How To Create A World Class Recognition

The Bersin & Associates
Employee Recognition
Framework
A Guide to Designing Strategic
Recognition Programs
Stacia Sherman Garr,

Senior Analyst
April 2012
© BERSIN & A SSOCIATES RESEA RCH REPORT | V. 1. 0

The Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework 2
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 4
What Is Recognition and Why Does It Matter Today? 7
Recognition Defined 7
Why Does Recognition Matter Today? 9
An Introduction to Employee Motivations 11
The Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition 17

Framework
Introduction to the Employee Recognition Framework 17
Part 1: Recognition Strategy and Audience 19
Part 2: Program Design 39
Part 3: Program Launch, Management and Measurement 68
Part 4: Applying the Employee Recognition Framework 87
Final Thoughts 91
Appendix I: Additional Images 93
Appendix II: Glossary of Terms 95
Appendix III: Table of Figures 98
About Us 100
About This Research 100
Introduction
Gift cards. Thank-you notes. Coffee mugs. Certificates. Each of these
is a form of employee recognition in organizations today. But what
do organizations get for the collective $46 billion1 that they spend on
recognition and rewards each year? Most of them do not know.
Two factors make recognition programs hard to quantify. First,

recognition historically was a grassroots effort, with individual
departments or business units making decisions about when, why and
how to recognize employees. When you multiply all of these “little”
initiatives across a large organization, the investment in recognition
becomes much more substantial; yet, due to its highly dispersed nature, it
remains difficult to measure. Second, this highly fragmented recognition
approach resulted in the perception that recognition is a “nice-to-
have” local initiative. Even in those organizations which centralize
tenure or other annual recognition programs, many still believe that
these programs make little impact and, as such, take few efforts to
measure them.
In many organizations, this perception – that recognition makes

little impact – is right. One reason for this is that the most common
recognition program, an award for service or tenure anniversaries
(programs that exist in about 87 percent of organizations), is frequently
viewed by employees as an entitlement, not recognition. In fact, our
research shows that tenure awards have little or no impact on the
outcomes which organizations care about most, such as employee
engagement, productivity and turnover.2 Further, many recognition
programs are designed to recognize employees for demonstrating
company values; yet what gets recognized most often is achieving
company goals.3 This disconnect means that the organization sends an
inconsistent message to employees about what they should do to receive
recognition. The end result of this is that recognition does not appear to
make much of an impact in many organizations.
1 Source: Incentive Marketing Association, http://www.incentivemarketing.org/.

2 This information is based on our current research on the topic of employee
recognition, the report for which is due to be published 2H’2012.
3 Ibid.
It does not have to be this way. We have found that recognition can
make a difference to employee outcomes. Specifically, our research
uncovered that, in those organizations in which employees are
recognized, the company’s average score for employee results (an
index of employee engagement, employee productivity and customer
satisfaction) was approximately 14 percent higher than in organizations
in which recognition does not occur.4 Other research shows that a 15
percent improvement in employee engagement can result in a two
percent uptick in operating margins.5
This study is about creating a recognition strategy and supporting

programs that drive those better results.
Our research reveals that progressive organizations look at recognition

differently. Most importantly, they have a strategy for recognition that
ensures alignment with business goals, organizational culture and other
talent management processes. These organizations design their programs
to consistently reinforce key behaviors and outcomes necessary to drive
business success. Further, they measure the impact of those programs.
The Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® is a

roadmap to creating a comprehensive recognition initiative and the
individual programs that support that initiative, with the goal of helping
organizations to capture as many of the potential benefits of recognition
as possible. The Framework is neither a list of best practices nor a
process-based overview of recognition. Instead, it is an at-a-glance image
of all the decision points that need to be considered when designing a
recognition initiative and its supporting programs. It covers recognition
strategy, audiences, design elements, launch, ongoing management
and measurement. In short, it is your guide to designing a high-impact
recognition approach.
In creating this research, we relied on hundreds of years of our collective

experience and that of our customers with talent management
challenges and solutions. We focused on questions such as the following.
4 For more information, High-Impact Performance Management: Maximizing

Performance Coaching, Bersin & Associates / Stacia Sherman Garr, November 2011.
Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library or for purchase at
www.bersin.com/hipm.
5 Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/incentives-recognition-engagement-
leadership-ceonetwork-employees_print.html.
• What are the strategic decisions that must be made prior to designing
or launching a recognition program?
• How do all of the elements of recognition fit together?
• What are all of the critical activities of recognition? How can they be
done in a way that has a positive impact on employee performance
and business outcomes?
• What is the most effective way to organize HR to support managers

in their recognition management activities?
• How should recognition integrate with other talent management

functions? What resources are necessary to support that integration?
• What are the benefits to the organization from doing

recognition well?
As always, we welcome you to continue the dialogue with us. If you have
comments or see areas that you would like to further explore for your
organization, please contact us at info@bersin.com or at 510-251-4400.
Stacia Sherman Garr
Senior Analyst
What Is Recognition and Why Does

It Matter Today?
Over the past year few years, the volatile economy forced many
organizations to do more with less. As a result, businesses sought new
ways to innovate and grow without increasing costs. To better motivate
and retain employees during these trying times, many organizations
focused on increasing employee recognition. But what does this really
mean? Our research found that recognition means different things to
different people.
Recognition Defined
We define recognition as the expressed appreciation by one person to
KEY POINT
another for that person’s behaviors, activities or impact. Recognition may
We define recognition or may not be accompanied by a physical or financial reward, as shown
in Figure 1. Recognition programs generally are designed to touch a
as the expressed
large number of employees across the enterprise (e.g., more than just
appreciation by one
top performers). In many ways, recognition is part of the total rewards6
person to another for
an employee receives in that they can provide additional financial
that person’s behaviors, recompense for performance. Importantly, recognition should align with
activities or impact. an organization’s comprehensive talent management approach, and
Recognition may or may reinforce critical employee behaviors and expectations.
not be accompanied by
a physical or financial
reward.
6 Total rewards can include items, such as regular and incentive compensation plans,
benefits, skills development, and career opportunities.
Figure 1: How Recognition Fits within Total Rewards
Praise and
Emblematic Rewards7
Recognition Token Rewards8
Skills Development and

Monetary Rewards9
Total Rewards
Career Opportunities
Benefits
Compensation and Incentive

Plans
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2012.
Copyright © 2011 Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. Page 1
7 “Emblematic rewards” are a type of recognition that includes praise and

appreciation, special projects, certificates, and trophies and plaques.
8 “Token rewards” are a type of recognition that includes rewards of smaller values,
typically around $100. These rewards can include gift cards, candy, flowers, lunches /
dinners and merchandise, or points that can be converted to other items.
9 “Monetary rewards” are a type of recognition activity that includes rewards of
values above $100. These rewards can include special trips (e.g., team outings), awards
conferences, learning conferences, cash / vouchers and extra paid time-off.
Why Does Recognition Matter Today?10

Organizations turn to recognition today because it can have a positive
impact on employee performance and engagement. For example,
recent Bersin & Associates research on high-impact performance
management11 found that, in companies in which recognition occurs,
the organization’s average score for employee results (an index
comprised of employee engagement, performance and productivity)
was approximately 14 percent higher than in organizations in which
recognition does not occur. Other research shows that a 15 percent
improvement in employee engagement can result in a two percent
uptick in operating margins.12
Across the past few years, five market factors resulted in organizations to
focus more on recognition, including:
1. A volatile economy;
2. The need for greater agility;
3. The flattening of organizational structures;
4. Technology; and,
5. The rise of the millennial generation in the workforce.
In the following, we discuss each of these factors in detail.
1. Volatile Economy – As many Western organizations dealt with

the economic recession, they found themselves unable to increase
compensation, and had to decrease or eliminate bonuses. Further,
many of those same organizations reduced portions of their
workforces. The upshot was increased pressure on the workers who
remained, but with fewer rewards for their harder work – resulting
10 Bersin & Associates defines emblematic rewards as recognition that represents

an acknowledgement of contribution, but typically cannot be converted to something
with monetary value. We include certificates, plaques and trophies in this category.
Although they cost some money to produce, they are not seen by the recognizee as
having monetary value. Token rewards include items that cost money, but are viewed by
the recognizee as rewards of token value, usually less than $100. The monetary category
includes things that are not of token value.
11 For more information, High-Impact Performance Management: Maximizing
Performance Coaching, Bersin & Associates / Stacia Sherman Garr, November 2011.
12 Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/incentives-recognition-
engagementleadership-ceonetwork-employees_print.html.
in lower employee engagement.13 Coaching and development

became a popular (and relatively cheap) alternative to show that
the organization still valued the employees remaining on the job.
Organizations have similarly turned to recognition, particularly the
types requiring low cost per employee.
2. The Need for Greater Agility – As we all know, business is moving

faster than ever. Organizations need to be able to reconfigure
their workforces to respond to new business demands. Some of
this reconfiguration will come from new hires and some of it will
come from the current workforce. Further, the workforce continues
to become more globalized, with increasing competition for top
talent stretching across multiple regions. One study found that to
sustain economic growth, by 2030 the United States will need to add
more than 25 million workers and Western Europe will need to add
more than 45 million employees.14 The result is a dramatic need for
practices that attract new employees and keep existing employees
highly motivated and engaged. To do this, progressive organizations
are creating recognition programs that align with business demands
and the needs of the broader workforce.
3. The Flattening of Organizational Hierarchies – The old days of a

top-down hierarchy, in which the manager is the “king,” rarely exist
anymore. Every day, more organizations are adopting collaborative
work environments and reducing the levels of management within
their ranks. The result is a decline in the number of promotion
opportunities available to employees. To continue to show employees
that they are valued, organizations are turning to a myriad of
recognition approaches that do not include promotions.
4. Technology – As we all know, social technology has grabbed hold

of the public’s attention and time in a big way across the last five
years. At the same time, transparency, collaboration and knowledge-
sharing have become more the norm within organizations. Many
organizations are attempting to leverage both trends by using
social technology to increase the transparency, collaboration and
knowledge-sharing within the organization. A key element of
many social platforms (e.g., LinkedIn and Facebook) is the ability
13 Source: “Employee Engagement Index, Gallup Management Journal, 2010,

http://trustmattersgroup.com/spiritoftrust/?p=441.
14 Source: “Global Talent Risk – Seven Responses,” World Economic Forum, 2011.
for individuals to give positive feedback directly to others within

the network. It is, therefore, a natural extension that employee
recognition has become more common in organizations following
this approach. In fact, a whole host of technology providers are now
offering services that enable this type of online social recognition.
5. The Rise of the Millennial Generation in the Workforce – Younger

employees typically require more feedback (both positive and
constructive) and development than older generations. Given
that many organizations are in a situation in which baby boomers
will soon start to retire in droves, employers are searching for
ways to keep these younger workers engaged, productive and
retained. Employee recognition can be a critical tool in doing all of
these things.
As organizations prepare to hire, grow and manage their workforces of

tomorrow, it is critical that HR leaders and their teams take the actions
necessary to ensure their talent programs remain competitive. The
subsequent sections of this report are intended to help organizations
to understand how recognition can support these efforts and also
contribute to the bottom line. We will begin by discussing the different
types of employee motivations and why they matter in the context
of recognition. We will then turn to the fundamental elements of
recognition and how your organization can use them to uncover pockets
KEY POINT of productivity today and over time.
“Intrinsic motivation”
occurs when people are
An Introduction to Employee Motivations
internally motivated to
As shown in Figure 2, there are two main types of motivation – intrinsic
do something because
and extrinsic. “Intrinsic motivation” occurs when people are internally
it either brings them motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure,
pleasure, they think they think it is important or they feel that what they are learning is
it is important or they significant.15 Essentially, the motivation comes from inside an individual,
feel that what they are rather than from any external or outside influence (e.g., rewards).
learning is significant. For example, students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely
to engage in tasks willingly, as well as work to improve their skills,
15 Source: “A New Self-Report Scale of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in

the Classroom: Motivational and Informational Components,” Developmental
Psychology / Susan Harter, May, 1981, http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.
optionToBuy&id=1981-24428-001.
Figure 2: Types of Motivation
Intrinsic Extrinsic
Motivation Motivation
Comes from within Comes from outside

an individual the individual
Motivation tapped Motivation tapped

through actions and activities through rewards, grades,
relating to things individuals money or threats
already take pleasure in

which will increase their capabilities.16 On the other hand, “extrinsic

motivation” comes from outside the individual. This motivation needs to
be tapped differently. For example, a student may feel compelled to act a
certain way because of external factors, such as money or good grades.
In the context of the workplace, people who are intrinsically motivated

in their work will put forth strong effort in a project simply because it is
enjoyable and not because there is a reward. However, having intrinsic
motivation does not mean employees will not also seek extrinsic rewards
available to them.
16 Source: “Children’s motivation for reading: Domain specificity and instructional

influences,” The Journal of Educational Research / A. Wigfield, J.T. Guthrie, S. Tonks and
K.C. Perencevich, 2004.
However, some social psychological research indicates that extrinsic

KEY POINT
rewards can lead to over-justification and a subsequent reduction in
“Extrinsic motivation” intrinsic motivation.17 In one study demonstrating this effect, children
comes from outside the who expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star
for drawing pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials
individual and employee
in subsequent observations than children who were assigned to an
motivation needs to be
unexpected reward condition.18 Furthermore, when rewards are taken
tapped differently.
away from employees who are extrinsically motivated, their motivation
and effort have the potential to decline.19
It is important to note that these findings do not necessarily mean that

organizations should not leverage the extrinsic motivation of employees;
there are definitely times when it can be used to effectively improve
performance. Yet, it does mean that organizations should understand
both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and deploy strategies to drive
extrinsic motivation in appropriate situations. For example, it may
be appropriate to leverage extrinsic motivation when encouraging
employees to change their behaviors (which, perhaps, they did not want
to change) or to put forth that extra burst of discretionary effort which
they would not have otherwise done.
Another element of motivation to note is the relative importance of

money – and the research findings that money and its equivalents (e.g.,
gift cards) are not necessarily the ultimate in employee recognition.
One study found that 69 percent of employees prefer praise and
recognition from their managers more than financial rewards, and 82
percent of employees say such recognition inspires them to improve
their performance.20
17 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation#Intrinsic_and_extrinsic_motivation.
18 Source: “Undermining Children’s Intrinsic Interest with Extrinsic Reward; A Test of
‘Overjustification’ Hypothesis, ” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology / Mark R.
Lepper, David Greene and Richard Nisbet, 1973, and Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Motivation#Intrinsic_and_extrinsic_motivation.
19 Source: “What Motivates Your Employees? Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards,”
Performance Management / Rosanne D’Ausilio, Ph.D., September 10, 2008,

http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/performance-management/articles/39417-what-
motivatesemployees-intrinsic-vs-extrinsic-rewards.htm.
20 Source: Gallup Research, http://www.ehow.com/way_5984783_intrinsic-
extrinsicemployee-motivation-techniques.html.
This information suggests that organizations which primarily recognize

KEY POINT
employees through financial means are not getting the most possible
The data suggests that for their money. Further, a number of other studies21 show that financial
an effective recognition incentives can actually hinder creativity and performance. These findings
point to the need for organizations to reexamine their incentive
strategy does not require
structures and to consider how they can better tap into employee
large investments of
motivations. Some organizations may find that, by effectively leveraging
budget dollars, though
a recognition strategy, they could reduce the amount spent on bonuses,
it does require an while at the same time improving outcomes.
investment of time on the
part of all employees. Understanding Employees’ Needs and
Motivations
To help explain the drivers of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in

the context of the workplace, this next section discusses well-known
psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As shown in
Figure 3, the hierarchy suggests that people are “motivated” to fulfill
basic needs before they realize other, higher-level needs.22 The highest
need is called self-actualization, which is a process of developing to reach
one’s individual potential.
21 Source: “The Influence of Strength of Drive on Functional Fixedness and Perceptual

