How to create a recognition program

2. 1. How do your employees feel about your recognition program/s?
 Share what, how, and why your program/s are having impact?
2. Are supervisors adequately trained to provide meaningful
recognition?
 How has coaching actions from ET helped in face to face discussions.
3. Has the involvement of top management made any difference?
4. Is our annual recognition event worth the time and money we
spend on it?
5. How do the people who are not recognized feel about our
recognition program?

3. 1. Have we chosen the best recognition programs?
(Selection and Design issues)
Informal programs
Formal programs
2. How well have we implemented them?
(Training, Communication, and Presentation issues)
How much do employees know about them?
How often are they being used?
How do they make employees feel?
3. Do our recognition programs impact employee
attitudes, productivity, or profitability?
(Outcomes or Results issues)

4.  1. Reliable Data – (Dependent variables or metrics)
Research Question: “How do you assess reliability?”
 2. A Valid Design – (Research method)
When should you collect the data?
 After the program is implemented
 Before and after
 Several times before and after
From whom?
 Experimental group
 Control group
How much?
 Total sample
 Random sample
 Stratified random sample
Research Question: “How do you assess validity?”

6.  Definition: Reliability means repeatability or
consistency of measurement. Reliable data
are not random numbers, subjective
estimates, or capricious measures.
 Operational Definitions:
 Test-retest reliability
 Alternate forms reliability
 Split-halves reliability
 Inter-rater reliability)

7. Employee Attitudes
 Job satisfaction
 Appreciation
 Company satisfaction
 Organizational
commitment
 Intent to leave
 Perceived
organizational support
Organizational Metrics
 Absence Rate
 Turnover Rate
 HR Expense Factor
 Profit per employee
 Revenue per employee
 Cost of recognition
programs as a percent
of payroll
Please note that much of these same variables can be used in 10 questions to assess retention

8. The absence rate allows organizations to track employee attendance over time or
to compare their number of lost days due to absences with the rates of others in
their industry and nationwide.
Absence rate =
Workdays lost due to absences
# of employees x # of days
Workdays Lost Due to Absence = full days of employee absence whether paid
or unpaid, excused or unexcused and includes unscheduled days for sickness,
personal business, emergency, family illness or death, disciplinary suspension,
and unexcused absences. For long-term absences, count only the first four
days. Do not count scheduled time off for holidays, vacations, and other leave.

9. What is the Absence Rate for a company that has 60 full-time employees and
during the past year they had 410 total days of absence. All employees have two
weeks of paid vacation during the year.
410 days of absence
60 Employees x 250 days*
= 0.027 or 2.70%
*250 days = 50 weeks per year times 5 days per week

10. Size of company 25th % tile Median 75th % tile
1-100 employees 0.84 1.34 2.18
101-500 0.61 1.27 2.12
501-1000 1.30 1.74 3.64
Over 1000 1.48 2.32 3.05
Industry
Construction 0.14 0.57 0.90
Manufacturing 0.67 1.48 2.22
Wholesale Retail trade 0.96 1.49 1.92
Transportation 1.05 1.60 2.07
Financial 0.79 1.27 2.21
Other services 0.56 1.50 2.51
Absence Rates by Size of Company and for selected Industries
Data provided by the Utah Employers Council, 2009

11.  Turnover
 Absenteeism and sick leave
 Smoking
 Employee Assistance programs
 Programs to improve Attitudes
 Employee Selection Tests
 Assessment Centers for Selection
 Dollar Value of Job performance
 Utility of Training Programs
 Labor Contract Costs: wages, benefits, vacations,
overtime, shift differentials, holidays, pensions,
bonuses

12. 1. Reactions of participants, e.g. job satisfaction,
appreciation, company satisfaction,
organizational commitment, engagement.
2. Learning new knowledge and skills, e.g. test
scores using multiple choice, fill in the blank,
matching, and essay questions.
3. Behavior changes, e.g. quantity and quality of
performance, attendance, job performance.
4. Measurable Results, e.g. organizational metrics.

13.  Questionnaires and surveys(EmployeeTalk)
 Collaborations and calls for contribution (EmployeeTalk)
 Observations (360 Feedback with EmployeeTalk)
 Performance appraisals(EmployeeTalk)
 Interviews - Face to face talks delegated from (EmployeeTalk)
 Unobtrusive Measures:
 Archive data - Checklists and Scorecards with EmployeeTalk
 Number of hits on the awards and catalogue websites
 Number of supervisors who complete online training
 Tracked Learning Management system in EmployeeTalk
 Knowledge check actions delegated from input in EmployeeTalk
 Email responses from family members to say thank-you
 Responses from significant on employee thank you letters
 Reading activity from newsletters using EmployeeTalk
 Tracking readers from links in blog to the newsletter
 Did you read this ________? in EmployeeTalk

