The Recognition Program Puzzle: Diversity – Inclusion – Intrinsic – Extrinsic?

With all these buzzwords floating around the employee engagement world how do you put them all together to come up with a great employee recognition program?

When in the process of designing or re-designing your recognition program, it will be easier if you keep the four important buzzwords, diversity, inclusion, intrinsic and extrinsic in mind.  Diversity can be loosely defined as the range of differences between races, ethnicities, ages and numerous other personal traits. Inclusion is the involvement and empowerment between each of them. 

Recognition is perceived differently by different cultures so it’s important to include several options of how managers can actually recognize the employees.  Based on recent survey’s it is important that your employees perceive that the program rules are fair and all inclusive.   Be sure to link employee goals to business goals, give your managers training for the coaching necessary to make sure you are rewarding the correct standout performance for some while also managing convergent performance for others. 

Your program should also include both intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the behavior driven by positive internal feelings, as opposed to extrinsic motivation, which is driven by external things – praise, pizza, merchandise, gift cards and so on.  Be careful of the debate over which is better, or more motivational, they both have their place and the best results can be found in the strategic mix of both types.  And for organizations dealing with expanding workplace diversity, balancing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is more important than ever when it comes to inclusion and motivation.

According to Christina Zurek, Solution Manager, ITA Group…

“People naturally gravitate toward what motivates them, whether that’s pizza, competitions, joining a running club or volunteering at a homeless shelter. The choices people make represent who they are, and when businesses help employees make choices they’re proud of, they build businesses they’re proud to stand behind. After all, the ability to be yourself and share your passions is precisely what diversity and inclusion are all about.”

What awards to use?  We’ll leave that up to the legions of award companies you can choose from to decide. Regardless of what you use, make sure to include a choice from a very wide array of gift cards.  They still provide the best value at the best price of any extrinsic award in the industry. And are the most used of any award ever.

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