Recognition,” Journal of Experimental Psychology / Sam Glucksberg, 1962.
22 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs.
Figure 3: Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs23
Self-Actualization
(Challenge,
opportunity,
Career,
learning, creativity) Development
Opportunities
Esteem
(Importance,
recognition, respect)
Modern
Recognition
Love / Belonging
(Social, love, family, team)
Safety Compensation
(Economic and physical security)
and Benefits
Survival
(Food, water, sleep)
Source: Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, 1943.
Thinking about this in the context of the workplace, Maslow’s

KEY POINT
Framework could imply that managers can help address those lower-level
According to Maslow, needs, so that employees can focus better on their work.24 So what do
employees need from their managers and their organizations?
the highest need is called
self-actualization, which Let us start at the bottom of the hierarchy in Figure 3 with physiological
is a process of developing needs. These needs include the air employees breathe, as well as food
to reach one’s individual and the roof over their heads. Organizations have little impact on
potential. these needs.
23 Source: “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Psychological Review / A.H. Maslow, 1943;

for graphic update http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs.
24 Source: “Motivation-related values across cultures,” African Journal of
Business Management / Osarumwense Iguisi, April, 2009, available at http://www.

academicjournals.org/AJBM.
Organizations do, however, have an impact on employees’ second need,

“safety,” which can be defined as the security of things such as body,
employment, resources and property.25 Compensation and other benefits
help employees secure their “safety.”
Moving up the hierarchy, some employees will want to fulfill their

need for “love and belonging” by connecting more effectively with the
broader organization. Recognition from managers, colleagues and peers
can help to satisfy this need. However, it is important to note that other
employees may have different ways they need to fulfill the need of “love
and belonging,” such as the desire for work-life balance, which allows
them to spend more time with family and friends.
As we continue to move up the hierarchy, employees’ needs become

more complex. Recognition programs can be used once again to build
esteem, confidence and acknowledge achievement. These programs
could include praise and appreciation, rewards (on top of incentive
plans), or even promotions. If these needs are fulfilled, employees
can move to the top of the pyramid, self-actualization. At this level,
employees can truly reach their full potential – it is, perhaps, a state of
workplace nirvana. Employees at this level are highly motivated in their
roles and successful – and are also most likely to engage in development
and best prepared to move to even higher levels within the organization.
The above example is not an exact science but, instead, shows how
recognition can tap into a variety of employee needs. It is also intended
to highlight how needs and the motivation to contribute to the
workplace can come together.
In summary, the prior two sections of this report have reviewed many
of the elements that drive employees to perform, as well as key market
factors influencing recognition. The next section of this report highlights
the key recognition elements an organization should consider when
creating a holistic recognition program.
25 Source: “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Psychological Review / A.H. Maslow, 1943;

for graphic update http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs.
The Bersin & Associates Employee

Recognition Framework
Introduction to the Employee Recognition

Framework
While every organization has a different reason for considering or
KEY POINT
implementing a recognition program, ultimately, most organizations
Our Employee desire the same basic outcomes. These include the following.
Recognition Framework • A Focus on Driving Business Results – The entire organization is
is a tool to help you committed to doing what it takes to improve business outcomes.
examine the practices Today, the market demands that organizations run with leaner
of recognition at your staffs, operate more efficiently and leverage strategies that enable
organization, identify maximum growth.
areas for improvement, • An Empowered and Engaged Workforce – Organizations understand

and ultimately drive that meaningful links can exist between engagement, performance
increased employee and retention. As the economy slowly and steadily rebounds, many
productivity, engagement leaders are increasingly concerned that they could lose top talent and
are looking for new ways to retain their best and brightest; and,
and retention.
• An Attractive Culture – Organizations embrace a core set of values,

beliefs and behaviors that affect how internal employees interact
with each other and other constituents such as customers and
shareholders. Organizations that do this well differentiate themselves
in the marketplace, gain competitive advantage and are better
prepared to achieve desired business outcomes.
The question is, how can an organization achieve these results? This
is where the Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework
(see Figure 4) comes into play. The Framework is designed to help
organizations attain these results by explaining how the different
elements of recognition fit together and outlines the points of
integration with other areas of talent management. After reading this
report, you should be able to determine which recognition elements to
design, adjust or eliminate to support your organization in delivering
high performance.
Figure 4: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework®
Recognition Strategy
Purpose of Recognition | Business Goals | Alignment with Culture | Talent Management Integration | Vision | Transparency | Accountability | Globalization
Audience
Executive Sponsorship | Administration | Compliance | Equity | Ongoing Optimization
Executives | Managers | Professionals | Hourly | Organized Labor | Contingent | Critical Talent Segments
Design
Business Outcomes | Performance | Behaviors | Employee Satisfaction |

Governance and Management
Engagement | Retention | Activity andw Participation Level

Budget Visibility
Amount, Allocation, Control Public, Group, Private
Metrics and Evaluation

Criteria Frequency
Performance, Behaviors, Tenure Annually, Quarterly, Monthly, Weekly, Daily
Recognition Activity
Recognizers Delivery
Leaders, Managers, Teams, Individuals, Clients, External Face to Face, Letter / Email, Event, Online Platforms
Direction Customization
Top-Down, Peer to Peer, Bottom-up Employee Type, Business Unit / Functions, Geography
Approval Measurement
Rigorous, Informal, None Approach, Methodology, Reporting
Rewards
Non-Monetary | Token | Monetary | Company- or Employee-Selected
Employee Support | Vendor Strategy | Talent Management Integration
Multi-level Structure Launch

Key Messages Branding Plan | Employee Training | Marketing | Communications

This report will walk you through each of the elements of the Employee
Recognition Framework, using the following broad sections:
• Part 1: Recognition Strategy and Audience;
• Part 2: Program Design; and,
• Part 3: Launch, Management and Measurement.
For each Employee Recognition Framework, section, we include

the following:
• An overview of the individual Framework elements;
• Definitions of fundamental recognition concepts within the

Framework; and,
• Examples of how organizations have applied these elements.
We will conclude with a discussion of how to apply the Employee

Recognition Framework in your organization.
This Framework is the result of innumerable interviews with senior

talent management experts, from a variety of industries, geographies
and organization sizes. It is a tool to help you examine the practices
of recognition at your organization, identify areas for improvement,
and ultimately drive increased employee productivity, engagement and
retention. When effectively implemented, the end result is improved
outcomes for the business.
Part 1: Recognition Strategy and Audience
Figure 5: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® – Recognition Strategy and Audience
Audience
Design


Budget Visibility

Criteria Frequency
Rewards

Overview
Almost all business functions and the divisions supporting them

have a strategy to help drive the business forward. That strategy is
typically supported by programs with clear objectives and a process for
measuring outcomes.
However, our research shows that this fails to hold true for recognition.
In fact, a recent study shows that 87 percent of respondents said their
organization makes no effort to track the return on investment (ROI) of
their recognition program.26
This is remarkable, given that the same study found 80 percent

of organizations have some sort of program in place. Moreover,
KEY POINT organizations spend more than $46 billion per year on employee rewards
and recognition programs.27
Progressive organizations
are centralizing their Part of the reason organizations do not effectively measure recognition
is because traditionally recognition programs have been dispersed across
recognition initiatives and
the organization. As a result, those programs lack consistency of goals
creating a comprehensive
and measurement.
strategy to move their
business forward. Progressive organizations are centralizing their recognition initiatives
and creating a comprehensive strategy to move forward their business.
Similar to all HR programs, executive buy-in and sponsorship are critical
to the success of this effort. High-impact organizations effectively
develop a holistic recognition strategy that considers eight primary
elements, including:
26 Source: http://www.shrm.org/Publications/HRNews/Pages/GloboforcePoll.aspx.
27 Source: Incentive Marketing Association, http://www.incentivemarketing.org.
1. The purpose of recognition;
2. Business goals;
3. Alignment with the culture;
4. Talent management integration;
5. Vision;
6. Transparency;
7. Accountability; and,
8. Globalization.
In this section, we discuss each element in detail, as well as the

strategic decision points underpinning them. Without clarity on these
fundamental decision points, recognition is prone to being a series
of loosely related and unmeasurable events that provide little lasting
impact for the organization.
Fundamental Elements
Purpose of Recognition
In a world of bottom lines and cost reductions, why should your

KEY POINT
organization focus on employee recognition? There are two
Recognition programs are primary reasons.
intended to incent the First, people typically will alter their behaviors toward desired behaviors
workforce in a completely in order to be recognized. These desired behaviors should be aligned
different way. with the organization’s goals. With more people across the organization
performing these behaviors, the organization should achieve its goals
more rapidly.
Second, recognition is intended to demonstrate to employees that they

are appreciated and their work is valued. Ultimately, this can improve
employee engagement, which can increase employee performance,
satisfaction and retention.
It is important to point out that the purpose of recognition is not the

KEY POINT
same as compensation or bonus plans. Both of those programs are often
As organizations think viewed by employees as entitlements, given they are usually predefined
through this piece of the and occur regularly. Recognition programs are intended to work in a
completely different way. For example, they can be designed to create
strategy, it is critical to
excitement, build cultural alignment and foster behaviors such as
define what business goals
teamwork. These programs also aim to provide extrinsic motivation to
will be targeted and how
staff, so that they will put forth greater discretionary effort – essentially
recognition can encourage getting them to “go the extra mile.”
employees to engage in
In summary, this section on the purpose of recognition is to underscore
the activities that will
the importance of defining what your organization wants to accomplish
accelerate the achievement
through recognition, and how that relates to employees’ and the
of those goals. business’s needs. Recognition is something that must be planned
strategically and measured objectively. The ultimate intention is to
create programs that recognizes people for doing the right things at
the right times in a way that will encourage them to do those things
again. Once you have had a dialogue with your team about the purpose
of recognition, you are ready to move on to the next section of this
Framework, in which we discuss the link between recognition and
business goal.
Business Goals
Strategic organizations use employee recognition to accelerate their

business goals. For example, some organizations establish programs
to recognize employees for improving customer service or increasing
revenue per customer – both of which can be linked to bottom-line
results. As your organization works through this piece of the strategy,
identify specific business goals and determine how recognition can
encourage employees to engage in the activities that will accelerate the
achievement of those goals. Focus specifically on how recognition will
improve employee engagement, encourage employees to engage in
certain behaviors more frequently or help employees understand how to
change their behaviors. Both improved engagement (leading to greater
discretionary effort) and engaging in more effective behaviors can drive
business results.
An example of this in action was when an organization in the automotive

industry recognized its factory workers for practicing specific safety
measures. The organization had fewer accidents, resulting in savings
for the benefits programs. This ultimately improved the bottom line.
KEY POINT
Another example was when a hospital organization motivated its
Our research has employees to increase their level of teamwork, more patients received
found that today many better care and they received it faster. As a result, patient satisfaction
scores increased. This gave the hospital more referrals and that translated
organizations do not
to increased revenue.
tie their recognition
programs to business Our research has found that today only about 60 percent of
goals. organizations tie their recognition programs to business goals.28 The
following is an example of a large technology company that is missing
the mark with it recognition program.
Case in Point: Technology Organization’s

Loosely Defined Goals Show No Hard Results
With 20,000 employees in nearly 50 counties across the globe, a

large technology firm decided to create a recognition program
to help the organization become more “employee friendly.” The
only problem was that the program was very resource-intensive.
This program was a performance-based program and the

responsibility of the business, although there was some
coordination by HR and marketing. As part of the program,
employees nominated each other’s projects for the best annual
work. To kick off the program, the organization’s corporate
communications team designed marketing materials to engage
employees to nominate themselves, peers or others across the
organization. All nominations were posted on the organization’s
intranet. The corporate communications team also helped to
facilitate this by writing key excerpts, so postings were easy
to understand.
All of the nominations were then placed in a “tournament” for

judging by HR and operations employees and some senior business
28 This information is based on our current research on the topic of employee

recognition, the report for which is due to be published 2H’2012.
Case in Point: Technology Organization (cont’d)
KEY POINT
leaders. Seven project winners were announced at the regional
Bersin & Associates level, another seven at the functional level and another seven at
defines “culture” as the business-unit level. Ultimately, there is one winner, selected by
the collective set of the CEO, who is then recognized by the CEO and board of directors.
organizational values, In addition, each regional, functional and business-unit winner gets
a plaque.
conventions, processes
and practices that This process is a lengthy one that requires a lot of time from HR,
influence and encourage the business, marketing and employees. When asked how much
both individuals and the time this took, the organization responded that it had no idea
collective organization
how much time was required nor did it track the program’s costs.
Furthermore, the company has not defined how the program will
to continuously increase
change key goals, performance or behaviors in meaningful ways.
knowledge, competence
As a result, it is next to impossible to determine the ROI or achieve
and performance. business results. The main issues with this structure are that the HR
department has no understanding of the costs and benefits of the
program, and the program is not aligned with business goals. e
Before moving on from this section of the Framework, ask yourself and
your colleagues the following questions.
• What are our organization’s top three business goals?
• Which behaviors do we need people to engage in to help us reach

those goals?
• How can we ensure that the recognition program is encouraging

employees to engage in those behaviors?
Alignment with Culture
Bersin & Associates defines “culture” as the collective set of

organizational values, conventions, processes and practices that influence
and encourage both individuals and the collective organization to
continuously increase knowledge, competence and performance.
This includes the attitudes, experiences, knowledge and beliefs
within the enterprise. This collective structure influences the way
employees relate to each other and also controls how they behave with
external stakeholders.
Aligning the recognition strategy with the organization’s culture is a

critical ingredient to the success of a recognition initiative. However,
this is often easier said than done, especially when an organization’s
leadership team has the perspective that “an employee’s paycheck is
thank you enough.” Furthermore, some highly competitive organizations
that value “cut-throat” behaviors will have a more difficult time
transitioning to a culture that values recognition. While not impossible, it
will take longer for competitive organizations to move to a recognition
culture, as compared with organizations that already value a balance
of behaviors. We are not implying that competition is bad – simply
that, where recognition is concerned, balance among competitive,
collaborative and other behaviors is important.
When considering culture, organizations should also identify when

internal or external business circumstances could negatively impact
employee satisfaction. While dissatisfaction can be tied to a number of
factors, Grace Haven Assisted Living’s analysis led it to focus on improving
its culture by using recognition. The following case in point illustrates
how issues such as declining morale were positively impacted.
Case in Point: How Grace Haven Transforms