15. 10 9 8-7 6-5 4-3 2 1 EmployeeTalk
Extremely Quite Slightly Neutral Slightly Quite Extremely
Appreciated Unappreciated
Efficient Inefficient
Penalized Rewarded
Satisfied Dissatisfied
Unproductive Productive
Encouraged Discouraged
Ineffective Effective
Valuable Worthless
Me at Work – How I feel Most of the Time?
The average of these semantic differential scales measures a “General Affective Tone.” See, William E. Scott, Jr. “The
Development of Semantic Differential Scales as Measures of ‘Morale’,” Personnel Psychology, 20 (1967): 179-198.

16. EmployeeTalk 10-9 8-7 6-5 4-3 2-1
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
1. The company expresses sincere gratitude to
its employees.
2. My supervisor expresses appreciation to me
for what I do.
3. I feel personally recognized and appreciated
for my contribution to this company.
4. When I do a good job, I am praised and
recognized.
Scales created by David Eric Bruggeman in EmployeeTalk

17. Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
1. I find real enjoyment in my work.
2. I consider my job rather unpleasant.*
3. I am often bored with my job.*
4. I am fairly well satisfied with my
present job.
5. I definitely dislike my work.*
6. Most days I am enthusiastic about my
work.
 What should be done to improve
job satisfaction.
From: Brayfield, A. H., & Rothe, H. F. (1951). “An index of job satisfaction.” Journal of Applied Psychology, 35, 307-311.

18. EmployeeTalk 10-9 8-7 6-5 4-3 2-1
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
1. Performing my job is so absorbing that I
forget about everything else.
2. Time passes quickly when I am
performing my job.
3. I really put my heart into my job.
4. My own feelings are affected by how
well I perform my job.
5. I exert a lot of energy performing my
job.
6. I take work home to do.
From May, D., Gilson, R., & Harter, L. (2004). “The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and
the engagement of the human spirit at work.” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 77, 11-37.

19. EmployeeTalk 10-9 8-7 6-5 4-3 2-1
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
1. I would be very happy to spend the rest
of my career with this organization.
2. I enjoy discussing my organization with
people outside it.
3. I feel emotionally attached to this
organization.
4. This organization has a great deal of
personal meaning for me.
5. I feel a strong sense of belonging to my
organization.
From: Allen, N. J., & Meyer, J. P. (1990). “The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative
commitment to the organization.” Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1-18.

20. There are 8 good questions with expectations to ask from a
Town Hall recognition event follow up
1. You were motivated to attend the All Employee
Meetings between (dates)?
This is because:
 You were being recognized by one of the speakers in their
presentation
 You were encouraged by your manager to attend the event
 A possible giveaway item influenced your attendance
 You are committed to (hospital) success and these events
keep you in the loop
 Some other reason?
Please share in the box the most significant reason/s why
you attended.
2. Did you attend one of the All-Employee Meetings,
between (dates)?
If not it’s because:
 You did not receive any communication notifying you of this
event
 You were gone from work these days on training or vacation
and unable to attend
 You were not interested in the information
 The times did not fit your work schedule
 You Could get information elsewhere
 Some other reason?
Please share in the box the most significant reason why you
did not attend.

3. Rate your likelihood of attending the next all-
employee meetings? 1 won't attend - 10 will attend
4. How would you rate your level of interest in the
presentations, 10 being the most stimulating?

The presentations:
 Person of the Moment Awards
 TV Segment Videos
 Word of the Moment
 New Employees
 Physician Update
 Service Line Update
 Facilities and Space Planning
 Patient Connections
 Balanced Scorecard
 Celebrations and Recognitions
 CEO Update

21. The communication capability of EmployeeTalk to cost affords
a huge benefit for companies
 The recognition budgets for four companies that have been
recognized for outstanding recognition programs are:
 A telecommunications company with 36,000 employees budgets 1.0
% of payroll
 An international bank with 60,000 employees budgets 0.7% of payroll
 A healthcare company with 3,400 employees budgets 0.2 % of payroll
 A bank with 23,000 employees budgets $8 mil (which equals $348
per employee).
Data from David J. Cherrington, SPHR, DBA - Recognition Professionals International Conference 27 April 2010

23. 1. Post-test–only design (case study)
X O
2. Pretest–post-test comparison
O X O
3. Pretest–post-test control group design
R O X O
R O – O
4. Post-test–only control group design
R – X O
R – – O
5. Solomon four-group design
R O X O
R O – O
R – X O
R – – O
6. Time-series design
O1 O2 O3 X O4 O5 O6
7. Separate sample pretest–post-test
control group design
Group 1 R O X –
R – X O
Group 2 R O – –
R – – O
Key
X = Experimental treatment or training program
O = Observation or measurement
R = Random assignment of participants to group/training condition

24.  Definition: Do the results measure what you
think they are measuring? Can you interpret
the results accurately?

 Two types of validity:
 Internal validity: is the experimental design sound
so that the data can be properly interpreted?
 External validity: can the results of this study be
generalized (or applied) to other situations?

