High Impact, Low Cost Recognition

With the economy showing few signs of vitality, and even threatening to flat-line, managers everywhere are desperate for recognition ideas that will spur performance while remaining within ever tighter budgetary restrictions. In such situations, the number one go-to guy for powerful (but affordable) recognition ideas is Bob Nelson (www.nelson-motivation.com), the author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (Workman, 2005). Widely known as the "Guru of Thank-You," Nelson offers the following real world examples of programs where employees express appreciation for one another with a minimum of cost, paperwork, and administration:

1. The Spirit of Fred Award
   Walt Disney World boasts 180 different recognition programs, one of which was originally inspired by an employee named Fred. When Fred first transitioned from an hourly to a salaried employee, he says that five people at Disney taught him the values he’d need to succeed in the house the Mouse built. The award he inspired encapsulates those values, neatly combined into the acronym FRED: Friendly, Resourceful, Enthusiastic, and Dependable. Although the award originated as something of a gag, it has become a coveted prize throughout the organization. Fred himself creates each award – a certificate mounted on a plaque, which he then varnishes. Repeat Spirit of Fred winners become eligible for the Lifetime Fred Award, which is a bronze Mickey Mouse statuette.
2. Thanks a Bunch
   Fenton, Missouri-based Maritz Performance Improvement Company helps customers worldwide with their recognition programs, so it’s no surprise they have a number of creative and effective in-house rewards efforts. One is the Thanks a Bunch program, in which one employee receives a bouquet of flowers for a job well done. He or she then passes the bouquet along to express thanks to another employee and so forth, in a sort of "pay it forward" appreciation chain. The goal is to see how many people can pass the flowers on in a given day. Accompanying the flowers is a written thank-you card – these cards are all put into a hopper and one is picked out for special awards, such as a pair of binoculars or logoed jacket. The Thanks a Bunch program goes into heavy rotation particularly during intense workloads or stressful times.
3. World of Thanks
   Among the more than 40 recognition programs offered to employees at AT&T Universal Card Services in Jacksonville, Florida, is the World of Thanks program. A pad of colored paper shaped like a globe with "Thank-You" printed all over it in different languages is available to anyone who wants to write and send a message of thanks to a coworker. The program is so popular that in four years the company has gone through 130,000 sheets of paper.
4. Appreciation Days
   At ARA Services in Philadelphia, they believe that each valued employee deserves a special day all their own. So on a regular schedule the company sends out a proclamation naming an upcoming date as, say, Bill Jones Day, and on that day the honored individual enjoys all sorts of perks, including free lunch and computer banners.
5. The Golden Banana Award
   Some awards have terrific back-stories – Hewlett Packard’s Golden Banana is just such an award. One day an engineer ran into his manager’s office to breathlessly explain that he’d solved a problem his group had been struggling with for weeks. Excited, but having difficulty finding a quick way to offer a token of thanks, the manager took out a banana from his lunch and handed it to the engineer with the words, "Well done. Congratulations!" The surprise award initially left the recipient a bit befuddled, but since then the "Golden Banana" has become one of the most prestigious incentive awards offered to HP employees.