Its Culture with Recognition29
Grace Haven Assisted Living, located in St. John’s, Michigan

was going through a time of rapid change in early 2010. The
organization experienced a nearly 200 percent increase in
residents over just a few months. This major growth in the
business clearly put additional pressure on all employees.
Unfortunately, Grace Haven’s culture had developed into one in
which employee dissatisfaction was common. The combination of
these factors resulted in soaring turnover and plummeting morale
within a relatively short period.
To make proactive changes that would reverse feelings of

dissatisfaction, Grace Haven worked to fully diagnose the
29 Source: http://www.corpmagazine.com/management/human-resources/itemid/5872/
transform-your-culture-with-strategic-employee-rec.
Case in Point: How Grace Haven Transforms Its Culture with Recognition (cont’d)
KEY POINT
problems and decided to implement an employee recognition
Careful consideration program. As a first step to creating that program, supervisors
should be given to how and employees took part in an evaluation process that included
recognition impacts all of interviews, focus groups and an employee engagement
talent management and
survey. The engagement survey identified the key issues
that needed to be addressed to reverse the steady decline in
who will be responsible
morale. After establishing the most critical issues impacting
for overseeing the
culture, a comprehensive, customized employee recognition
integration of recognition plan was developed, which set priorities to address each issue.
as a component within it. Implementation included coaching sessions with management and
informational meetings with all employees to help acquaint them
with the new program.
Within one week of the program’s implementation, anecdotes

revealed that optimism had increased noticeably. After 60 days, 78
percent of employees had given recognition and 68 percent had
received it. Another employee engagement survey revealed steady
improvement in all of the areas that program addressed and the
positivity continued to grow. Benchmarks were also established,
so that the organization could monitor its culture over time. e
Talent Management Integration
Careful consideration should be given to how recognition impacts the

other elements of talent management and who will be responsible for
overseeing the integration of recognition as a component within it. As
part of recognition strategy, organizations should discuss three things.
First, they need to determine how recognition can complement the other
parts of the talent management function. This includes compensation,
benefits, performance management, engagement, succession, learning
and even recruiting. For example, how can recognition be incorporated
into the performance appraisal process? How can it be used to attract
top talent for open positions?
Second, determine any conflicts the recognition program could have

with existing talent management strategies, policies and programs. For
example, ask yourself questions such as, “Do we want to change our
rigid vacation policy to accommodate recognition?” Finally, leaders need
to determine how they can optimize costs. For example, can existing
manager and employee training programs be used for the recognition

effort? Does the organization need to hire new people to run the
recognition program or should the team leverage internal resources?
Figure 6 explains how recognition intersects or can complement the

existing talent management function.
Figure 6: Strategic Integration Considerations between Recognition and Other Talent Management
Activities
Talent Management Domain Action Steps for Recognition
• Consider what incentives beyond compensation will motivate

staff to contribute to the organization’s bottom line.
Compensation / Bonus and Stock Option Plans
• Ensure compensation is competitive in the marketplace before
implementing a recognition program.
• Consider how policies, such as vacation or flexible work

schedules, should be adjusted to recognize people.
Benefits / Work-Life Balance • Determine if recognition can or should extend to efforts that
promote health at work or out-of-the-office actions to reduce
the number of employee absences.
• Determine how recognition should align with job and

behavioral competencies.
Talent Capability / Competency Management • Implement protocols so that, when the business changes,
competencies and recognition programs are continually in
alignment.
• Create training programs that teach managers how to

motivate and recognize employees.
• Work with managers so that they understand how to
Leadership Development recognize their employees in ways that are tied to the goals
and behaviors valued most by the organization.
• Provide managers with assistance on articulating recognition
messages and delivering rewards in a thoughtful manner.
• Deploy recognition so that all employees can give and get

feedback and reinforcement when warranted.
• Encourage managers to leverage recognition for coaching
Performance Management
conversations.
• Determine the criticality of capturing recognition in your
organization’s performance appraisal system.
Figure 6: Strategic Integration Considerations between Recognition and Other Talent Management
Activities (cont’d)
Talent Management Domain Action Steps for Recognition
• Leverage recognition to help employees understand their

strengths and drive their career directions.
Career Management • Consider how recognition can be most effectively used to
keep employees engaged, while increasing their likelihood of
staying with the organization longer.
• Craft your recognition program so that it aligns with the

organization’s employment brand.
• Encourage employees to tell friends about the benefits of a
Recruiting / Onboarding
recognition program.
• Introduce new hires to the recognition program immediately
to help them adapt to your organization’s culture more quickly.
Vision
Once an organization establishes a purpose, considers its culture,

KEY POINT
determines its goals and integrates those items with existing talent
It is essential to gather
management programs, it can more easily build out its direction or
“vision” for the future.
feedback from managers
and employees to The first step is developing a clear understanding of the current state of
understand what they recognition. To do this, either review existing employee feedback (which
usually includes the results of employee surveys, one-on-one meetings or
value most.
focus groups) or collect new feedback from managers and employees to
understand what they value most. A common mistake is failing to review
employees’ feedback on their managers. Doing this helps to highlight
any areas of disconnect.
Also, plan to review employee performance appraisals and to compare

them to business performance. Analyze this information by business unit,
function, region and geography, as appropriate. While some regions will
have similar challenges, others will have distinct performance issues. This
analysis will enable you to determine differences in performance and
behaviors, and then segment strategies for the future.
After analyzing this information, integrate it with your findings from

the sections that we previously discussed – purpose, business goals,
and alignment with culture and talent management integration. With
this material, you can build a “roadmap” that depicts where your
organization wants to go and how it will get there. Key questions to

KEY POINT
answer as part of this process include the following.
The value of building a
• How do we want to use recognition to improve the engagement and
comprehensive roadmap performance of our workforce?
is that it requires an
• How should we recognize staff in the future to meet our
organization to conduct
business goals?
a gap analysis to clearly
show the things that • Do we need to adjust our culture, values and employee behaviors
need to occur before an in any way?
organization can execute • How long will it take us to get where we want to go in the future?
upon its vision.
• What resources do we need to help get us there?
Building a comprehensive roadmap requires organizations to identify the

activities and decisions that need to occur before they can execute on its
vision. Having a clear direction and documenting where an organization
wants to go, how it will get there, and how long it will take, is an
important piece of the strategy.
KPMG in Canada is an example of an organization that created a strategy

with a clear vision and plan for getting there.
Case in Point: KPMG in Canada Reinforces

Critical Business Behaviors with Its SHINE
Program
KPMG LLP (Canada) is the Canadian member firm of KPMG
International, and is a leader in providing audit, tax and advisory
services. The firm has more than 660 partners and more than
5,000 employees operating in 32 locations across Canada.
More than a decade ago, KPMG in Canada began its journey
from an organization in which “a paycheck was considered
thanks enough” to one that regularly recognizes employees’
achievements. In 2011, the total rewards and recognition team
realized that it was time to take the next step in that journey
by updating the nearly 10-yearold program to a social online
recognition program. The goal was to provide a clearer line of
sight between desired employee behaviors and business needs.
Case in Point: KPMG in Canada Reinforces Critical Business Behaviors (cont’d)
KPMG in Canada’s business strategy requires that employees

build strong relationships with clients. To do this, they need to
leverage four critical behaviors (see Figure 7). KPMG designed
its new online recognition program, SHINE, so that employees
could recognize each other for engaging in those behaviors. This
nurtures a culture of appreciation and helps employees to see
how they can have a direct impact on the business.
Figure 7: Four Behaviors Reinforced by KPMG in Canada’s Recognition

Program
Growth
Delivery
KPMG for Life
Community Leader
The introduction of peer-to-peer recognition with non-monetary

and lower dollar value awards that can be distributed with no
approval process represented another innovation in KPMG in
Canada’s recognition approach. This shift was significant, as
previous recognition programs primarily focused on recognizing
top performers on an as-needed basis, not as a regular practice.
KPMG in Canada understood that its business strategy required
that it adapt to the needs of its workforce. Since that workforce
includes a large population of younger employees, who typically
require more feedback, a peer-to-peer recognition program made
sense. Further, the additional transparency of the recognition
program helped to constantly reinforce the four behaviors.
Case in Point: KPMG in Canada Reinforces Critical Business Behaviors (cont’d)
From the beginning of its redesign efforts, KPMG in Canada

focused on achieving two goals – improving the employee
workplace experience and reinforcing the critical behaviors that
drive business results. Early results indicate that these goals are
being met. Employees are enthusiastically using the program,
with more than 15,000 recognition activities taking place within
the first nine months. Each of these recognition actions serves to
further encourage employees to do the very things that make
KPMG in Canada successful. e
Transparency
One of the most important elements to think about prior to creating a

KEY POINT
program is establishing a level of trust between your organization and its
One of the most employees – this is done through program transparency. In some cases,
important elements
recognition can be viewed as a popularity contest or a matter of quid pro
quo (e.g., if an employee does this, he gets that). To ensure employees
to think about prior
have faith in the program, organizations must clearly define criteria
to creating a program
and communicate program details, including guidelines for winning,
is establishing a level
the evaluation process and the rewards. In addition, in high-profile
of trust between an competitions for recognition, it is important that all employees who
organization and its participated in the program know who won and that the person received
employees – this is the prize promised. This helps to give the program greater credibility.
done through program
Employees also need to know that the various recognition programs
transparency. offered across different employee populations and business units are
fair and equitable. For example, if an organization only offers programs
designed to recognize its highly valued engineers and HiPos30, other
groups may feel slighted and think that their contributions are not
valued equally. Organizations should consider how employees will
perceive the recognition programs offered.
The Calgary Marriott is an example of an organization that

designed its recognition program to incorporate an equitable and
transparent structure.
30 A “high-potential employee” is an employee who has been identified as having the

potential, ability and aspiration for successive leadership positions within the company.
Often, these employees are provided with focused development as part of a succession
plan and are referred to as “HiPos.”
KEY POINT
Case in Point: Calgary Marriott Downtown
Employees need to
Evolves Its Recognition Program to Drive
know that the various
Bottom-Line Results
recognition programs
offered across different
The Calgary Marriott Downtown, part of one of the world’s
employee populations largest hotel chains, employs more than 300 employees. In
and business units are fair 2008, the organization found it needed a tool that would
and equitable. better support its recognition strategy, business goals and
employee retention efforts. Although the organization had a
number of initiatives in place, they were scattered across various
departments. As a result, the programs lacked consistency and
there was no way to track whether or not employees were using
them. Furthermore, the cost of maintaining the program was
high, and it was not effective at driving positive behaviors that it
defined for its associates.
To improve its recognition programs and make them more

transparent, the Calgary Marriott Downtown redesigned
its recognition program to better align with its strategy. As
part of this process, the organization adopted new web-based
technology. The technology platform offered a points-based
system for rewarding Marriott’s employees. The organization
branded its program S.P.I.R.I.T. – Rewards (meaning special
recognition, participation in the community, introducing
new business, recruitment, innovation and team recognition).
This acronym stands for the performance and behaviors most
valued by the organization. It also represents measurable criteria
that are easy for employees to understand. The system was
customized to be interactive and engaging – employees and
associates were able to earn points at any time for living any of
the S.P.I.R.I.T values.31
After implementing this new recognition program, employee

engagement increased dramatically. The overall engagement
31 “Points” are a reward mechanism for employees who meet certain recognition
criteria. Points can be redeemed for a wide range of brand-name merchandise, travel, gift
cards and experiences using an extensive online catalogue.
Case in Point: Calgary Marriott Downtown Evolves Its Recognition Program (cont’d)
score increased 16 percent, and the hotel had the highest

improved employee satisfaction rates throughout Marriott
Hotels’ Northwest region. Furthermore, importantly, the renewed
program has impacted the bottom line by motivating employees
to focus on suite upselling – tripling the number of suite upsells
over a two-year period. In addition, the organization saw a 15
percent increase in the satisfaction score on the metric that asked
about the quality of the rewards offered to employees, despite
the fact that many wages had been frozen or seen minimal
increases over a two-year period. e
Program Accountability
Recognition strategies are complicated by the number of people

KEY POINT
involved, as well as the fact that, typically, no one person or group owns
An essential part of the all recognition initiatives. An essential part of the strategy is figuring
out who will own what and then holding those people accountable.
recognition strategy is
Key questions which organizations must think about when establishing
figuring out who will own
accountability include the following.
what and then holding
those people accountable. • What will be centralized and controlled by HR?
• What will be controlled or decentralized to the business units?
• Which responsibilities will be shared by HR and managers?
• For what should individual contributors be responsible?
Another important part of accountability is determining, “How can

our team ensure we deliver on what we say we are going to do?” As
part of this process, organizations should analyze how much time the
recognition program will take away from managers’ other critical tasks
and if there is any way to simplify the process. If the time required of
managers or leaders is too excessive, the program will fail.
An additional element of accountability is determining how the

organization will ensure recognition is taking place. For example, will
you use employee engagement scores, performance reviews or some
other metric? Some organizations may use recognition to support radical
change. For example, an organization evolving away from an overly
competitive culture may temporarily require its managers to recognize 10
people a quarter for teamwork performances. This approach would allow

a company to tie recognition outcomes to managers’ goals. However, we
would note that this type of accountability should be used with extreme
caution as recognition is only impactful when it is genuine. If employees
think recognition has to be done, it loses its meaning and ability
to empower.
By clarifying ownership, prioritizing initiatives and setting measurable

goals, organizations are more likely to ensure accountability and are less
likely to break promises to employees regarding recognition efforts.
Globalization
The final element of the recognition strategy is globalization. Having a

KEY POINT
global audience should change your scope. Do you expect recognition
The addition of local to play out uniquely in different parts of the world? How can you use
recognition to attract global candidates? As we discussed earlier, the
champions and experts
workforce continues to become more globalized and it is essential to
to the project team is
customize some elements of recognition to attract and retain top talent.
essential and important
For organizations operating in five or more countries, this will be no
consideration for making easy undertaking. The addition of local champions and experts to the
the globalization effort project team is essential and important consideration for making the
a success. globalization effort a success.
Strategy Action Plan
To successfully create a recognition strategy, it is important that your

leaders are able to answer the series of questions shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Questions Your Organization Must Answer before It Makes Other Decisions in This Framework
• What is our overall purpose of recognition?
• How does recognition help us achieve our business goals?
• What behaviors do we need to improve to accelerate our achievement of business goals?
• How can recognition be used to strengthen our organization’s culture?
• How should recognition integrate with other talent management programs, including compensation,
performance management, learning, engagement, onboarding and more?
• In an ideal world, what would recognition look like within our organization?
How does this compare to our current state of recognition?
• How important is transparency to our organization? Are our programs equitable?

How can we ensure programs support our transparency goals?
• What will be the recognition responsibilities of our organization’s stakeholders (e.g., senior leaders, managers,
employees and HR)? How will each of those stakeholders be held responsible for fulfilling their responsibilities?
• To what extent should this program be globalized?
After you are able to answer this series of questions, it is time to think
about how recognition should affect different audiences across your
organization. This next section of the Framework will discuss those key
elements in detail.
Audience
(Figure 5 is repeated in this section.)
Figure 5: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® – Recognition Strategy and Audience
Audience
Design


Budget Visibility

Criteria Frequency
Rewards

Overview
Employee recognition has the potential to touch nearly every employee

within the organization; however, just because every employee can be
recognized does not mean it will happen for everyone. The reason for
this is three-fold. First, many employees do not know what they have
to do to be recognized – either they do not understand or were never
told. Second, some employees just do not meet the requirements to
be recognized. Third, employees who should be recognized are not
because an employee’s manager does not want to spend the time or
does not believe in recognizing. To combat these challenges and others,

KEY POINT
organizations should clarify the roles and activities for every audience
Employee recognition has that is employed. In this section, we will discuss the different audiences
the potential to touch within the employee population and detail the recognition activities that
are unique to each segment.
nearly every employee
within the organization;
however, just because
every employee can be
The workforce is comprised of subsets of employees who vary greatly
recognized does not
in terms of their needs, expectations, preferences and stakes in the
mean it will happen for company. We have identified seven subsets of employees (see Figure 9)
everyone. that should be thought of independently for the purpose of recognition.
It is important to note that these subsets may vary by region, industry or
even company. These definitions can also vary by hours worked, provision
of tools, job autonomy, benefits and compensation. Figure 9 lists the
subsets that we have identified in our research and provides definitions
for each of them.
Figure 9: Recognition Audiences
Audience Definition
Senior leaders within the organization, including chief-level positions and those reporting
Executives / Leadership
directly into those positions. Also includes senior managerial positions.
Managers Leaders within the organization, typically at the middle-manager level or below.
Professional-level employees who, because of their positional duties and responsibilities,

Professionals / Salary / and level of decision-making authority, are exempt from the overtime provisions of the
Exempt Fair Labor Standards Acts or other regional laws. The hours which these employees work
are expected to be an equivalent to regional full-time status, but are not tracked.
An employee whose level of work entitles him / her under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Hourly / Nonexempt or other regional laws to overtime pay by an organization. The hours worked by these
employees are tracked on an hourly rate and fall within full- or part-time regional status.
Organized Labor / Union Employees who are represented by a labor union.
An individual engaged by a company to provide a specific set of services on a temporary

Contingent / Contract
basis. A role that is not seen as a full-time employee for an organization.
Individuals who are likely within one of the above audiences, but who have been placed
Critical Talent Segments in a subgroup, as well, for the purposes of providing additional attention or focus. This
group can include specific functions, regions, job levels or status (e.g., HiPos).
Although executives, managers and employees need to meet similar

recognition criteria, senior leaders have more responsibility for
motivating employees and ensuring recognition practices are adopted
by others in the organization. In Figure 10, we describe the activities and
roles for each subset of an employee population.
Figure 10: Recognition Activities Unique to Each Audience Segment
Audience Recognition Activities Unique to Segment
• Create, exemplify, guide and reinforce the attributes that meet the criteria for recognition.
• Communicate examples of what is deemed worthy of recognition to all company employees.
Executives /
• Distribute rewards, as appropriate.
Leadership
• Use recognition metrics to further assess the engagement, performance and retention of
talent across the organization.
• Model critical behaviors and activities.