25.  X O - You implement the program and then measure it.
 X = independent variable, e.g.
 New recognition program
 Training program
 New incentive program
 O = dependent variable
 “smile sheets” after a training program
 Positive follow through to knowledge checks in EmployeeTalk
 Posting positives from EmployeeTalk engagement
 Participation in the peer-to-peer nominations
 Employee of the month in EmployeeTalk
 Measures of job satisfaction or engagement
 Yearly pulse engagement measure with EmployeeTalk
 A highly popular research design

26.  O X O
 Illustration: Changes in turnover or job satisfaction before
and after a new recognition program is initiated. ???
 Problems with this design:
 Mortality – some people drop out, usually the dissatisfied.
 Maturity – people constantly change during any period of time.
 History – unique external events can influence the measures.
 Instrument decay – measurement errors and unreliable data.
 Sensitizing effect of the pretest – measuring is not a neutral event;
people often behave differently after they are measured.
 This is a very weak research design.

27.  R O X O
 R O – O)
 R = random assignment to groups (Delegated in ET)
 (See committee design by EmployeeTalk)
 X = new recognition program, such as a new kit for
supervisors to use.
 Actions tasked or coached from input in EmployeeTalk
 O = number of thank you notes sent to subordinates
 O = number of thank you letters sent to employee
significand's (Action delegated from EmployeeTalk)
 This is an excellent research design when it can be
implemented.

28.  R X O
 R -- O
 This design assumes that the two groups are
equivalent due to random assignment.
 This is an excellent research design that is
especially appropriate when pretesting is not
possible.
 Illustration: testing the effects of a new
employee orientation training with EmployeeTalk
on participation in the peer-to-peer recognition
program.

29.  R O X O
R O – O
R - X O
R - - O
 This is the ideal research design because it
controls for all of the challenges to the internal
validity of a research design.
 Illustration: testing the impact of a training
program using EmployeeTalk on “Developing a
Culture of Recognition” on employee attitudes,
such as empowerment, satisfaction, or
appreciation.

30.  O O O O O O X O O O O O O
 This design fails to account for the effects of history.

 Otherwise, this research design is ideal for examining
systematic changes in an ongoing program. Pretest
measures serve as a contrast for posttest measures.

 Illustrations:
 awarding points to nominators,
 increasing the points for supervisors,
 increasing the percentage of employees recognized,
 adding new merchandise to the catalogue,
 Creating a “wall of fame”
 Including a recognition column in the company’s newsletter

31.  R O X O
O – O
R O X O
O – O
This design uses groups that are already formed
and members cannot be randomly assigned.
Illustration: A new recognition program cannot be
implemented to randomly selected members of a
group. Therefore, randomly select some groups
to start the program first, while other groups
have to wait for six months before starting.

32.  This design utilizes a regression analysis of
multiple variables to test the relationships
between them.

 The unit of analysis may be groups, such as
testing whether the average satisfaction scores of
employees in various divisions or departments
predict levels of customer satisfaction in those
divisions or departments.
 Path analysis tests the relationships in a
hypothetical model, also known as structural
equation modeling.

33.  Do recognition programs influence
employee attitudes?
 Do improved employee attitudes lead
to improved employee performance?
 Does better employee performance
impact the company’s bottom line?

34. Employee
Recognition
Improved
Employee
Attitudes
Higher
Employee
performance
Increased
Profits
Do employee recognition programs
contribute to the bottom line?
Possible Metrics:
Absence Rate
Turnover Rate
HR Expense Factor
Profit per employee
Revenue per employee

35. Points
Participation
Employee
Satisfaction
Patient
Loyalty
Financial
Return
Higher Points
participation is
linked to higher
employee
satisfaction
Growth in
Points =
Measures
growth in
employee
satisfaction
Measured difference
in employee
satisfaction =
Measured difference
in Patient
satisfaction
Measured
change in
patient
satisfaction =
Measured
change in
revenue

36.  Survey Pulse Engagement
 Checklists or Scorecards
 360° Peer Reviews
 Learning tracking System
 Leader's Performance review
 Policy release w/ Knowledge checks
 Open Portal – Blog
 Employee of the month
Implement them together to support your Recognition?

37. Register to use platform
• http://assessment.employeetalk.us/
• sales@innovatevirtual.com
• sales@employeetalk.us
Thank You