Empowerment

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Chapters 3, 4 and 5 discuss the different styles of recognition systems at the companies studied. For instance, Chase Manhattan's "Service Star Program" emphasizes peer recognition and tailors the reward to the individual's likes. At Chase, any employee can nominate a colleague for a Service Star Award. The reward is a pin and aplaque that displays multiple pins should employees receive them. The next level is the All-Star Award, which is a cash reward of $750, given out each quarter. Employees achieve this level by getting three Service Star pins or by doing something "extraordinary," which is determined by a peer review committee. A Super Star Award is the highest level of achievement, and the winner is selected from theAll-Star recipients. Winners receive $5,000 and a crystal trophy sculpture.
The authors evaluate Chase Manhattan's program by looking at how active the program is, the effectiveness of the peer review committees, the administrative factors involved and how the plan plays outside the United States.
Another approach, covered in Chapter 4, is to reward teams based on their ability to complete aproject or meet a deadline. Bayer Corp.'s "President Achievement Award" does this by pre-announcing luxury weekend awards to winning team members and their spouses. The company wanted a noncash program that would spread out recognition far and wide to avoid a winners vs. losers mentality among employees.
Any Bayer team working on a continuous improvement project can apply for the award. The teamfills out an application based on the award's criteria. A recognition selection committee then reviews it. Most teams that correctly fill out the application receive a recognition award. From that group, a selection committee comprised of one representative from each division or service group selects 10 finalists. These finalists then vote on the winner.
The third type of system, discussed inChapter 5, is organizational incentives, which engage all or most of the employees. Rewards are based on results, not activities. For instance, Rockwell Automation offers cash bonuses to its employees based on pre-announced payout schedules when the company reaches a performance milestone. Its plan, the Critical Success Measures Incentive Plan (CSMIP), serves three key purposes: to link and rewardemployee and business performance at the business unit level to improve local results; to better educate employees about their units or key business measures; and to increase employee interest in meeting business goals.
Each Rockwell Automation unit is measured on four factors: profit before taxes, sales growth, on-time product shipments and scrap reduction. For each of these, three performancelevels are assigned: meaningful improvement, substantial improvement and exceptional improvement. Percentages are given to each level and bonuses are based on the level that units reach. Again, the authors analyze the success of Rockwell's system.
The final chapter draws on the lessons learned from all the plans studied and summarizes how readers can best use project, recognition and group incentiveplans to improve teamwork and organizational performance.
Rewarding Teams: Lessons from the Trenches by Glenn Parker, Jerry McAdams and David Zielinski is available through the SHIRMStore at www.shrm.org/shrmstore or by calling (800) 444-5006, option 1, $24.95 for members, $27.00 list price. Please ask for item number 48.23001 and use order code M090B.
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http://www.managerwise.com/article.phtml?id=246
Reward and Recognition Pathways and Pitfalls
By: Jim Clemmer

|Jim Clemmer is an international keynote speaker, workshop leader, author, and president of The CLEMMER Group, a North American network|
|of organization, team, and personal improvement consultants based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. His...