• Motivate individual employees to engage in those critical behaviors and activities.
• Recognize employees for achieving performances, and modeling valued behaviors and actions.
Managers • Track department, team and individual efforts, so that metrics and efforts can be best
improved on an ongoing basis.
• Communicate and train all contingent and part-time labor on the company’s culture and
values, when appropriate.
• Participate in recognition programs that support the company, their teams and which also
help employees to grow as individuals.
Professionals /
• Communicate upward to managers when they do not understand what they need to do
Salary / Exempt
to be recognized.
• Share feedback about when they do / do not feel acknowledged.
• Participate in recognition programs that support the company, their teams and which also
help them to grow as individuals.
Hourly / Nonexempt • Communicate to managers when they do not understand what they need to do to
be recognized.
• Share feedback about when they do / do not feel acknowledged.
Organized Labor / • Participate in some recognition activities and communicate feedback as defined in
Union union contracts.
• Embrace behaviors and performance aligned with the company’s culture. Whether or not these
Contingent /
workers participate in formal and informal recognition programs is often dependent on the
Contract
industry, length of project, and other requirements specific to the organization and contract.
• Participate in recognition programs designed to support critical segments (i.e., leadership

Critical Talent or high-performance training programs, or special projects). This is usually led by HR. The
Segments talent segments should participate in a way that supports the company, their teams and
which also help them to grow as individuals.
Once you have considered the recognition roles and responsibilities for
key audiences within your organization, it is important to think about
what programs you should create to meet the needs of those audiences.
This next section of the report, “Part 2: Program Design,” will discuss the
key elements to consider in designing a recognition program.
Part 2: Program Design
Figure 11: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® – Design and Rewards
Audience
Design


Budget Visibility

Criteria Frequency
Rewards

Program Design Overview
Program design is critical to the overall success of the recognition

KEY POINT
initiative. To do it well, organizations need to design the program
HR needs to be clear
with the end in mind. Specifically, HR needs to be clear on how the
recognition program will align with business goals and the anticipated
on how the recognition
impact of the investment in the program. For example, if the
program will align with
organization invests $20,000 in a recognition program, how would
business goals and the
employee engagement, customer satisfaction or some other critical
anticipated impact of metric change? The business case for the investment needs to be clear
the investment in the before program design begins.
program. The business
Once the business case is in place, organizations should identify who
case for the investment
will join the program design team. This team should be comprised of
needs to be clear before employees from HR, finance, legal and relevant business units and
program design begins. geographies. Once the team is in place, it should establish tactical goals
and objectives that support the strategy such as, “Create a recognition
program that focuses on two core values,” or “Implement a recognition-
based technology platform to increase both employee motivation and
transparency in our rewards program.”
The program design section of the Employee Recognition Framework

is intended to help organizations understand all of the critical design
questions that must be answered in the quest toward an exceptional
recognition program. Through our research, we have identified 10
fundamental elements an organization should consider when creating a
program. These elements include budget, criteria, recognizers, direction,
approval, visibility, frequency, delivery, customization and measurement.
We discuss each of them in detail in the following sections.
Budget
The first fundamental program design element is budget. A well-

designed and documented budget ensures all stakeholders are on the
same page in terms of how the program money will be spent. There are
three fundamental considerations pertaining to the budget – amount,
allocation and control. This section will discuss each of them in detail.
Amount – First, leaders should determine the amount that will be spent
KEY POINT
on a recognition program and from where it will come. The recognition
There are three budget generally comes from centralized HR funding (e.g., compensation
fundamental or other program), business units or functions, or a combination of
sources. According to 2011 data, recognition budgets typically average
considerations pertaining
2.0 percent of the payroll budget, though the median amount budgeted
to the budget – amount,
is one percent.32 Intuit, for example, established a budget of one percent
allocation and control.
of payroll for its awards program.33 Departments can budget more or
give higher-level awards by reducing spending in other budget areas. The
average 2011 recognition budget is down slightly in 2011 compared with
2008 (2.0 percent of payroll spend versus 2.7 percent, respectively).34 We
think the decline partially reflects the recent challenges and volatility in
the economy.
Allocations – The second element that organizations need to think

about is budget allocation. As shown in Figure 12, there are three major
areas requiring consensus. First, organizations need to consider how
much of the budget will be used to pay for staff (internal or external)
to administer the program. Second, organizations need to think
about what portion of the central budget will be distributed to each
department (e.g., for discretionary rewards or other programs). As part
of this process, conversely, stakeholders should determine if individual
departments need to contribute any funding. Lastly, organizations
should decide how they will allocate the funding toward centralized
program initiatives (e.g., rewards allocations for tenure programs or
technology allocations).
32 Source: http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimLink?id=51194.
33 Source: http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/intuit_spotlights_strategic_importance_of_
global_employee_recognition/3.
34 Source: http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimLink?id=51194.
Figure 12: Budget Allocation Considerations
Decentralized
Program Funding
Centralized Program
Staff / Administration
Funding
Total Budget
Source: Bersin & Associates,12012.
Control – The final budget decision is control. There are two major
KEY POINT
components to control – control over individual recognition rewards
As part of this process, and control for all other program spending. As we mentioned earlier,
it is essential to design
some organizations decentralize the control of certain rewards, such as
Top 100 in revenue or customer service, to business units or functions.
budget approval
In these instances, organizations need to determine who has input into
processes, and clarify
how dollars are spent, as well as who has the final say on spending.
what needs sign-off and
For example, when will a committee take a vote and when will budget
what does not. dollars be up to a manager’s discretion? As part of this process, it is
essential to design budget approval processes, and clarify what needs
sign-off and what does not (This will be discussed in more detail in the
approvals section of the program design part of the Framework).
The final element of control is determining how the budget will be

monitored for spending not related specifically to individual recognition
rewards. This could be spending on recognition events, time spent by
employees reviewing recognition nominations or any other similar
spending related to the program. Typically, organizations will identify a

person to monitor the budget who is responsible for reporting on it to
the budget owner and other stakeholders. This person ensures that the
budget spent aligns with the amount necessary to achieve the desired
program return on investment.
Criteria
One of the most important elements of program design is establishing

and articulating recognition criteria. This element is critical to
establishing both equity and transparency. There are three primary types
of criteria that organizations choose to establish – performance, behavior
and tenure. This section will discuss each component in detail.
Figure 13: Three Primary Criteria of Recognition
Performance Behaviors Tenure

• Tied to business goals • Tied to culture or core values • Tied to anniversaries or
and outcomes length of service
• Tied to other behaviors that
• Criteria should help evaluate are not part of core values • Criteria should align with
individual and enterprise specific employment dates
performance • Criteria should ensure (e.g., five years with
behaviors recognized lead to company X)
performance improvements
or improvements to an
organization's internal or
external environment
1 2012.
Source: Bersin & Associates,
Performance – Performance criteria should be tied to business goals

and outcomes. Some organizations’ recognition programs have loosely
defined performance goals, objectives and criteria. When this happens,
it is more difficult to reward across the organization in an equal and
transparent way because stakeholders and other employees are unclear
about what they should be working toward. It is important to note
that the purpose of performance criteria in the context of recognition
is different from the assessments and feedback discussed as part of a
structured performance review. However, organizations need to consider
how recognition will be accounted for in the formal performance
review process.
As you consider key performance criteria, we suggest you think through

the following questions.
• What performance levels do we need to help our organization

achieve its goals over the short and long term? What does the
performance look like?
• When do we want to recognize employees for core job responsibilities?
• When do we want to recognize employees for going above and

beyond core job responsibilities?
• What types of recognition require multiple people to assess

performance?
• When should an individual have discretion about what type of

performance to recognize?
There are generally two types of performance use for recognition

programs. We describe each of them in detail in Figure 14.
Figure 14: Key Performance Criteria Categories
• Recognize individuals who meet goals or milestones in their

core roles.
o Immediate feedback lets employees know that they are
Individual on the right track.
• Recognize individuals who exceed what is expected of
them in their core roles.
o Feedback shows appreciation for discretionary efforts.
• Recognize individuals or teams based on criteria most likely

to have a direct impact on enterprise performance (e.g., cost
reduction of five percent or more) when it occurs.
o Feedback reinforces criteria having optimal chances to
Enterprise implact business results in a meaningful way.
• Recognize individuals or teams through competitions (e.g.,
by departments or geography).
o Feedback encourages outstanding individual and team
performance.
• Individual Performance Criteria – As shown in Figure 14, to keep

employees motivated, many organizations recognize individuals
when they meet a goal or milestone in their core roles or exceed
expectations. Immediate feedback, gratitude or praise lets employees
know they are on the right track. Flexibility is a critical part of
designing individual performance criteria. Organizations need to
consider how much discretion they want to give managers in terms of
deciding what performance and efforts should be recognized (e.g., a
project milestone or performance above and beyond a core role) and
what rewards should correspond to the performance.
• Enterprise Performance Criteria – As shown above in Figure 14,

enterprise recognition programs often identify key criteria that have
the potential to significantly impact an organization’s bottom line.
These programs include performance competitions across different
divisions, functions and geographies based on either individual
performance or a collaborative team effort. For example, at the

divisional level, an individual category could include the most new
revenue or upsells or the highest qualitative score in customer service.
At the team level, the competition could be for the team that creates
the most innovative new product.
Some of the programs just mentioned only touch the top performers.
Sometimes adding “runners-up” or “Top 100” category helps to
recognize more people. That said, these people are still usually at
the top of their region or division, so these additional categories
may not sufficiently diversify the types of recognition. Another
way organizations try to include more people is by incorporating
programs that have the potential to indirectly lead to improved
performance. One example is a perfect attendance program.
In summary, performance criteria need to tie to existing performance

goals or other criteria that drive the enterprise forward in a meaningful
way. The programs for defining performance and rewarding must also be
flexible, so that employees will be engaged and excited to participate.
Behaviors – Behavioral criteria are typically based on an organization’s

KEY POINT
culture. This includes the attitudes, experiences, knowledge and
Behavioral criteria are beliefs within the enterprise. As part of setting behavioral criteria,
typically based on an
many organizations define core values and other desired behaviors
to employees. For example, safety may not be a core organizational
organization’s culture,
value but safety is a critical behavior required in an organization’s
and include the attitudes,
manufacturing plant. Creating programs and criteria that improve
experiences, knowledge behaviors can also lead to improvements to enterprise performance.
and beliefs within the Take, for example, a program such as “most likely to help a colleague out
enterprise. of a tight spot.” In a way, this program fosters teamwork; however, the
program may also motivate employees to get more work completed –
which, in turn, helps contribute to the bottom line.
When designing behavior criteria, organizations should do two things.

First, they should consider the behaviors necessary to achieve individual
performance and overall business goals. Second, they should identify
which behaviors represent their culture. Consider the following questions
organizations when determining which behaviors your organization will
define, promote and recognize.
• What behaviors will help us increase organizational performance over

the short and long term?
• Will certain behaviors help us in the short-term but then hurt us in

the long term?
• Will certain behaviors help us to change our culture for the better?
• Are certain business circumstances negatively impacting how

employees feel about our values and causing them to behave in a
way that does not support our culture?
• How do we want external audiences to view our organization in

the marketplace?
Tenure – The final criterion is tenure, which is recognition of an

employee’s length of service. This is a nice way to appreciate employees
who have been at the organization for a long time. However, because
tenure can also be viewed by many as an entitlement, similar to
compensation, these programs should be supplemented with other
recognition programs.
Methodology for Assessing Recognition Worthiness
Once the criteria for performance, behaviors and tenure are established,
it is important that organizations think about when a robust “scoring
methodology” will be needed and when a simple reference “Criteria
List” will do. Criteria and the process for determining reward winners
should be clearly articulated to ensure program equity and transparency.
For example, some recognition programs will have nomination processes,
requiring the assessment of multiple criteria and different levels of
calibration. Consider the following questions when making decisions.
• How will we know if employees have met the key criteria?
• Will our assessment methodology be qualitative, quantitative

or both?
• How will we convey criteria to employees?
The last thing to consider is if one program is sufficient to drive the

performance or behaviors your organization needs, or if more than one
program is necessary. Intuit, for example, consolidated its recognition
program under the name of “Spotlight,” and uses this program to
“spotlight performance, innovation and service dedication.”35

Innovation awards are for patent disclosures, patent filings and issued
patents. Service awards are for milestone anniversaries in multiples of
five years.
Recognizers
“Recognizers” are the people within or outside of an organization

KEY POINT
who provide employee recognition. Progressive organizations build
Recognizers are defined out their recognition programs, so that anyone worthy of recognition
as the people within an can be recognized by anyone else. This ensures that the values and
actions deemed appropriate get rewarded and reinforced regularly. It is
organization or outside of
important to think about who the recognizers should be. Consider the
it who give recognition to
following questions.
an employee or group of
employees. • Which recognizers will engage employees the most?
• What recognition approach will encourage the behaviors and

performance that will drive our business forward?
We can group the recognizers into two categories – internal employee

recognizers and external audience recognizers. The details of each
category are shown in Figure 15.
35 Source: http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/ intuit_spotlights_strategic_importance_
of_global_employee_recognition/3.
Figure 15: Types of Recognizers
Internal Employee External Audiences

