Companies recognise employees to pump feel-good factor
Information technology company HCL Technologies has taken recognition to another level. Under a programme called ‘Xtramiles’, peers, team members and managers recognise employees for their outstanding efforts.
Xtramiles are recognition points that the recogniser and the person being recognised receive when either one makes the appreciation. Accumulation of these points entitles them to earn rewards. “It is a platform aimed at propagating a ‘thank you’ culture and helps strengthen aculture of employee appreciation,” says Prithvi Shergill, chief human resources officer, HCL Technologies.
Similarly, learning outsourcing company NIIT has a recognition platform called HATS OFF, which has peer recognition as an integral part. Every NIITian can send an eWOW card using the online NIITian portal called iNIITian. The eWOW is shared with peers and first- and second-line reporting managers.
Others such as Citibank, Godrej, Edelweiss and Vodafone have initiatives where employees actively particiate in rewards and recognition given to their peers, promoting a culture of shared learning, camaraderie, appreciation and team spirit and ultimately retaining top talent.
“Peer recognition programmes are critical to drive an effective employee engagement strategy,” says Sumit Mitra, head group HR and corporate services, Godrej Industries and Associated Companies.
“A successful peer recognition initiative can empower team members to foster an inspiring workspace and collaborative culture,” he says, adding positive communication between peers goes a long way in improving productivity, motivating teams and retaining talent.
At Citi India, the vast majority of employee recognition programmes allow and encourage peer nominations.
For senior employees, Citi uses 360 degree feedback tools, which take into account peer feedback. The Citi leadership training series that has programmes right from individual leaders, first-time managers to executive leaders factors in feedback from peers in order to build a well-rounded development plan.
“This ensures alignment of performance management and development practices to the core principles of common purpose and leadership,” says Anuranjita Kumar, chief human resources officer, Citi India. Citi also uses peer mentoring as a development tool within the organisation.
Citi’s online portal, ‘Galaxy of Thanks’, enables employees to recognise each other’s efforts and contributions. They can send their peers, team members and seniors a personalised recognition message that outlines their appreciation for their contributions.
This is delivered to the recipient online in the form of a personalised card that they can print and display at their work-stations.
Business units also run initiatives such as celebrating a ‘Thanksgiving/Recognition Week’ where employees take the time out to recognise the contributions of their peers.
At Vodafone, there are peer-to-peer or manager-to-employees programmes to recognise and reward jobs well done. This includes Vodafone Stars such as SSTars — where any employee can recognise colleagues across functions through an instant SST (Speed, Simplicity & Trust ) e-card. Then there is Super-SSTars, awarded for consistently displaying SST behaviour. Any functional, cross-functional colleague or supervisor can nominate an employee any number of times during the month. MegaSSTars are awarded for embodying the Vodafone essence and being role models for others. Each functional head nominates a maximum of three employees from her/ his function for the MegaSSTar award every quarter in every circle. “It is incumbent on telecom operators to be sharper in the way talent with the right skill sets are retained, rewarded and recognised,” says Ashok Ramchandran, director — HR, Vodafone India.
NIIT has online eCARDs specifically customised for peer recognition and appreciation. In the run-up to NIIT Annual Day, the company runs an awards poll called People Power Awards. These recognise demonstrated behaviours, and are named Funtastic, Cool Cucumber, Service with a Smile, etc, says Shampi Venkatesh, chief people officer.
Godrej has an interactive platform called ‘Brighter Bank’, which draws employees across the group and encourages them to take time off to say, ‘thank you’. Team members are allotted bank accounts on Godrejite, an internal employee portal, with currency in the form of icons representing the group’s brand values — Expression, Progression, Empathy and Experience. “We encourage Godrejites to use this as a rewarding system to appreciate peers, subordinates, supervisors and seniors. Every quarter, we recognise people who receive the highest number of icons,” says Mitra.
“Peer feedback is important, and through mechanisms like 360 degree feedback, we select peers from a natural work group and also from other departments to assess competencies of their counterparts,” says Maneesha Jha Thakur, group head — human resources, Edelweiss Financial Services.
Edelweiss Titans is one such recognition platform. “Almost 25% of our employees, translating to over 1100 employees, were nominated last year. A striking feature of the nomination process was the use of ‘likes’ through our intranet Ping, which is our internal social media portal,” says Thakur.