get key stakeholders
involved early.

Create marketing materials to communicate program goals and recognition best practices. Be sure they are
aligned with your brand voice and guidelines to provide one consistent message across your organization.

Most importantly, have fun with it and get creative. This is a great opportunity to think outside the box to
get employees’ attention.

17 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

Equip Employees (and Managers, Especially) with Training
When you actually launch the program special training is required for the program administrators in
your organization. Set them up for success by coaching them on recognition best practices, the power
of engagement and alignment, how to use the program, and how to effectively use dashboards and
reporting tools.

But don’t forget about managers.

Too often managers are trained on the how, but not the why. If you can help managers understand
the “What’s In It For Me” they’ll jump on board without hesitation.

Don’t simply train on process and technology. Everyone must understand the “why” and see the
connection to business success.

Did you know that a consolidated Employee Success Platform largely eliminates the burden
of administration?

You’ll benefit from automatic reporting based on predetermined criteria. Also, you’ll be able to get a clear picture
of employee performance and how well employees are aligned to business objectives.

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 18

 Become a Change Agent
Implementing change is never simple but you can minimize the pain. This section breaks down
the basics to help you become an agent of change.

Remove the Burden of Manual Administration with

Consolidation
The way you administer your program will impact its success. Most companies’ programs tend to
operate in isolation from other HR systems. It’s important to consolidate your program into one
integrated platform that will scale across your business. There must be harmony.

Front-line employees only need to go to one place, managers get the employee visibility they need,
and the company has cost control and reporting to understand where to invest its dollars.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Take considerate measures and communicate the changes to your organization.

Program adoption is critical to create a culture of recognition. Communicate the benefits of your
recognition program to all employees early and often.

19 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

Constantly Assess the Program’s Value
Your recognition program and your company’s values should be aligned. As business goals change, so
might your program. You must keep the big picture in mind. How do changes impact the ways in which
employees recognize one another?

Communicate all program changes to employees, especially if goals or recognition criteria change.

Optimize Programs to Keep Them Fresh

Over time, re-examine your program to ensure that it’s meeting your organization’s goals. Solicit
feedback from key stakeholders. You should constantly think about ways to update your program,
keeping it fresh and dynamic.

Assess whether certain metrics or criteria are getting the results you want, and if not, continue
refreshing until you’re satisfied.

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 20

 Amplify: The Science of Rewards
People like to group rewards and recognition together as though they are one. Rewards can
complement recognition but are not a replacement. It’s not about only giving employees things.

You have a chance to amplify recognition, engagement, and alignment with rewards, done the right
way. A paycheck is not a thank you, as it only satisfies your employees’ basic needs. You want to
reinforce the right employee behaviors, and then reward them accordingly.

If recognition fulfills our intrinsic needs for love, belonging, and self-esteem, then rewards act as
an extrinsic motivator. When you receive a reward that you choose, it is more meaningful and you’ll
associate it with positive memories tied to your company.

21 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

Why Rewards are Critical to Recognition Programs

Bersin by Deloitte’s research identifies two types of recognition, shown in the adjacent chart: praise
and emblematic rewards and monetary rewards.
The chart illustrates a company’s likelihood of achieving top quartile Business Performance Index
(BPI) outcomes if highly effective at the respective recognition approach. A company that is highly
effective at recognition with no monetary value is 2.8 times more likely to achieve the top quartile
BPI outcomes—but is 3.5 times more likely to achieve that metric using monetary rewards.

Recognition Elements and the Relationships with Top-Quartile BPI Out-Comes27

Praise and Emblematic Rewards Monetary Rewards

Recognition Elements Give public recognition, with no monetary Give public recognition, with monetary value
value (e.g. public “thank yous”, certificates, (e.g. company wide awards)
trophies, plaques, etc.)
A llow employees to nominate each other for
Provide paid days off company wide awards (with monetary value)

If highly effective at the 2.8 times more likely to achieve 3.5 times more likely to achievetop-quartile BPI
recognition approach, top-quartile BPI
likelihood of being in
top quartile of business
performance index

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 22

 The Best Rewards are Chosen Ones
Allow personal choice to play a part in rewards. A reward that resonates with one
employee may not translate for others, so ensure you are optimizing your investment in your rewards—
and your talent. There are many types of rewards from which to choose. It’s up to you to decide which
rewards align with your strategy and culture.

ConnectEDU and Achievers partnered for the fourth year running to understand what the Class of 2013
would expect in the workplace, and what companies in search of new talent should expect from them.
More than 10,000 students were surveyed across the United States. It’s interesting to point out that the
majority of students chose travel and experience rewards and gift cards as the most appealing rewards.
Rewards like time pieces and plaques are not appealing, as they fall at the bottom of the chart.

How Appealing Would Each of these Rewards be? 28

Weighted Responses Ranked on a Scale of One to Eight

Travel rewards
6.83

Experience rewards
5.95

Gift card of your choice

5.17

Merchandise of your choice 5

Charitable donation
4.3

Time pieces and jewelry

3.25

Plaques
2.89

Company branded merchandise

2.81

23 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

Don’t Assume Cash Rewards are the Best Option
You must consider both monetary and non-monetary rewards because employees may associate
cash rewards with compensation instead of achievement. Recognition must initiate a behavioral
movement toward business objectives, so be aware of how cash rewards are perceived.

Spending as little as one percent of your employee pa-roll on specific, meaningful, and timely
rewards is just as important as the other 99 percent of your employee
dollars. If you consider the impact on the “average” total compensation package for an employee,
one percent added to their paycheck would not only seem small, but will get lost in their direct
deposit statement and taxes.