Recognizers Recognizers
Senior Leaders Customers
Managers Partners
Third-Party Award
Teams
Constituents
Individuals Certifications
Internal Employee Recognizers
Internal employee recognizers include senior leaders, managers, teams

and individuals. Leaders should consider who is doing the recognizing
in their organizations today and how (or if) that should change. In the
past at most organizations, senior leaders and managers were primarily
responsible for recognizing employees. This approach is evolving,
though, due to the rise of more collaborative work environments and the
flattening of organizational structures. Increasingly, we see organizations
encouraging all employees to recognize each other.
External Audience Recognizers
External audience recognizers include four main groups, including:
• Customers;
• Partners;
• Third-party award givers; and,
• Third-party certification organizations.
Many organizations view external audience recognition as very

important. For example, customers and business partners may recognize
employees through emails, anecdotes and even share token rewards.
Some organizations choose to share this recognition internally; others
let the initial recognition suffice. Your organization should have a
point of view on whether these external recognitions are shared. Other
types of external audience recognitions can include awards to the
enterprise, team or individual. Examples include “best place to work
awards,” “best product awards” and “the top 40 project managers
under 40,” respectively. Furthermore, many organizations recognize
employees for achieving professional certification and designations
that are specific to roles, such as IT (program manager certification),
finance (certified financial planner) and accounting (CPA). Again, leaders
need to think about if they want to recognize employees when these
acknowledgments occur or let the recognition from the third party be
sufficient. Also, leaders need to consider if staff members are allowed
to accept gifts from customers and, if so, what are the parameters? This
decision should be made in conjunction with your organization’s legal or
compliance department.
Direction
Another fundamental program design element is the direction in which

recognition flows. As shown in Figure 16, there are three general
directions in which recognition occurs – top-down (e.g., manager
to employee), peer to peer (employee to employee) and bottom-up
(employee to manager). The impact of recognition can be maximized
when recognition flows in all of these directions throughout the
organization. An increasing number of programs are designed, so that
employees across the organization have the potential to be a recognizer,
as well as the “recognizee” – the one receiving the recognition.
Figure 16: Directions of Recognition
Type Definition Why the Direction Is Important
Occurs when people • Many managers look up to their supervisors for recognition and
recognize someone who approval of their actions. Similarly, many individual / non-manager
is below them within the employees turn to their managers in the same manner.
Top organizational hierarchy • Some employees feel distinctly valued when their contributions are
down noticed by more people than their direct managers. For example,
subordinate employees and managers often value feedback from
leaders who are two or more levels above them in rank – ranging
from “their boss’s boss” to a “C-level executive” in the organization.
Typically occurs when people • Organizational hierarchies are flattening and people are working
of equal status recognize together more on multiple teams. To better engage individuals who
each other. Depending are on teams, organizations are creating programs that allow for the
Peer to on the criteria, project or direction of recognition to flow between peers and colleagues.
Peer situation, a peer could be a • This structure also helps to encourage the repetition of key behaviors
person who is higher in title / and the behaviors by others in the organization aside from an
rank or lower in title / rank. employee’s direct manager.
Occurs when people

recognize someone who is • Managers are measured increasingly on attributes
higher than they within the that determine how well they are training, motivating and engaging
organizational hierarchy. their teams to achieve results. With that, they also need feedback and
Bottom recognition from those below them.
Bottom-up recognition
up
includes nomination programs • This structure also works to better support collaborative work
for which employees environments and, when necessary, to break down heavy top-down
nominate leaders who have hierarchy cultures (as discussed in the previous section of this report).
exceled in a particular area.
The direction of recognition has evolved in recent years from a mostly

top-down approach to a combination of top-down and peer-to-peer.
More recently organizations have added programs that also include
bottom-up recognition. Lilly Canada is an example of an organization
that has implemented a structure that encourages all three of
these directions.
Case in Point: Lilly Canada Drives Recognition

across All Levels within the Enterprise36
Lilly Canada, one of Canada’s top pharmaceutical companies,
KEY POINT
is the Canadian affiliate of major American pharmaceutical
Lilly Canada wanted to company, Eli Lilly & Company. When data from “Voice of the
move to a solution that
Employee” surveys (done internally at Lilly Canada) showed room
for improvement in rewards and recognition between supervisors
would recognize and
and employees, Lilly Canada wanted to move to a solution that
reward sideways, up and
would recognize and reward sideways, up and down – as well as
down – as well as peer to
peer to peer, and also supervisor to subordinate and subordinate
peer, and also supervisor to supervisor. In 2010, Lilly Canada selected a third-party vendor to
to subordinate and help them do this.
subordinate to supervisor.
The HR team took the budget that it had for all of the other
rewards programs and reallocated that dollar amount into a point
value for use with the new system. This meant that Lilly Canada’s
awards nomination process, along with all the dinners and gift
cards, were replaced with a performance-based points system.
Based on the number of people managed by each supervisor,
points budgets for supervisors were developed. The solution was
implemented to mimic the same performance leadership behaviors
that show up in Lilly’s performance management system and
code of conduct, in which performance management, leadership
assessment and rewards are tightly integrated together.
Training and transparent exposure were key to a successful

implementation. The transparency of the rewards program
online made it easy to see who was and was not being rewarded,
as well as for what supervisors were giving out points. The
transparency of the system also helped managers learn best
practices from each other. The HR team used both training and
learn-as-wego processes to bring the new rewards program to
managers, knowing that some managers would be concerned
with over-recognition.
36 For more information, Recognizing Employees: Lilly Canada Increases Employee

Engagement with a Dynamic Rewards Program, Bersin & Associates / Katherine Jones, July
2011. Available to research members at www.bersin.com.
Case in Point: Lilly Canada (cont’d)
Some of Lilly’s Canadian-based employees are managed by

global managers around the world. These managers also have
an opportunity to use the Canadian-based tool to recognize
their Canadian staff members. This helps to ensure that physical
separation or country location does not prevent the Canadian-
based employees from benefiting by this offering.
Implementation of the rewards program has also given Lilly

Canada a way to track employee satisfaction and engagement.
The team used its 2010 I Love Rewards data to evaluate
implementation usage, as well as employees’ response to Lilly’s
Voice of the Employee survey. In fact, Lilly Canada has seen its
overall employee engagement scores go from an unremarkable
low-to-midrange score to a dramatic high. The company is now
the number one affiliate worldwide when ranked against peer
affiliates in employee engagement. e
Approval
In the context of this Employee Recognition Framework, approval is

defined as the level of complexity and approvers needed for recognition
to take place. As shown in Figure 17, there are three levels of approvals
to consider, including rigorous, informal and none.
Figure 17: Types of Approval Approaches
Rigorous Informal None
• Recognition approval • Recognition approval • Recognition approval

requires input from a variety requires at least one other requires no input in addition
of constituents to ensure person in addition to the to that of the person
the right behaviors are person who initially wants who desires to recognize
recognized and the reward to recognize the employee. another.
Approval is appropriate.
Process • Rewards tend to be • Rewards tend to be praise
• Rewards programs tend symbolic or token. or token awards.
to have a high monetary
component or a great deal
of symbolism attached
to them.
• Requires many of levels of • Requires some approval; • No level of signoff

signoff and / or one very usually simply verbal required.
Approvers senior department leader. permission and / or an email
giving permission.
Our research found that organizations have to strike a balance with

approval. Too many layers may deter people from participating in the
recognition process; too few will result in leaders failing to sponsor the
recognition program because they are uncomfortable with it.
Organizations should define an approval process that conveys when

recognizers need approval and when they do not. Consider the
• How rigorous should our process be?
• What circumstances and dollar amounts separate informal

from rigorous?
Visibility
For the purposes of recognition, we define visibility as the state in which

the recognition can be seen or heard by others. There are three main
settings in which employees are recognized, including public, group and
private. Each of these is explained in greater detail in Figure 18.
Figure 18: Details on Recognition Visibility Levels
Type Definition Considerations
Open to all employees and / or other • Many recognition programs incorporate a public
audiences, such as customers, media element to increase transparency and perceived
or partners prestige. For example, a rewards program that allows
many people, perhaps even the entire company, or
external clients and partners to participate, is highly
transparent and confers a high degree of prestige. To
ensure transparency, an organization may require that
all nominees who win be recognized in a public setting.
• There are varying degrees of employee comfort
Public with respect to public recognition. For example, some
employees may be comfortable being on a “public”
letter or email list, but have absolutely no interest in
going on stage to be recognized (or being asked to give
a speech before a group).
• To allow employees who do not want to be announced
publicly for something, rewards program owners and /
or managers should be sure to disclose the level of
visibility in advance, so that employees can opt-out if
that is their preference.
Figure 18: Details on Recognition Visibility Levels (cont’d)
Type Definition Considerations
Given in a more intimate • Similar to public visibility, many recognition programs

environment, such as in front of need to be delivered in a group setting to increase
a team or department transparency (e.g., monthly department or small
team contests).
• Since managers have a greater degree of control
Group over what happens in their departments, they can
more easily customize the program to align with
employee preferences. For example, if there are
employees who despise walking in front of a small
group and giving a speech, the manager can say a few
words on behalf of his / her employee and hand that
person the reward.
One-on-one recognition • Some recognition does not require a high degree

of transparency. As such, this recognition can be
completely customized based on the employee’s
preference for private recognition.
Private
• Sometimes managers need to acknowledge one person
privately because a confidential element was recognized
(e.g., a milestone to IPO planning or other liquidity
events cannot be disclosed due to industry regulations).
Technology is an additional important visibility consideration. Many

KEY POINT
organizations are creating programs that use online social platforms to
When thinking about facilitate recognition. These platforms allow everyone registered to view
and contribute to Facebook-like “news feeds.” This is a very public way
visibility, organizations
of displaying who receives recognition, why they get it and what rewards
need to consider the
are given. This format increases the transparency of the program and
right balance between
potentially the engagement of some employees. That said, the platforms
what the employee can be used for group or private recognition as well. For example, some
prefers and the program organizations will establish internal limitations on who can see what,
requirements. so perhaps only a department can see the recognitions taking place. In
addition, people giving recognition can choose to send it only to the
person being recognized – making the recognition private. Employees
should still keep in mind that the recognizee’s preferences regarding
recognition when using these systems and adjust their recognition
approach accordingly.
Overall, when thinking about visibility, organizations need to consider

the right balance between what employees prefer and what the
program requires.
Frequency
In the context of recognition, frequency refers to the rate at which

the recognition occurs or is repeated over a particular period of time.
Recognition can be given annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily or a
combination of these timeframes.
The primary factor determining recognition program frequency is the

program purpose and criteria, which we have already discussed at
length. Many programs are event-driven and frequency is determined
based on key dates. For example, highest annual revenue or MVP criteria
requirements can take a year to complete. As a result the event would
occur once a year; however, reminders about the performance levels
necessary to attend the event could be sent out on a quarterly basis.
Conversely, some performance and behaviors occur spontaneously. In
these instances, recognition frequency could be daily or whenever the
behavior occurs.
It is important to take into account employee needs when determining

frequency. At the beginning of this report, we discussed the importance
of employee motivations. When determining appropriate frequency,
consider how recognition will motivate employees. For example,
managers and peers comprise an employee’s close network at work –
regular recognition from this group will enhance the employee’s sense
of belonging, in addition to communicating the value of the employee’s
specific activities. On the other end of the spectrum, senior leaders
tend to be representative of the entire organization and recognition
from them will likely have a greater impact on an employee’s sense of
esteem and accomplishment. Since this type of recognition contributes
differently to the employee’s motivation, less frequent recognition may
be appropriate. There is no universal “right” answer when determining
recognition frequency, as this is something that will vary based on the
goals of the program, the organization’s culture and the people involved.
Generally speaking, though, more genuine, targeted, thoughtful

KEY POINT
recognition is better than less, as it reinforces the right behaviors
Generally speaking, immediately. An example of organization that has incorporated frequent
more genuine, targeted, recognition is Trinity Health, which is the 12th largest healthcare system
in the U.S. Trinity Health encourages teams to begin meetings with a
thoughtful recognition
Reflection, perhaps a thoughtful reading, a humorous story, or simply
is better than less, as
a moment of silence, to bring participants fully into the meeting. At
it reinforces the right
the end of the meeting, teams are encouraged to express some form of
behaviors immediately. appreciation. Depending on what the focus is, the appreciation could
go to the entire team or an individual. It could also be recognition of
something significant or a small contribution. Regardless, the point is
that taking the time to be intentional with appreciation or recognition
can be easily integrated into daily or weekly activities; it does not have
to take a lot of time or cost a lot of money, and it has the potential to be
extremely memorable. Furthermore, it makes appreciation part of the
everyday culture.
Delivery
Delivery refers to the methods used, so that recognition can touch an

individual or group of individuals. There are four main ways in which
recognition is delivered, including face to face, letter / email, event and
online platforms, as shown in Figure 19. Organizations should consider
each one, and how it relates to the organization’s and employees’ needs.
Figure 19: Types of Delivery Methods
Face to Face Letter / Email

• To capture spontaneous, in-the-moment • To recognize a lot of people who are remote or
recognition as it occurs in different areas of the business (e.g.,
• To personalize or express thoughtfulness newsletters)
• To engage a team at meetings • To demonstrate special acknowledgments (e.g.,
• To show transparency within program (e.g., tenure or other)
awards competitions) • To personalize (e.g., thank-you note signed by
one person or a group)
Events Online Platforms

• To acknowledge select audiences in a • To convey program information or distribute
personalized structure (e.g., formal awards awards; examples of platform types include:
ceremonies for top 100, customers service • Intranet and / or external website
representatives MVP or innovator) • Points-based platforms
• To instill common behaviors among groups • Social platforms
(e.g., team-building athletic events that offer
• Mobile devices
prizes for demonstrating valued behaviors)
• To recognize teams or individuals on an ad-hoc
basis (e.g., team appreciation lunches and
dinners)

1
Once your organization has had a dialogue about the delivery platforms,
it is time to move to the next section of the Framework in which
customization will be discussed in detail.
Customization
We define customization as the way an organization may alter its

recognition program to meet the needs of employee types, business units
and geographies. Figure 20 shows some of the different populations
requiring customization.
Figure 20: Customization Considerations
Customization Type Considerations Key Questions
• Salaried versus Hourly • How do you want to engage different audiences

• HiPo versus Solid Performer to participate (e.g., professional, hourly and
critical segments)?
Employee Type
• What recognition programs could you target
that would be both fun and are based on your
business objectives and criteria?
• Product Group A versus Product • When is behavior uniformity across the

Group B enterprise the goal and when should the
• IT versus Finance approach be segmented?
Business Unit /
Function • Are there different behaviors you want to
encourage that vary from one department to the
next (i.e., pharmaceuticals division versus a food
product division)?
• Major City versus small town • Do interpretations for a core behavior vary from
• State / Province A versus State / city to city or country to country (i.e., how do
Province B you show respect in different cultures)?
Geography
• County A versus Country B • How should you segment your materials (e.g.,
colors used, language translations, time zone
considerations, etc.)?
Organizations need to think through the different ways recognition

should be customized in terms of the overall approach and the reward
components (Rewards will be discussed in greater detail in the next
section). In addition, when creating the segmentation, leaders must
ensure that what is created is perceived as fair and equitable.
Measurement
As we have alluded to throughout this report, measurement is an

important aspect of developing a comprehensive recognition strategy.
Specifically, you should consider how to design your organization’s
measurement approach, methodology and reporting (as shown in Figure
21). Once you have thought through these elements, create an action
plan to move your organization forward.
Figure 21: Components That Lead to a Measurement Action Plan
Approach
Methodology Measurement
Action Plan
Reporting
Approach
A measurement approach details how the organization will measure the

program and identifies who will be responsible for this task. For example,
large and global organizations may engage a group of local champions
on the project team who can more easily gather and assess information
in different countries and regions. When approaching measurement,
organizations should also consider defining what results they will
measure immediately and what will be measured over the long term. For
instance, if your organization has not valued recognition in the past,
it could take from several months to years for some cultural changes to
appear. Other changes may be noticeable almost immediately.
Methodology
We view methodology as the underlying rules and protocols for

measuring recognition. For example, what will you measure to show
the impact of recognition? Will you use employee engagement scores,
performance reviews, sales results, retention data or something else?
After you know what you would like to use across multiple departments
and geographies, it is important to think about how you will get this
data. It is critical to partner with the owners of this data, so that you can
get what you need quickly.
Reporting
Determine early on what types of information you will share, with whom
the reports will be shared and how frequently reports will be distributed.
Many companies create dashboards for the leadership team that
show everything from rewards redeemed and time spent on an online
recognition website, to the list of behaviors changed and the business
goals achieved. Sometimes report creation and distribution require levels
of customization. For example, will you share different reports with
leaders in the U.S., as compared with those in Australia?
Measurement Action Plan
The answers to the questions introduced in the previous section will

enable you to create a measurement action plan. We have summarized
these questions as follows.
• What resources do we need to measure our programs? Who do we

need to engage and how should we engage them?
• What methodologies will be used to show the impact of recognition?
• What tools will we use to measure key performances, behaviors

and actions?
• From what regions and departments will we collect data?
• When will data be compiled by the recognition team and when will it
need to come from someone else?
• What reports will be created and to whom will the reports

be distributed?
• How often will reports be created?
Overall, establishing a clear approach, methodology, reporting structure

and action plan will help to ensure that programs are structured in ways
that it can be further optimized in the future.
Rewards
Overview
With most of the core elements of the recognition program determined,

KEY POINT
the next step is to think about what, if any, types of rewards should
Our research found be part of the recognition program. As discussed earlier in the report,
that 57 percent of
both appreciation (without any financial elements) and rewards make
noteworthy contributions to employee motivation.
organizations with a
recognition and reward That said, we do have some indication that recognition programs
program had strong which also have rewards may correlate with organizations with better
financial performance. financial performance. In our High-Impact Performance Management
research37, we found that 58 percent of organizations provide individual
or team recognition, but only 36 percent have a formal rewards
program. This research also found that organizations with “recognition-
only” programs or recognition and rewards programs both had better
employee38 and talent39 results than organizations that lacked those
programs. Interestingly, though, we only found a relationship between
organizations with both recognition and rewards programs and financial
performance – we did not find that organizations with “recognition-
only” programs had better financial performance. Specifically, we found
that 57 percent of organizations with both a recognition and reward
37 For more information, please see our High-Impact Performance Management

industry studies, available to research members at www.bersin.com/library or for
purchase at www.bersin.com/hipm.
38 “Employee results” is an index comprised of employee productivity, employee
engagement and customer satisfaction.

