You’ve got sign-off and support for your awesome recognition program structure… now what? How do you get everyone else excited about what you’ve been planning for weeks, maybe even months? Here are some of the tried and tested ideas that our clients use to build momentum, excitement and awareness about their employee reward and recognition program, and ensure participation and success!
1. It’s all in the name!
Run a program naming competition or workshop, and get employees to come up with a name that resonates and reflects the character of your organisation. You can use self-nomination awards in Redii as a submission tool (and the name that’s selected receives X number of points), or do what Challenger did, and get groups to workshop ideas and vote in their favourite names.
This lets momentum build from the grassroots up, which means there’s a higher chance of getting buy in across different pockets of your organisation, rather than just having directives issued from the top-down.
2. Get visual!
Run a competition to encourage your team members to design a logo or banner that appears in your program. Imagine the sheer delight of logging in to Redii for the first time and seeing your logo design brought to life!
You can also use this opportunity to print posters, manager and employee guides, wallet cards, or recognition toolkits that complement your online program and serve as a visual reminder of your company values, and the importance of seeing them in action, all around your workplace.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate!
Don’t be afraid to let people know what is going on, what you’re developing and how it’s going to make their work life awesome! Get the recognition program on your Team Leaders’ meeting agenda, and make sure you tell them what they need to do, and that they factor it into a regular feedback rhythm so checking in with their team and reporting back to you what the participation and feeling is in their own teams.
4. Launch Event
Make sure the program is announced in an exciting way – whether it be at a Monthly Company Meeting or at a special recognition afternoon tea. The CEO or MD should announce it to show how seriously the business is taking this new initiative.
5. Build that wish list!
Redii has an online wish list so individuals can mark the rewards they really want to redeem their points for – whether that’s a Visa gift card to splurge on, a romantic dinner for two, indulgent spa treatment or new TV. But you don’t have to keep these private! Encourage people to write up their Wishlists in their cubicle, next to their desk so that everyone can see what the other is playing for, and can help each other get their by recognising them with points when good work is done!
6. Share stories of success in the lead up
Invite employees to submit stories of moments they’ve been recognised in the past and publish them online or on a notice board in a visual area. Ask them to write about the specific task they accomplished and why being recognised by their team lead, project manager or colleague made such a difference to their morale.
7. Train your people to be recognition ambassadors
One aspect of successful cultural change that many businesses overlook is the importance of getting the support and energy from what John Kotter calls ‘the coalition of the willing’.
Finding willing individuals who will are onside and support what you are trying to achieve is critical. To help you achieve this, train at least one volunteer from each department in your business on how to use your recognition software.
Make sure they all have a go at using your recognition platform to recognise their peers in different ways. Your program should give them chances to send thank you notes, reward each other with points, and nominate each other for awards (if it doesn’t, make sure you check out Redii, because Redii does all those things!). Call us on 1300 356 856 if you would like to book in a demo!
