How Industry Leaders are Making Recognition Meaningful
Recognition leaders design programs to address specific business challenges and succeed by building cultures of appreciation that drive competitive advantage
INTRODUCTION
Employee recognition and rewards programs play a vital role in influencing the perceptions, attitudes and actions of employees. They are critical for creating a sense of belonging, motivating exceptional performance and enabling managers and peers to celebrate achievements, milestones and success. In this report, we showcase insights, strategies and examples from five Engage2Excel clients that do an exceptional job of integrating recognition into operations and the daily experiences of employees. The programs represented include different types and styles of recognition for performance, safety, demonstration of core values and employee loyalty.
Atrium Health celebrates a shared sense of commitment, purpose & belonging
Atrium Health has earned its reputation as one of the nation’s leading healthcare organizations by creating a vibrant and creative program for integrating recognition and appreciation into the daily lives of 70,000 teammates. Atrium Health’s culture is built around four core values that are held in the highest regard: Caring, Commitment, Integrity and Teamwork.
The Atrium Health Recognition & Rewards Platform allows teammates to show appreciation for great work, years of service and meaningful actions that make a difference in the lives of patients and teammates. These programs inspire, motivate and connect teammates to Atrium Health’s purpose of improving lives. Through this platform, teammates can share everyday wins and successes, send and share eCards to celebrate various occasions and achievements, nominate teammates for performance awards and select gifts from points catalogs.
McLane creates a family-centric work environment from day one
In the highly competitive field of retail distribution, McLane has established industry leadership through a relentless focus on enabling superior customer and employee experiences. The company’s mission is to be an agile, innovative, and unified supply chain partner that delivers a superior customer experience and improves the lives of our teammates and community while producing best-in-class returns.
McLane empowers teammates to make bold moves and celebrate taking calculated risks, being people-centric in operations and strategy, coaching and fostering professional growth and collaboration. The company has built a comprehensive recognition strategy designed to create a family environment from day one. Length of service, performance recognition and peer-to-peer recognition have played an important part in increasing retention rates, improving customer service and creating a sense of belonging across age groups.
Recognizing employee achievements and special moments at Canada Post
During the pandemic, the company recognized its role of providing an essential service and stepped up to meet the needs of all Canadians. This effort reinforced Canada Post as the country’s leading eCommerce delivery company. In 2022, the company initiated a comprehensive transformation to address fundamental business challenges. With its Parcels segment representing approximately half of its revenue, the Corporation is transforming to better position itself in a competitive market and ensure the postal service continues to be a vital economic link for all Canadians. Its plan, A Stronger Canada Delivered, is anchored in three pillars, providing a service all Canadians can count on, social and environmental leadership and doing right by its people.
As part of its plan to do right by its people, the company introduced a recognition program designed to make recognition more meaningful and easier to deliver. The program recognizes employees for their contributions and acknowledges significant events in their lives.
SIG SAUER builds a performance-driven culture by putting employees first
SIG SAUER is a billion-dollar company with over 3,000 employees that operates like it’s in start-up mode. Headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire, SIG SAUER’s workforce operates across 15 locations worldwide. In 2022, the U.S. Army awarded the company a multibillion-dollar contract to manufacture the branch’s Next Generation Squad Weapon system after a multiyear prototype development and evaluation process.
SIG SAUER’s success is fueled by a sense of palpable pride, passion and comradery, combined with leadership open to reevaluating everything it does to spark innovation and foster continuous improvement. The company launched its first formal performance recognition program and enhanced its service milestones program last year in response to requests from employees and leaders. Like all aspects of operations, this still-evolving program is closely tied to the company’s corporate goals.
Emory Healthcare understands the personal dynamics that promote a sense of belonging
Recognized consistently among the nation’s leading healthcare providers, Emory Healthcare is an integrated academic healthcare system committed to providing the best care for its patients, educating health professionals and leaders for the future and pursuing discovery research in all forms, including basic, clinical and population-based research.
Healthcare institutions experienced devastating staffing challenges more than any other industry sector during the pandemic. Two years ago, leaders from across the organization convened to develop strategies for addressing recruitment, retention and engagement challenges. The Emory Healthcare recognition program has played an important and evolving role in addressing these challenges by unifying service recognition and teammate appreciation programs and building a shared sense of commitment and belonging.