39 “Talent results” is an index comprised of hiring the best people, developing great
leaders, developing employees, retaining top performers, planning for future talent
needs, having the right people in the right jobs.
program had strong financial performance; however, only 38 percent

of organizations with only a recognition program had strong results –
about the same percentage as those organizations that lacked both a
recognition and rewards program.
This research clearly indicates that organizations need to at least consider

if it is appropriate for them to include rewards in addition to their
recognition program. Within this section, we will discuss each reward
category in more detail.
Reward Types
Organizations use several types of rewards to motivate employees.

As shown in Figure 22, these can be divided into three categories –
emblematic, token and monetary. We define emblematic rewards as
recognition that represents an acknowledgement of contribution, but
typically cannot be converted to something with monetary value. We
include certificates, plaques and trophies in this category. Although they
cost some money to produce, they are not seen by the recognizee as
having monetary value. Token rewards include items that cost money
but are viewed by recognizee as rewards of token value, usually less
than $100. The monetary category includes rewardsthat are not of token
value. This category generally includes rewards that cost more than $100.
Figure 22: Reward Types*
Emblematic Token Monetary
• Praise and appreciation • Gift cards • Special trips (e.g., team outings)
• Special projects (e.g., new skills) • Candy / flowers • Awards conferences
• Certificates • Lunches / dinners • Learning conferences
• Trophies • Merchandise • Cash / vouchers
• Plaques • Points that convert to other • Extra paid time-off
token items
*Note: The items listed in this figure are suggestive of the types of rewards Source: Bersin & Associates, 2012.
within each category, but are not exhaustive of all types of rewards.
To determine which reward is most relevant, organizations should

KEY POINT
think back to the recognition criteria, as well as the overall purpose of
Progressive organizations recognition described in the strategy section of this paper (This section
are flexible in that they also includes the discussion on employee motivations).
allow staff members As part of thinking through each of the “individual” rewards for every
to give different “reward type,” the program team needs to determine who should select
rewards to different the reward type for the employee – either employees themselves or
people. This allows the company.
for a greater degree Many organizations are flexible in that they allow employees to give
of thoughtfulness and different rewards to different people. This allows for a greater degree
reward customization. of thoughtfulness and reward customization. For example, one leader
from a large services organization shared some commentary from one
of his high-performing employees at a monthly checkpoint meeting. The
employee stated, “I never get recognized.” He responded, “What do
you mean? You got a few days of extra paid time off, cash and several
gift cards over the past two years.” The employee replied, “Yes, but I
have never received a plaque in front of the group.” So, for her, the
appreciation was the plaque that would be placed prominently on the
wall in the hallway while for others it may be the cash or extra paid time-
off. Overall, when rewards and the appreciation itself are thoughtful and
closely align with the employee needs, employees are more likely to be
motivated down the road.
Companies should consider distributing rewards that are “company-

selected” when using them will either give them greater control over
costs or when they want to deliver unique messages that can only be
communicated by using a particular category of rewards.
The last thing organizations need to consider as part of rewards is the

mix of reward types given. Consider the following questions.
• What is the right mix of non-monetary versus monetary rewards?
• When will a certificate or a simple thank you suffice?
• Is cash really necessary?
As we discussed in earlier sections of this report, praise is valuable,

sometimes more valuable than rewards with cash equivalents. Research
experiments suggest that a small reward or a small rewards can have a
productive effect. Heyman and Ariely (2004) suggest that, when offered
a small amount of money, people are less likely to put forth effort
into a given task than if they were not offered any sort of financial
compensation. On the other hand, if they are given a friendly gift, such
as a candy bar, they will tend to exert more effort. Interestingly enough,
once a monetary value is attached to a gift, the transaction is likely to be
seen as though it exists in a monetary market, and effort tends to be less
than if the dollar value had not been made apparent.40
Three additional items should be considered as part of program design –

employee support, vendor strategy and talent management integration.
We discuss each of these in detail in the following sections.
Employee Support
Employee support should not be forgotten when designing your

recognition program. One of the first things to do is to establish a
“go-to person” or group of people the employee can contact with
questions about the recognition program. This person may be within
the business unit, HR, or perhaps with the vendor who helps administer
the person. The employee support person’s responsibilities should be to
answer questions about the overall program, the rewards program and
its requirements.
Vendor Strategy
Vendors play an important role in the design and implementation of a

recognition program. They can generally be divided into the following
(not mutually exclusive) categories (see Figure 23):
1. Survey vendors;
2. Tangible rewards vendors;
3. Consultants; and,
4. Technology vendors.
40 Source: “Effort for Payment: A Tale of Two Markets,” Psychological Science / James
Heyman and Dan Ariely, University of California, Berkeley and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, March 2004.
Figure 23: Vendors Categories to Consider
Surveys
Recognition
Vendor Tangible
Technology
Rewards
Options
Consultants
We explain these vendor categories as follows.

KEY POINT
1. Survey – Some HR organizations use external survey vendors to help
Organizations need to
them to answer key questions and conduct detailed analyses. In other
evaluate vendor costs cases, organizations create and analyze their own surveys. Organizations
across the organization need to decide who will conduct the surveys necessary to obtain key
to identify talent data about topics, such as employee engagement and satisfaction.
management process
2. Tangible Rewards – Numerous vendors provide tangible rewards, such
improvements and other as merchandise, gift cards and trophies.
operational synergies.
3. Consultants – Consultants provide services to train managers or
prepare marketing materials, among other services.
4. Technology – As part of this effort, there are several types of

platforms to consider, such as those used for administering surveys,
rewards (e.g., point redemption systems, social recognition
technology) and training (e.g., online learning modules).
Another consideration is the number of vendors or suppliers your

organization already uses today, both locally and globally. With this
understanding, companies can decide where to consolidate, add or
remove suppliers to meet their needs. Moreover, organizations need
to evaluate vendor costs across the organization to identify talent
management process improvements and other operational synergies.
Talent Management Integration
The last portion of the design section of the Framework is talent

management integration. A well-designed recognition program will
integrate with and add value to other talent management programs
such as compensation, benefits, performance management, engagement,
learning and even recruiting. It will also work to ensure there is no
duplication of effort.
Earlier in the recognition strategy section of the Framework, we

identified how recognition can intersect with other talent management
disciplines. As part of that section, we asked you to consider which
KEY POINT strategic talent management integration “actions” should be
incorporated into your organization’s recognition program. Now, you
A well-designed should identify how those key strategic “actions” will be integrated on a
recognition program tactical level. For example, consider the following questions.
will integrate with and
• How many days should we allow for extra paid time-off as part of the
add value to other talent
recognition program?
management programs
such as compensation,
• What are the parameters for flexible work schedules as part of the
recognition program?
benefits, performance
management, Another important component to consider is performance management.
engagement, learning For example, “To what extent should recognition feedback be captured
and even recruiting. in the performance management system and who will be responsible for
ensuring this takes place?”
Part 3: Program Launch, Management and

Measurement
Figure 24: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® – Governance & Management, Metrics &
Evaluation, and Launch
Audience
Design


Budget Visibility

Criteria Frequency
Rewards


Overview
Once a program is designed, it has to be launched, managed and

measured regularly. Considerable thought should be given to deciding
the optimal implementation and supporting governance model
for recognition. These efforts allow you to keep critical lines of
communication flowing from the business to supporting HR functions.
The evaluation of your recognition program requires the tracking and
use of key metrics to drive continuous improvement, and to ultimately
improve the performance, retention and engagement of your workforce.
This next section will discuss the three areas shown in Figure 24:
1. Launch;
2. Management and governance; and,
3. Metrics and evaluation.
Launch
Launch is the time when the stakeholders need to create and execute
a plan that communicates the recognition program’s purpose and its
benefits to employees. The four key elements include a branding plan,
employee training, marketing and communications. This next section will
discuss each of these elements in detail.
Branding Plan
A branding plan helps to convey to employees the details of the

recognition program. As part of the program strategy and design section
of the Framework, organizations should have collected feedback from
employees to understand how they perceive recognition and what
they would like from the program. In addition, key program criteria
should have been defined. This information should be included in the
branding plan. Other factors that will inform the branding plan are the
organization’s overall brand, the variations on that theme for existing
complementary programs and appropriate message segmentation
for different employee populations. For example, what will you say
for programs targeting HiPos, midlevel managers in China or another
population? What messages will be the same and what will be different?
The overall recognition program and individual rewards program

messages should be simple, meaningful and consistent. For example, the
Calgary Marriott uses the name S.P.I.R.I.T. and it includes the things the
organization values – special recognition, participation in the community,
introducing new business, recruitment, innovation and team recognition.
The performance and behaviors valued are clearly articulated in the
program’s name.
Employee Training
Training is one of the most important elements of the launch section.

KEY POINT
Employees, and especially managers, are very busy, so time away from
Training is one of the their regular work needs to be a valuable use of their time. Therefore,
most important elements
the training program must be simple, relevant and concise. Employee
training initiatives should focus on two fundamental areas.
of the launch section.
First, managers should be trained on how to motivate and recognize
their employees. This includes what performance and behaviors should
be recognized (as identified through the program criteria), as well as
how to give the recognition. Specifically, managers should be equipped
with knowledge about how to recognize employees in a thoughtful
and meaningful way. For example, what types of words should they
use and in what manner should those words be conveyed? To do this,
many organizations have created programs to guide managers on best
practices in recognition and employee motivation.
The following case in point is an example of an organization that has

integrated recognition into its management training programs.
Case in Point: Financial Services Organization

Trains Managers to Be Program Ambassadors
With roughly 10,000 employees, a large financial services

organization has incorporated several manager training programs
to explain the importance of recognition and how it should be
used to motivate employees. The organization’s recognition
programs encourage managers to give praise and feedback that
tie with business goals, while also motivating staff with rewards
based on their preferences (e.g., cash, certificates, and verbal
praise, and other).
To do this, the organization offers supervisor training to all

managers in the form of two courses. The first course, which is
offered to all new supervisors, focuses on the fundamentals of
management. It includes an introduction about recognition,
Case in Point: Financial Services Organization Trains Managers (cont’d)
motivation and rewards –intended to define key concepts and

how they should be used across the organization. The second
program takes a more in-depth look at management essentials.
This program lasts eight weeks, and includes a “deep-dive”
on motivation and rewards. In this session, the organization’s
managers are taught how to critically think about “what” drives
their employees professionally and personally. In addition, the
program educates managers about “how” they should motivate
staff and configure recognition messages that are meaningful.
Then, the program connects the motivations with rewards
that are appropriate based on the organization’s business
goals and culture. Finally, the training programs reinforce the
branding messages, criteria and benefits of its enterprise-wide
recognition program.
Overall, the results of the manager training program have been

instrumental in keeping employees motivated, engaged and
retained – and, importantly, are driving the business forward.
Furthermore, the fact that the programs are structured helps to
ensure all managers implement the programs in an efficient and
engaging manner. This structure facilitates continuity with the
organization’s overall recognition effort. e
A second fundamental element is training on the program itself. Many

KEY POINT
organizations offer multiple sessions which include hands-on training, as
Managers should be well as online tutorials. Organizations should also consider when training
is necessary. For example, do employees just need written instructions
equipped with the
about how to complete nomination forms or do they need training on
knowledge about how
how to communicate strengths on the nomination form?
to recognize employees
in a thoughtful and Across the past few years, there has been a growing trend in online
meaningful way.
recognition platforms. Training may be needed on these platforms;
however, the goal of most of these platforms is to make the programs
intuitive enough that no major training is required. These platforms
include features such as distributing thank you notes and allocating
points that can be traded for merchandise. As discussed earlier, some
vendors also provide systems that also include a social networking
component to them – the ability to have a “news feed” like what is
provided on LinkedIn or Facebook. As a result, there is a need for on-line
and sometimes in-person training that provides guidance on the “dos

and don’ts” of using a real-time system.
Marketing
As part of the launch, corporate marketing materials must be created.

KEY POINT
They should be educational, succinct and truly describe the main
Corporate marketing messages of the recognition program, so that it resonates with staff.
materials should be In addition, if your organization partners with a third-party vendor, it
may want to incorporate some of that provider’s materials, particularly
educational, succinct
with respect to the functionality or items that will engage an employee
and truly describe the
to participate. Core marketing materials generally include, but are not
main messages of the
limited to:
recognition program,
• Brochures;
so that it resonates
with staff. • Intranet portals and newsletters;
• Flyers; and,
• Written / video testimonials.
All materials should support the criteria of the program and the
organization’s culture and values overall.
When thinking about the marketing plan, some organizations prefer to

keep the details on the company’s internal website or intranet. Others
may choose to communicate the program or elements of it externally on
the web, so that it is visible to the public. For example, one organization
may simply decide to write a small paragraph about the program on the
recruiting section of its external website to help attract candidates. Other
organizations may decide to post the details of their entire recognition
programs prominently on their external websites. For example Kern
County Superintendent of Schools displays the program on its home page
as shown Figure 25.41
41 Source: http://kern.org/.
Figure 25: Kern County Superintendent of Schools’ Home Page
Source: Kern County Superintendent of Schools, 2012.
Kern County also shows the complete details of its program on this
external website, as shown in Figure 26. A summary of the recognition
program is shown at the top of the page. (In addition, Kern County posts
a brochure about recognition on its website (see section, “Appendix I:
Additional Figures” for more details.)
Figure 26: Kern County Superintendent Schools’ Recognition – External Website Page
Summary
Program
Components
Source: Kern County Superintendent of Schools, 2012.
Communication
With the branding plan, training programs and marketing materials

created, it is time to communicate the recognition program(s) to
employees. At this juncture, it is important to determine who within
the organization will communicate the initial launch of the program.
You should also establish who will continually communicate about the
program, so as to maintain the greatest levels of engagement. Within
both of these communications, it is important to communicate to
employees what they get out of the recognition program – why they
should recognize peers and what they will gain from supporting each
other and the organization as a whole.
Executive sponsorship of the program is perhaps most strongly

demonstrated by the company’s CEO. For example, KPMG in Canada had
its CEO launch the initial recognition program; he continues to support
the program by talking about it frequently when he has conference calls
or meetings with employees. As another example, the CEO and president

at Meridian celebrates the success of the program on an ongoing basis
by sharing recognition success stories with the entire organization during
Meridian’s “Early Word” conference calls, which occur approximately
every quarter.
As part of the communications, organizations also need to think about

what tools will be used to communicate the program. Communications
can be delivered through venues such as online mediums, lunchrooms,
town halls, and conference calls. Written marketing materials should
be prepared and disseminated as appropriate. Organizations should
also think about who will create new materials when programs change.
Employees often need reminders about programs because they have so
much on their plates that it is easy to forget about them.
For example, a large company in the services industry has a very enticing
recognition program but company-wide participation in it is very low.
The performance-based recognition program evaluates a number of
manger-nominated employees and then selects 10 winners quarterly
who receive a $1,000 gift card. Those winners are then entered into a
grand prize for that quarter – an attractive one week of paid time-off
and a $5,000 travel voucher to go wherever the employee wanted to
go. However, the organization is struggling to get nominations because
information about the program was inadequately communicated to
managers. To address this, the company plans to hold one-on-one
conversations with managers to increase levels of engagement in
the program. Furthermore, the program team plans to promote the
programs in the company newsletter and in onboarding programs.
Communicating the recognition program to new employees is important.

