The governor of Wisconsin has been pilloried in the press and online community alike for the last few months. Being Irish, I admit I don’t follow U.S. politics (especially at the state level) very closely, but I couldn’t miss this story.
Regardless of intention or outcome, the way this story is playing out in the press is quite simple. The governor pushed to eliminate collective bargaining power of state workers, which most see as an effort to eliminate or reduce some benefits. To make it up to these employees, the governor is now instituting a “State Employee Recognition Day” and state worker recognition program.
Setting politics aside, there are 3 fundamental HR issues here:
1) Recognition should never replace base requirements.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs explains that, until a person’s basic needs (food, security) are provided for, the upper level needs (acceptance, self-esteem) cannot be met. The blue triangle illustrates the application of Total Rewards to Maslow’s Hierarchy.
The governor erred in thinking an “employee recognition day” could in any way replace base compensation and benefits employees feel like they have now lost. Recognition fulfills a very different human requirement and function in the Total Rewards package.
The Fix: Meet employee fair compensation and base benefit needs first before turning to employee recognition efforts.
2) Recognition should never be a 1-day event.
The details of the governor’s proposed employee recognition program are fairly sketchy, but it seems all nominations for recognition in three different categories must be submitted by the end of the month. From this, and the additional details on nomination review committee formation, it seems only 3 employees will actually receive recognition on this one day of the year.
Such a program – limited both in number of people recognized and in frequency of recognition – is doomed to fail. The governor’s program will, at best, spark resentment among co-workers who are, perhaps, equally deserving of recognition. Similarly, recognition given on just this one day does nothing to encourage repetition of desired behaviors and achievements the other 364 days of the year.
The Fix: Make recognition of colleagues and service providers a daily practice. Remove the hassle of committees to allow valid, appreciative feedback to be shared quickly.
3) Recognition should never be difficult to give.
The submission form itself is designed to cover all three available forms of recognition: two nominated by other state employee colleagues (Outstanding Innovation and Unsung Hero) and one nominated by the general public (Excellence in Customer Service). Yet the form requests a good deal of personal information (including street address, telephone number and length of service with the State) – even for nominations by the public. While I appreciate the hard work of my local rubbish removal team, I certainly don’t know their home addresses or length of tenure.
The Fix: Make recognizing and appreciating others easy and fun. Make the recognition submission process obvious and simple to ensure maximum participation and positive results.
These aren't the only signs your recognition program is in trouble. What other lessons can we learn from this situation? Educate me on where I may have misunderstood the situation in Wisconsin.
As Globoforce’s Head of Strategic Consulting, Derek Irvine is an internationally minded management professional with over 20 years of experience helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition, leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. His articles on fostering and managing a culture of appreciation through strategic recognition have been published in Businessweek, Workspan and HR Management. Derek splits his time between Dublin and Boston. Follow Derek on Twitter at @DerekIrvine.
I was nodding wisely as I read this until I got to #3 and then I had to laugh. To be absolutely certain of the nominee's identity they should also require their SS# and the 3-digit number on the back of their credit card.
Posted by: Laura Schroeder | 05/25/2011 at 08:36 AM
Isn't it ironic, Laura? If you're going to go to the effort of creating a recognition program, don't go the extra step of making it too complicated/difficult!
Posted by: Derek Irvine, Globoforce | 05/27/2011 at 10:10 AM