STRATEGIES FOR
DEVELOPING A SUCCESSFUL
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION PROGRAM
by
Mark M. Whitney and Jennifer M. Bombard
Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP
200 State Street
Boston, MA 02109
www.morganbrown.com
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EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION
PROGRAMS
By: Mark M. Whitney (mwhitney@morganbrown.com and
Jennifer M. Bombard (jbombard@morganbrown.com)
Introduction: What is an Employee Recognition
Program?
All employees like to be recognized and appreciated. An employee
recognition program can be the key to motivating employees and infusing
a healthy dose of creativity into an otherwise “stale” corporate culture.
Traditionally, recognition programs were viewed as a “nice thing” for
companies to do. Today, companies are thinking about recognition more
strategically and aligning their employee recognition programs with their
business goals. Large employers have added “employee recognition”
sections to their websites to inform prospective employees about incentive
and reward programs. Some recruiting firms encourage applicants to ask
employers at job interviews about whether they have a formal recognition
program and how they encourage or reward employees. In addition, the
number of recognition strategy/services firms, employee recognition
program vendors, and corporate rewards/corporate loyalty sponsors has
dramatically increased in the past twenty years. Bob Nelson, President of
Nelson Motivation Inc. and best-selling author of 1001 Ways to Reward
Employees, estimates that the U.S. incentive industry is a $27 billion-dollar
enterprise.
Employee recognition programs, when developed and administered
appropriately, can improve communication between employees and
management, as well as increase employee loyalty by giving employees
more of a stake in their company’s success.
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Benefits of an Employee Recognition Program for
Company Managers and Executives:
1. Quicker ident