New employees join the company on a regular basis. It is important to
determine what programs will be communicated though onboarding
programs, what programs should be communicated by managers and
what programs should be communicated by other materials sources
or venues.
Finally, you should also determine how best to communicate the program
to managers, particularly when elements of the program’s objectives
are temporary tied to key performance indicators or the manager needs
to allocate some of their work hours to recognition training. Be sure
to clearly articulate to managers what they will gain from engaging in
recognition activities.
Management and Governance
For the recognition program to be effective over the long-term,

KEY POINT HR executives, business leaders and other employees must make an
ongoing commitment to it. The management and governance portion
The management and
of the Framework is designed to help organizations think about how
governance portion of the
to sustain the program over time. In this section, we will focus on five
Framework is designed to components that are critical to the overall operation of the program,
help organizations think including – executive sponsorship, administration, compliance, equity and
about how to sustain the ongoing optimization.
program over time.
Executive Sponsorship
As with any major business initiative, and particularly holistic recognition

programs, executive sponsorship is vital. While HR is often the main
executive sponsor, for recognition to be successful, the CEO must buy
into the strategy. It is difficult to create a unified culture of recognition
without this support. It is also important for other C-level executives to
support the initiative. These leaders have the greatest influence over
other managers in different business units, geographies and functions.
Strong leaders “lead by example,” – this management style is essential
to promote recognition broadly, particularly when praise and simple
“thank yous” are not part of the culture. It is also important to note
that leadership tends to change over time, so be sure you have multiple
executives, managers and others onboard with the initiative.
Administration
Program administration is an important element in optimizing returns

from the recognition program. Today, many recognition programs
operate in silos – with business units and departments doing different
things that are not transparent to others in the organization. This can
result in behavioral inconsistencies, employees misunderstanding what
is worthy of that recognition and employees viewing the programs as
unfair. Furthermore, it is next to impossible to measure recognition
programs in a meaningful way when you do not know what is happening
across different business departments.
Progressive companies centralize program administration and generally

have one person spearhead those efforts – usually a program manager,
project manager, analyst or other. When there is a lot of decentralization
in the business and /or decentralization needed for certain recognition
programs, this person’s role would be to coordinate all activities in a

way that makes the program easier to measure. This person would
also oversee the creation and monitoring of key metrics and other
dashboards. This is no simple undertaking. Many organizations also use
task forces to provide support. The task force is comprised of individuals
from multiple regions with different domain expertise.
Compliance
Over time, policies, procedures and goals may change. In addition, it is

possible that people stray from the program’s goals and policies. To help
combat this, organizations should think about how they will regularly
communicate policies and any changes to them. However, misalignment
issues are not always easy to see. To help manage compliance more
proactively, many organizations conduct audits of the program in a non-
obtrusive way.
Some organizations involve their finance and legal departments in

the program management process, particularly since those divisions
have domain expertise about how the enterprise needs to adhere to
country, state and local regulations. For example, consider compliance
as it relates to rewards, and particularly cash and trips. Rewards must
be in compliance with all applicable tax laws. Rewards can also have tax
implications for employees; it is important to figure out how you want
to address them. Intuit, for example, offers a awards program, in which
the company grosses up the recipient’s income to cover award taxes
for employees.42
Equity
A key portion of the recognition strategy and program design elements

of the Framework is putting forth a structure that ensures the program
is equitable over time. Program criteria may change, new programs
are often added and some are discontinued. When these situations
occur, it is important for someone to evaluate how the changes affect
the recognition program as a whole, as well as the diverse business
departments. The following are key questions to ask.
42 Source: http://talentmgt.com/articles/view/intuit_spotlights_strategic_importance_
of_global_employee_recognition/3.
• Are the new criteria transparent for employees?

KEY POINT
• Who do we need to notify when programs are discontinued?
The likelihood of
inequity increases when For the program to have the best chances of being viewed as credible by
a subset of people in employees, it is critical that changes to criteria, scoring methodologies,
and material changes to rewards are conveyed in a timely fashion.
the organization use
the program and others Also, when thinking about equity, organizations should consider how
do not. often programs are being used. The likelihood of inequity increases
when a subset of people in the organization use the program and others
do not. Typically, when managers and employees are engaged with the
program, they use it appropriately. When they are not, they are not likely
to make it part of their routines.
For example, many organizations provide managers centralized funding

to provide “on the spot” recognition. Some managers may use all of this
budget while others only use 10 percent. It is unreasonable to expect that
managers use every penny to reward staff – some people’s performance
will not be worthy. However, it is essential to look at extremes to see if
there is an equity issue. With that said, tracking this activity is no easy
undertaking. Some companies have protocols in place to track this either
manually or as part of a financial budgeting program. It is also important
to point out that technology configured specifically for recognition is
evolving to better track “who” is recognizing and “why” the recognition
is occurring.
Ongoing Optimization
Ongoing optimization is essential to ensure a successful management

and governance program. The number one factor influencing its success
is how effective an organization is at ensuring that the program’s vision
evolves over time to align with business goals and employee needs.
However, our conversations with leaders reveal that there is some
significant work to be done in this area.
As mentioned earlier, the majority of companies with programs today

lack a holistic strategy and fail to embrace the right measurement
practices. To increase the effectiveness of their optimization efforts, HR
leaders should focus on doing the following three things.
1. Assess Metrics Relative to Benchmarks – Today some organizations

are just not measuring the right things while others, unfortunately,
are not measuring at all. When the right metrics are in place and
realistic goals are set, it is easier to make proactive changes to the
program and work with those accountable to make progress.
2. Collect Continuous Feedback on Programs – There must be a

structure in place, so that program owners can continuously collect
feedback from staff. As we mentioned earlier, some of this feedback
is collected through employee support initiatives. In addition, some
companies use focus groups, surveys and one-on-one conversations
to obtain insightful and up-to-date information about the
program’s effectiveness.
3. Meet Regularly to Discuss Progress and Set New Goals – The program
team should meet to discuss progress and set new goals when
appropriate. Progressive organizations schedule regular meetings
with the program manager, project team, executive sponsor and
other leaders, when necessary. How often the team meets with each
group depends on the complexity of the program, as well as the size
of the organization.
The final portion of the Employee Recognition Framework is metrics and

evaluation. Incorporating the right metrics and evaluation processes are
key to ensuring the overall success of the recognition program and its
role in meeting business goals. In this next section, we will discuss seven
fundamental elements, including – business outcomes, performance,
behaviors, employee satisfaction, employee engagement, employee
retention and activities and participation level. At this stage of program
implementation, organizations should establish key benchmarks for each
of the elements that they want to track, and also decide who will review
the metrics (e.g., which business leaders and HR leaders) and how often
they will be reviewed.
Business Outcomes
Business outcomes include a wide range of potential metrics in addition

to financial measures, such as increased customer satisfaction, greater
employee commitment, enhanced leadership effectiveness, more
productive sales approaches, improved work quality and so forth.43 While

KEY POINT
these are not direct financial measures, business leaders understand that
Generally speaking, they are key contributors to financial performance and are often leading
the exact business indicators of future business success.
outcomes vary from one When thinking through business outcomes, organizations need to
organization to another, ensure that the goals which will be regularly assessed are clear. This was
but all should be items discussed at length in the vision element of the strategy section of the
that are measurable this report. Generally speaking, the exact business outcomes vary from
and drive the business
one organization to another, but all should be items that are measurable
and drive the business forward. For example, most organizations view
forward.
improving customer service as something that will influence revenue
and business outcomes, but what else pertains to your business?
Manufacturing organizations may set Six Sigma44 goals. Organizations
with significant turnover may focus on employee commitment or
engagement. Keep in mind, such challenges can vary across among
business units.
The following questions are intended to help you to think through

program evaluation.
• Have we achieved our business goals? If we have not, what did we

do wrong?
• Do our goals need to be redefined?
• If we reached our goals, have we celebrated our success in a

meaningful way?
• How do we want to communicate our success and areas to improve

upon to program stakeholders and other employees?
Performance
Measuring performance is critical to the success of the overall recognition

effort. This includes the measuring of the performance of individual
employees and evaluating the recognition programs as they relate to
43 Source: The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning, Calhoun Wick, Roy Pollock,
Andrew Jefferson, Richard Flannigan / John Wiley, 2006, http://media.wiley.com/product_

data/excerpt/21/04705265/0470526521.pdf.
44 “Six Sigma” is a rigorous, focused, high-impact process that uses proven quality
principles and techniques to reduce process variance. For more information on Six Sigma,
please visit http://www.isixsigma.com, which offers articles and easy-to-read examples of
how to apply Six Sigma to any business process.
key criteria and business outcomes. For example, consider the following
KEY POINT
questions, “Did the rewards program in Division A contribute to a rise
Measuring performance in revenue by X percent compared with the previous year?”, and “Based
is critical to the success of on our criteria, what performance improved the most?” With answers to
these types of questions, organizations can best determine how well its
the overall recognition
recognition efforts are performing and which changes to the programs
effort.
are warranted. Furthermore, organizations can more accurately adjust
performance metrics and benchmarks as necessary.
It is also important to once again point out that recognition is a

supplement to traditional performance management (e.g., reviews,
360s and promotions). With that, as part of the evaluation process,
organizations need to identify what elements of the recognition
program should be measured and documented as part of the
performance management process.
Behaviors
Measuring the valued behaviors is critical to the program’s success.

Similar to what was discussed in performance, organizations should
review their criteria, and determine if the behaviors recognized
actually contributed to the individual performance of employees and
business outcomes. Furthermore, organizations need to determine if
the behaviors highlighted as most valuable supported their objectives
pertaining to culture. Questions to consider include the following.
• Did we recognize the right behaviors?
• Were employees aware of what the organization values the most?
After reviewing the metrics and assessing what contributed to them,

organizations are best prepared to make any necessary changes to their
programs and adjust metrics as necessary.
Employee Satisfaction
As part of the strategy and program sections in this report, organizations

were asked to consider getting feedback from employees about rewards,
including how they would like to be recognized, what training they
needed, and more. Based on these findings and the resulting design
decisions, it is critical to go back and get a “pulse” on how employees
view your programs. To do this, many organizations once again conduct
surveys or use other methods (e.g. informal on-one-ones or focus groups)
to collect employee feedback. Based on that feedback, it is important

to incorporate relevant changes to the program and adjust metrics
as necessary.
Engagement45
Many organizations conduct an annual survey to measure employee

engagement, satisfaction and retention. It is important to point out
that satisfaction is not the same as engagement.46 Employees can like or
dislike an attribute with respect to their jobs – emphasizing satisfaction
or dissatisfaction. Engagement, however, is more about determining if
the motivation is there for them to do their jobs. For example, “Is an
employee emotionally connected to his / her job?”, and “How much
discretionary effort will employees put forward?” Once the recognition
program is implemented for a while, it is essential that organizations
assess how the recognition program impacted engagement and then
make changes as necessary.
Retention
As the economy begins to improve, many organizations are concerned

about employee retention. As a result, progressive organizations are
incorporating measurable recognition programs to help them improve
retention. Retention is generally evaluated using data from the
following sources:
• Turnover data either collected manually or reported in an

organization’s human resource management system (HRMS); and,
• Survey data that assess levels of employee engagement and their

implications for retention.
Once these items are evaluated in conjunction with the other elements
of measurement, organizations are most prepared to make changes to
their programs and update their key benchmarks.
45 For more information, The Employee Engagement Primer, Bersin & Associates / Brenda
Kowske, Ph.D., January 2012. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library.
46 “Employee engagement” refers to an employee’s job satisfaction, loyalty and
inclination to expend discretionary effort toward organizational goals.
Activity and Participation Level
Ask yourself, “Did our organization achieve the tactical program

goals we set out to achieve?” Some of the items to consider as part of
evaluating the program activity level include:
• Recognition budget versus spend;
• Number of people who participated in a particular program;
• Number of people who registered to use online social networks;
• Number of awards given;
• Type of reward given;
• Number of points redeemed;
• How much time employees spend on the company’s recognition

website; and,
• Documentation of recognition by recognizer type (e.g., manager,

customer, peer).
Many of these metrics should be part of the reporting dashboard that

was created as part of the program design section of the Framework
(measurement element). Organizations should regularly review what is
driving strategic and tactical metrics at various levels. Once that is done,
it is easier to make changes to the program and create new benchmarks.
This will ensure that the programs have the best chances of success over
the short and long terms – and also that the business views recognition
as a valuable contributor to business goals, as opposed to “a nice to
have” but unmeasurable perk.
Meridian is an example of an organization that created a measurable

metrics and evaluation program.
Case in Point: How Meridian’s Metrics and

Evaluation Efforts Fire on All Cylinders
Meridian, one of Canada’s largest credit unions, has a talent
management strategy based on the premise that engaged
employees lead to engaged credit union members (e.g., customers),
which ultimately drives profit and sustainable growth. Furthermore,
the company believes that, when employees are recognized for
desired behaviors, they are more likely to repeat these behaviors,
which results in and sustains high organizational performance.
To improve its recognition efforts, the organization created a new

program, “iApplaudu@Meridian.” Prior to creating the program,
Meridian did two things. First, it involved the organization’s top
leaders in the recognition strategy. Executive sponsorship of the
program is perhaps most strongly demonstrated by the company’s
president and CEO, who supports and endorses the program
regularly. Second, the organization established clearly defined
goals and objectives that would be evaluated and measured after
the program was implemented.
Today, “iApplaudu@Meridian” includes a platform that allows for

all employees to be “recognizees” or “recognizors.” The program
criteria include behaviors aligned to the organization’s values and
brand (e.g., providing superior, personalized service to colleagues
or customers), performance (sales incentives), employee referrals
and tenure anniversaries. Now that the program is well underway,
the organization’s leaders can analyze recognition program
metrics – and they do so continuously. Quarterly insight meetings
are held to review program usage, strengths and opportunities.
Meridian’s third-party technology provider includes a flexible
reporting platform that allows the program team to run a variety
of useful analytical reports (e.g., how often the management team
is using the system to recognize and reward employees).
To date, Meridian has achieved the results it had set out to

achieve prior to the program’s implementation, including –
business outcomes, employee engagement, performance,
behaviors, employee retention and activities and participation
level. Some of the key results are included in Figure 27.
Figure 27: Meridian’s Key Performance Metrics and Results
Category Measurement and Evaluation Result
• When employees were asked to rate whether or not

they are recognized for doing good work, the percent
of employees who would rate this “5” out of 5
increased from 44 percent to 51 percent.
Employee Engagement • The engagement score relative to recognition has
moved from 3.96 to 4.13 on a five-point scale (with
five as the highest).
• This is a significant result, as movement of .10 is
considered a material change.
• Turnover rate for engaged employees is lower than