Think Globally but Fulfill Locally

Select a global provider that offers the total package by consolidating all features and capabilities
into one Employee Success Platform. This guarantees a consistent experience for your employees,
regardless of country and local currencies.

With respect to global fulfillment capabilities, you must always consider including local, in-country
fulfillment. This cuts down on cost to the provider including extra fees for customs and duties, and
in turn provides great value to the recipient. For example, it costs $60 to ship a gift certificate from
the United States to Egypt, but only costs $5 to ship the same item within country. Imagine the
ramifications of choosing the wrong global partner. Your ROI depends on it.
 ARE YOU READY?
The current business ecosystem has become more acutely competitive than ever before. It’s
imperative that you look beyond what’s in front of you today.

The global workforce is fundamentally changing—and requires modern recognition

strategies to impact engagement, alignment, and the bottom line. Opportunities to make a
positive shift for the future are at hand with the strength of insight provided by your newfound
strategic lenses.

Take care of your people by engaging them, aligning them to corporate strategy, and
recognizing outstanding achievements in the moment. Your employees will find it
unimaginable to leave your company if you excel at these things. Plus, you’ll provide
your executives with irrefutable program ROI and evident impacts on business success,
reaffirming you are a strategic business partner that plays an integral role in driving results.

Best of all, you’ll delight your customers and make them loyal, raving fans of your company.
And you’ll never look back to the old-school way of engaging employees again.

25 | The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition

SOURCES
1 Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
2 “Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).” Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
3 “2013 Kelly Global Workforce Index: Employee Engagement and Retention.” Kelly OCG. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
4 “Trends in Employee Recognition.” WorldatWork. Jun. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
5 Crabtree, Steve. “Low Workplace Engagement Offers Opportunities to Improve Business Outcomes.” Gallup. Oct. 2013. Web.
10 Feb. 2014
6 Services. Office of the United States Trade Representative. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
7 Kisman, Michael. “Shortage of Skilled Workers Makes Hiring Difficult.” Union-Tribune. 19 Jun. 2005. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
8 Finnigan, Dan. “Hiring is Getting Harder for Employers, Not Easier.” Forbes. 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
9 “Gen Y is Fast-Becoming the Majority of the Working Population.” U.S. Bureau of the Census. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
10 Gartner Group. “Leading on the Edge of Chaos”. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
11 Heggesteun, John. “One In Every 5 People In the World Own a Smart Phone,” Business Insider. 15 Dec. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
12 “The Expanding Role of Mobility in the Workplace.” Forrester Research for Cisco Systems. Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
13 “Predicts 2012: Four Forces Combine to Transform the IT Landscape.” Gartner. 9 Dec. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
14 Covey, Stephen. “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness.” Free Press. 2004. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
15 “Capitalizing on Effective Communication: How Courage, Innovation and Discipline Drive Business Results in Challenges Times.”
Towers Watson. 2010. Web. Feb. 2014
16 Garr, Stacia. “High-impact Performance Management: Five Best Practices to Make Recognition and Rewards Meaningful.” Bersin by
Deloitte.
2012. Web. Feb. 2014
17 Moore, Tara. “Investing in the ‘100 Best’ Beats the Market, Hands Down.” CNN Money. Jan 2011. Web. Feb. 2014
18 Haydon, Reese. “Show Me the Money: the Bottom Line Impact of Employee Engagement.” TLNT: the business of HR. 11 Jun. 2013. Web.
10 Feb. 2014
19 “What Makes a Company a Best Employer?” Hewitt Associates. 2009. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
20 Towers Watson. “Engagement at Risk: Driving Strong Performance in a Volatile Global Environment.” Towers Watson Global Workforce
Study. 2012. Web. Feb. 2014
21 WhatWorks Market Brief: Turning Thank you Into Performance. Bersin by Deloitte. Jun. 2012.
22 Gallup Report. 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2014
23 Interview with Jean-Pascal Tricoire. PricewaterhouseCoopers 16th Annual Global CEO Survey. 2013. Web. Feb. 2014
24 Newman, Nic. “What to Go Global? Put Mobile First.” CNN Edition. Dec. 2013. Web. Feb. 2014
25 Bersin, Josh. “New Research Unlocks the Secret of Employee Recognition.” Forbes. Jun 2012. Web. Feb. 2014
26 Gorman, China and Achievers. “Achievers Intelligence: Insight into Today’s Workforce.” Mar 2012. Web. Feb. 2014
27 Sherman Garr, Stacia. “Making Recognition and Rewards Matter: Five Practices to Drive Better Business Results.” Bersin by Deloitte.
Sept. 2012. Web. Feb. 2014
28 “Class of 2013: Attract and Retain Tomorrow’s Top Talent.” Achievers and ConnectEDU. 2013. Web. Feb. 2014

The Ultimate Guide to Employee Recognition | 26

The Achievers Employee Recognition and Rewards Solution provides companies with a
robust foundation for their employee engagement initiatives which enables both social
and rewards-based recognition. It’s built to align everyone with business objectives and
company values, fueled by recognizing and rewarding shared victories every day.

95% 93% 84%

17 18 19

150 77.5
Learn how your company can change the way the world wor ks at www.achievers.com

17 Achievers customer base retention for FY2015

18 Average survey rating by Achievers customer program members, Q4 2015 - Q1 2016
19 Average employee activation rate across all Achievers customer programs, 2015