Employee recognition requires time and effort. Most managers start with best intentions but falter somewhere down the line due to a disconnect between employee expectations and his own perceptions. Rewards are basically classified as monetary and non-monetary. Says Philip K Mammen, General Manager, Tata Elxsi Ltd, “Employee recognition is best approached creatively. While money is an important form of employee recognition, ideas for employee recognition are limited only by our imagination.”
Concurs Kalpana Srinivasan, Head - Human Resources, Aspire Systems (India) Private Limited, “At Aspire, we believe that employee recognition is a communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for our business.”
“Communicate 2’s reward & recognition program is designed to reward employees who have excelled in their work and convey our sincere “thank you” for a specific job well done. Apart from monetary benefits, we recognise the good work of our employees by rewarding them Ipods, mobile phones, Laptops etc.,” says C Vasudevan, Manager - HR & Admin, Communicate 2.
“Some of the examples of reward tools are differentiated base pay, differentiated performance based bonus programmes, long term incentive plans like use of equity, awards and appreciation programme, spot rewards, patent incentive, long service awards, technical ladder award, team awards, holiday packages, famous author programme etc,” adds Sanjay Bhan, GM - HR Shared Services, Texas Instruments India.
For rewards and recognition to have impact and meaning, the programme should be flexible to be applicable across the organisation given different situations and complexities. It is important for any organisation to recognise and reward its employees from time to time and also the reward is timely and happens when it matters most. It not only helps an employee stay focused and committed towards his work but also helps the company retain talent. Some of these programmes go a long way by adding excitement and fun to the work place. Says Atul Srivastava, Senior Vice President and Head, Corporate HRD, Datamatics, “Datamatics Laureate is awarded to any individual who has through his/her unstilted efforts and total dedication made a very significant contribution to the growth and development of one or more businesses of the Datamatics Group.”
Rewards and Recognition at GE’s John F Welch Technology Centre is a blend of both monetary and non-monetary benefits. “We recognise top patent holders and publication authors at the centre by inviting them for an exclusive dinner with the leadership at the centre in addition to the monetary award they receive. The JFWTC Annual Awards of Excellence represent the highest form of recognition for outstanding contribution by an employee at the centre,” explains Rohit Thakur, HR Leader - GE JFWTC. Another interesting angle is brought forward by BCIL.
A surprise
“Rewards and recognitions should go to the individual as a surprise, which will boost their morale. If it is like a scheduled timely incentive, people tend to take it as a regular aspect,” says V T Sunil, DGM, BCIL.
Several companies award employees who have gone the extra mile. “The spot award is given to the employee in appreciation of a task accomplished which called for the employee stretching himself beyond the usual call of duty. This award is unique as it is given as soon as possible after the event meriting the award and also there are no limits on the number,” says Dr Ananda, MD, Synplicity India. Instead of giving cash award or arranging for a dinner etc. Arteria has the practice of giving gold coins to create awareness of importance of savings among employees. “Offering flight travel to employees who have not travelled by flight earlier and gifting music systems, home theatres and TV sets as a reward after analysing the employee’s need and interest are other examples,” says Parag Jain, CTO, Arteria Technologies.
Transparency
One of the fundamental issues with awards is that the criterion needs to be clear and unambiguous. The basic criterion to recognise and reward is an effort, innovation or suggestion that results in significant contribution to the bottom line of the organisation. Fairness and consistency are important. People need to see that every employee who puts in the same or a similar contribution has an equal chance of receiving recognition for their efforts.
Most organisations rely on constant communications explaining the nature of the rewards and the path to qualify for the same.  “The awards are based on technical ability, managerial contribution and significance of the project. The process is published on Peoplespace, the Aztecsoft Intranet, and there is visibility during each stage until announcements are made,” says KPM Das, Head Global Operations, Aztecsoft.
“Nominations are invited from both the employees and managers.  The final selection is made by a committee based on several reference checks and internal audit,” explains Hemant Sharma, HR Director, Sun Microsystems India. At Kotak Life Insurance, the Rewards and Recognition (R&R) programme is used as a potent tool in functions where variability of performance is very high. “We monitor this programme very carefully and we have observed that one of the most positive aspects of our R&R programme is that performance of our people in the R&R category is about 300 per cent more than other categories of employees,” says Sugata Dutta, Executive VP - HR, Kotak Life Insurance.
Motivating factors
Employee recognition can help build a positive, productive and innovative culture. “The power of positive recognition is that it motivates people to perform at peak levels and that in turn creates excitement,” highlights Shamim T, Associate Director HR Consulting Zinnov. Agrees Shalaka Gadekar, Head - Human Resources, Centurion Bank of Punjab, “At CBoP, we believe that appreciation and recognition are great fuels for motivation. It is ensured that the ‘A Ha’ winners are awarded in presence of the entire team and senior team members.”
“It has been observed that while compensation and benefits rank high, recognition from the supervisor is most cherished,” says Mammen. They keep employees motivated to excel and contribute both from an individual perspective and from a team perspective. Adds Das, “Aztecsoft is presently in the process of evaluating an a scheme in which the credits of individual and team achievements get accrued through a Reward-Credit-Card System which could be monetized by the employees at a time of their choosing later.”
Incentives have proved to be a very effective tool for motivation as far as AMC is concerned. “It is evident from the ever-increasing number of qualifiers to our various reward and recognition programmes that they take these systems very seriously,” says David Stanley, CEO, AMC India.
At Titan, the people at the World of Titan stores which represent the company to the most important stakeholders, the customers. “Titan works towards increasing the efficiency through various programmes such as Employee Development Programmes (counselling sessions, stress management, career counselling), Employee Recognition Programmes (Star Performer of the Month),” says Sandeep Kulhalli, Business Head of Retailing Services Group, Titan Industries.
Qualcomm recognises that being sensitive to employee’s needs is a valuable benefit. “QLIFE is Qualcomm’s Work/Life Balance solution for employees to manage their busy lives at work, at home and in the community,” says Kanwalinder Singh, President, Qualcomm India and SAARC.
Companies are realising that if they expect managers to take the job of recognising their employees seriously, they need to provide the adequate training in recognition skills. Managers need to understand and have the kills to deal with feelings of discontent among employees who are not awarded.