Employee Retention it is for disengaged employees (see Figure 28 for
more detail).
• Cost-savings were evident in the rewards budget due to

reductions in administration and management costs.
• Fifty-four percent of recognition given through the
Tactical Goals: Activities and Participation Level online recognition program was not linked to a
monetary reward.
• Ninety-six percent of employees maintain active
accounts in the online recognition program.
Source: Meridian, 2012.
Case in Point: Meridian’s Metrics (cont’d)
In addition, Meridian’s team wanted to measure the financial

impact of its recognition program, and particularly the financial
impact of the program on business performance. Meridian’s
financial results indicate there may be a connection between
engaged employees and business results. For example, the
following numbers compare top and bottom quartile employee
engagement scores.
• Average growth (Canadian dollars, in millions) per full-time

employee (FTE):
o Most engaged employees (top quartile) – Canadian $2.11

million per FTE
o Least engaged employees (bottom quartile) – Canadian $1.29

million per FTE
• Membership (client) growth percentage attributable to each FTE:
o Most engaged employees (top quartile) – 4.7 percent
o Least engaged employees (bottom quartile) – 1.1 percent
• Revenue growth percentage increase per FTE:
o Least engaged employees (bottom quartile) – 2.3 percent
• Financial margin growth percentage:
o Least engaged employees (bottom quartile) – (-)1.2 percent
These figures show that more engaged employees produced

greater financial results. In addition, Meridian’s turnover rate for
engaged employees is lower than it is for disengaged employees
(see Figure 28).
The Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework Your 87
Reinforcing our Culture of Company
Logo
Engagement through Recognition
Figure 28: Meridian’s Engaged Employee Turnover Rate
Goes Here
Spotlight: Measuring the Impact of Recognition on Engagement and Performance
Turnover Rate
Source: Meridian, 2012.
Meridian continues to evolve its program by setting new

benchmarks and continually evaluating its key metrics. As a result,
employees enjoy a wide variety of individualized and meaningful
rewards, while the leadership team is better able to align
employee recognition for performance against strategic goals and
the demonstration of desired behaviors. e
Part 4: Applying the Employee Recognition

Framework
Recognition beyond regular compensation, incentive pay and rewards
programs is an evolving discipline. Although most organizations have
some of the elements in place (e.g. awards programs), the majority of
those organizations are not:
• Setting measurable objectives for their programs; or,

KEY POINT
• Building a holistic strategy that is designed to accelerate
This Employee
business goals.
Recognition Framework
is designed to help your This Employee Recognition Framework is designed to help your
organization consider all of the elements necessary to build a recognition
organization consider all
program from scratch or redesign how your programs currently operate.
of the elements necessary
The goal should be to build a suite of programs that reinforce each other
to build a recognition
in a more meaningful and measurable way. To use recognition most
program from scratch effectively, we suggest beginning with the top of the Framework, the
or redesign how your Recognition Strategy bar. This section is intended to help the HR team
programs currently and senior business leaders engage in a dialogue about the best way to
operate. incorporate recognition. Below are some of the key questions that you
will need to answer.
• What is the purpose of recognition at our organization?
• How can we use recognition to accelerate our business goals and

build the culture we want in the future?
• How should recognition align with, reinforce and contribute to our

organization’s talent management strategy?
• What measures do we need to take to ensure our program is

equitable and transparent for employees across different functions,
regions and geographies?
• Who should be accountable for reaching our goals?
• How will we measure what we set out to achieve?
We then suggest that you clarify how each audience member is affected
by recognition today. Programs may vary based on each talent segment,
but they should be transparent and equitable. From here, we suggest
you have conversations with the people that need to implement the
program, or are currently managing your existing program – you should
have a dialogue with them for all elements within the program design
portion of the Employee Recognition Framework. The following are
some of the key questions you will need to answer.
• Are we spending our budget in a way that rewards and recognizes

KEY POINT
employees based on qualified criteria?
You need to consider
• Do we need to reconsider who should deliver the recognition?
what the “ideal mix”
of rewards is for your • Are the approval processes we have in place working to enable the
best program possible?
organization, based on
its business goals, the • Have we segmented our program to meet the preferences and needs
behaviors you want to of employees across multiple regions and geographies?
recognize and employees’
• How often should we recognize employees?
needs.
• How can we measure our program in a more quantitative fashion?
From here, you will want to think about rewards. Consider the
• How much does your organization praise or express appreciation?
• How important is it to include rewards in addition to recognition?
Overall, in this section, you need to identify the “ideal mix” of rewards
is for your organization, based on its business goals, the behaviors you
want to recognize and employees’ needs.
After that, consider how your employees will be supported, your vendor
strategy and what portions of the program will be integrated with your
existing talent management programs. Questions that are relevant to
this section include the following.
• Do we have the right platforms and tools to engage managers and

employees in our program?
• What vendors will help us add value and is our existing vendor
strategy working?
• What portions of the program need to be integrated with our

existing talent management programs?
Next, dive into the last three section of the Framework – program
launch, management and measurement activities. Launch includes the
elements that bring forth the formal commencement of the newly
created or revised recognition program. The program management
and governance, and the measurement and evaluation sections, which
represent the two pillars on each side of the Framework, are important
to helping your organization to effectively manage and support
recognition on an ongoing basis. When working through this section,

KEY POINT
consider the following questions.
The Employee
• Does your branding plan and supporting marketing materials reflect
Recognition Framework the messaging necessary to communicate the performances and
is intended to help your behaviors your organization perceives as valuable?
organization better
• Have employees received enough training and support on the things
engage employees
that matter most?
and drive business
performance over the • Do you need to get more leaders engaged, so that you can improve
short and long term.
the results of your program?
• Does your compliance and governance structure support what you

are trying to accomplish for the business?
• How can you better optimize your recognition programs to show

measurable results for the talent management function and the other
parts of the business?
In summary, the Employee Recognition Framework is intended to

help your organization better engage employees and drive business
performance over the short and long term. The Framework has been
constructed to enable your team to create a holistic strategy that is
supported by the right programs and measurement tools. It is our hope
that when the Framework is applied that your team will achieve the
greatest returns on its recognition investments.
Final Thoughts
Recognition and rewards programs are not really “new” to the business.
However, the way in which these programs are incorporated into the
business is changing.
Progressive organizations have developed a holistic and equitable

recognition strategy designed to drive improved employee engagement
and targeted employee behaviors. Over the next few years, we think
organizations will increasingly embrace recognition as an important
approach to driving change and improved performance. As such,
recognition has the potential to become an increasingly core and
strategic tool of the HR function.
This Framework is intended to help your organization understand how

all of the elements of recognition fit together and the key decision
points necessary for creating a strategic recognition program. The end
goal is for you to understand how to develop a program that effectively
integrates recognition into your organization’s business and talent
management strategies – and ultimately contributes to improved
business outcomes.
Appendix I
Additional Images
Appendix I: Additional Images
Figure 29: Kern County Employee Recognition Program
Source: http://www.employeerecognition.kern.org, 2012.
Appendix II
Glossary of Terms
Appendix II: Glossary of Terms
Culture
“Culture” is the collective set of organizational values, conventions,

processes and practices that influence and encourage both individuals
and the collective organization to continuously increase knowledge,
competence and performance. This includes the attitudes, experiences,
knowledge and beliefs within the enterprise. This collective structure
influences the way staff relate to each other and also controls how they
behave with external stakeholders.
Emblematic Rewards
“Emblematic rewards” are a type of recognition that includes praise and

appreciation, special projects, certificates, and trophies and plaques.
Employee Engagement
“Employee engagement” refers to an employee’s job satisfaction,

loyalty and inclination to expend discretionary effort toward
organizational goals.
Employee Results
“Employee results” is an index comprised of employee productivity,

employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
Extrinsic Motivation
“Extrinsic motivation” comes from outside the individual, such as

rewards, trophies, money, etc. In most cases, competition is considered an
extrinsic motivation since it encourages the individual to beat others to
win, thereby not participating for the pure enjoyment of the activity.
High-Potential Employee
A “high-potential employee” is an employee who has been identified

as having the potential, ability and aspiration for successive leadership
positions within the company. Often, these employees are provided with
focused development as part of a succession plan and are referred to
as “HiPos.”
Intrinsic Motivation
“Intrinsic motivation” is when people engage in an activity for its

own sake, without some obvious external incentive present. Intrinsic
motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something

because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important or they
feel that what they are learning is significant. Essentially, the motivation
comes from inside an individual, rather than from any external or outside
influence (e.g., rewards).
Monetary Rewards
“Monetary rewards” are a type of recognition activity that includes

rewards of values above $100. These rewards can include special trips
(e.g., team outings), awards conferences, learning conferences, cash /
vouchers and extra paid time-off.
Points
“Points” are a reward mechanism for employees who meet certain

recognition criteria. Points can be redeemed for a wide range of brand-
name merchandise, travel, gift cards and experiences using an extensive
online catalogue.
Recognizers
“Recognizers” are the people within an organization or outside of it who

give recognition to an employee or group of employees.
Six Sigma
“Six Sigma” is a rigorous, focused, high-impact process that uses proven

quality principles and techniques to reduce process variance. For more
information on Six Sigma, please visit http://www.isixsigma.com, which
offers articles and easy-to-read examples of how to apply Six Sigma to
any business process.
Talent Results
“Talent results” is an index comprised of hiring the best people,

developing great leaders, developing employees, retaining top
performers, planning for future talent needs, having the right people in
the right jobs.
Token Rewards
“Token rewards” are a type of recognition that includes rewards of

smaller values, typically around $100. These rewards can include gift
cards, candy, flowers, lunches / dinners and merchandise, or points that
can be converted to other items.
Appendix III
Table of Figures
Appendix III: Table of Figures
Figure 1: How Recognition Fits within Total Rewards 8
Figure 2: Types of Motivation 12
Figure 3: Psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 15
Figure 4: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® 18
Figure 5: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® – Recognition Strategy 19, 36
and Audience
Figure 6: Strategic Integration Considerations between Recognition and Other Talent 27, 28
Management Activities
Figure 7: Four Behaviors Reinforced by KPMG in Canada’s Recognition 30

Program
Figure 8: Questions Your Organization Must Answer before It Makes Other Decisions 35
in This Framework
Figure 9: Recognition Audiences 37
Figure 10: Recognition Activities Unique to Each Audience Segment 38
Figure 11: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® – Design and Rewards 39
Figure 12: Budget Allocation Considerations 42
Figure 13: Three Primary Criteria of Recognition 43
Figure 14: Key Performance Criteria Categories 45
Figure 15: Types of Recognizers 49
Figure 16: Directions of Recognition 51
Figure 17: Types of Approval Approaches 53
Figure 18: Details on Recognition Visibility Levels 54, 55
Figure 19: Types of Delivery Methods 58
Figure 20: Customization Considerations 59
Figure 21: Components That Lead to a Measurement Action Plan 60
Figure 22: Reward Types 63
Figure 23: Vendors Categories to Consider 66
Figure 24: Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® – Governance & Management, 68
Metrics & Evaluation, and Launch
Figure 25: Kern County Superintendent of Schools’ Home Page 73
Figure 26: Kern County Superintendent Schools’ Recognition – External Website Page 74
Figure 27: Meridian’s Key Performance Metrics and Results 85
Figure 28: Meridian’s Engaged Employee Turnover Rate 87
Figure 29: Kern County Employee Recognition Program 93
About Us
Bersin & Associates is the only research and advisory consulting firm
focused solely on WhatWorks® research in enterprise learning and
talent management. With more than 25 years of experience in enterprise
learning, technology and HR business processes, Bersin & Associates
provides actionable, research-based services to help learning and HR
managers and executives improve operational effectiveness and
business impact.
Bersin & Associates research members gain access to a comprehensive

library of best practices, case studies, benchmarks and in-depth market
analyses designed to help executives and practitioners make fast, effective
decisions. Member benefits include in-depth advisory services, access to
proprietary webcasts and industry user groups, strategic workshops, and
strategic consulting to improve operational effectiveness and business
alignment. More than 3,500 organizations in a wide range of industries
benefit from Bersin & Associates research and services.
Bersin & Associates can be reached at http://www.bersin.com or at

(510) 251-4400.
About This Research

Copyright © 2012 Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. WhatWorks®
and related names such as Rapid e-Learning: WhatWorks® and The
High-Impact Learning Organization® are registered trademarks of
Bersin & Associates. No materials from this study can be duplicated,
copied, republished or reused without written permission from Bersin &
Associates. The information and forecasts contained in this report reflect
the research and studied opinions of Bersin & Associates analysts.

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The Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition 17

Two factors make recognition programs hard to quantify. First,

In many organizations, this perception – that recognition makes

1 Source: Incentive Marketing Association, http://www.incentivemarketing.org/.

This study is about creating a recognition strategy and supporting

Our research reveals that progressive organizations look at recognition

The Bersin & Associates Employee Recognition Framework® is a

In creating this research, we relied on hundreds of years of our collective

4 For more information, High-Impact Performance Management: Maximizing

• How do all of the elements of recognition fit together?

• What is the most effective way to organize HR to support managers

• How should recognition integrate with other talent management

• What are the benefits to the organization from doing

Stacia Sherman Garr

What Is Recognition and Why Does

Figure 1: How Recognition Fits within Total Rewards

Recognition Token Rewards8

Skills Development and

Compensation and Incentive

Source: Bersin & Associates, 2012.

Copyright © 2011 Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. Page 1

7 “Emblematic rewards” are a type of recognition that includes praise and

Why Does Recognition Matter Today?10

2. The need for greater agility;

3. The flattening of organizational structures;

5. The rise of the millennial generation in the workforce.

In the following, we discuss each of these factors in detail.

1. Volatile Economy – As many Western organizations dealt with

10 Bersin & Associates defines emblematic rewards as recognition that represents

in lower employee engagement.13 Coaching and development

2. The Need for Greater Agility – As we all know, business is moving

3. The Flattening of Organizational Hierarchies – The old days of a

4. Technology – As we all know, social technology has grabbed hold

13 Source: “Employee Engagement Index, Gallup Management Journal, 2010,

for individuals to give positive feedback directly to others within

5. The Rise of the Millennial Generation in the Workforce – Younger

As organizations prepare to hire, grow and manage their workforces of

15 Source: “A New Self-Report Scale of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in

Figure 2: Types of Motivation

Comes from within Comes from outside

Motivation tapped Motivation tapped

Source: Bersin & Associates, 2012.

which will increase their capabilities.16 On the other hand, “extrinsic

In the context of the workplace, people who are intrinsically motivated

16 Source: “Children’s motivation for reading: Domain specificity and instructional

However, some social psychological research indicates that extrinsic

It is important to note that these findings do not necessarily mean that

Another element of motivation to note is the relative importance of

Performance Management / Rosanne D’Ausilio, Ph.D., September 10, 2008,

This information suggests that organizations which primarily recognize

To help explain the drivers of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in