Engagement Program Analysis

Seven Employee Engagement Ideas That Work!

20 page PDF

We recently participated in the Battle of the Best People Practice competition produced by Great Place to Work where we learned about innovativeand creative ways in which companies are engaging their employees.

To make your life easier, we’ve curated seven of our favorites from the 52 entrants. In addition to hand-picking example people programs, we also created a matrix describing the level of complexity and whether or not the program has a short-term or long-term impact.

1. YouEarnedIt1st Place Popular Vote Winner

Complexity: Simple

Impact: Long-Term

Description: Recognize, reward, and engage employees via peer-to-peer recognition and meaningful rewards. Admins love it. Employees love it. CEO’s love it!

YouEarnedIt uses their employee recognition and reward platform on a daily basis in a leadership effort to create and sustain a happy work environment, retain top talent, and attract new talent.

Employees start each quarter off with a balance of YouEarnedIt points. The points have monetary value ($0.01 = 1 point) and are used to recognize and reward peers. Companies choose how many points they give their employees to send to others. Recognition is public so the entire company knows who is giving and receiving the recognition. It's also linked to core company values like collaboration, innovation and customer success.

Employees redeem their points for things like a team happy hour, executive coaching, extra days off, or coffee hand-delivered from the boss. They can also be used to give back to the community or a charity. In addition, the points can be redeemed for gift cards and/or products at or below retail prices.

The act of giving and receiving recognition goes a long way to build trust, pride, loyalty, and collaboration between employees. Also, allowing for real-time recognition from peers and others across the company helps to reinforce behaviors that have the most impact.

2. Ruby Receptionists

Judges’ Selection

Complexity: Simple

Impact: Long-term

Description: Employee Empowerment and Encouraging and Recognizing Great Customer Service

One of the first things new "Ruby" employees learn is that they can buy anything for any client at any time – no questions asked. Sending a stuffed puppy based on an inside joke? Sounds great! Hear a client was under the weather? Send a wellness package with tea, a mug, and tissues to brighten their day! Want to send a pink cape, mask, and keychain that says “Super Lawyer”? Go for it! What started as one receptionist's idea, Ruby now has a prepaid Amazon account where employees are empowered to log in and buy gifts for clients whenever they feel inspired -- which, it turns out, is daily! If they can't find the perfect gift on Amazon, they can take petty cash to get something local. There’s even a “WOW Station” complete with boxes, tissue paper, and anything they may need to make their package extra special. Not only do these "WOW gifts" make their clients' days, they help Ruby employees feel empowered, trusted, and that they're making a difference. On top of that, at every staff meeting, they share the very best “WOW Story” of the quarter and dole out a crisp $100 bill and a hip, wooden plaque to the thoughtful employee.

3. The Clymb1st Place Judges’ Selection

Complexity: Simple

Impact: Short-term

Description: Team building through exercise. Employees have fun and get to know someone they may not normally interact with on a regular basis.

What could be more human-powered than putting two strangers on a tandem bike and asking them to pedal around town? Inspiring a spirit of outdoor adventure and teambuilding, The Clymb pairs employees from different departments, who otherwise may not have the opportunity to get to know one another, and sends them off on our Clymb tandem bike with $15 cash to use as they wish. As The Clymb grows, they want to foster their unique culture. To promote 1:1 time with someone from a different team, the Employee Experience Team selects two employees; they meet in the lobby at noon and are given helmets, a bike lock, the Clymb tandem bike, plus $15 cash to spend on lunch. The two Clymbers ride off to wherever they choose. It’s a great team building tool because not only do they spend time on the bike getting to know one another, but they have to work together to ride the bike and navigate the city streets.

4. NetAppJudges’ Selection

Complexity: Simple

Impact: Short-term

Description: CIO for a Day

NetApp Chief Information Officer, Cynthia Stoddard, sponsors an annual “If I Were CIO for A Day” contest in which she asks IT employees what they would do to create a successful IT team. Many employees submit their great ideas and one winner is chosen. This year’s winner had the idea that if he were CIO for a day he would walk around and personally thank each employee with a handshake for their hard work. In response, Cynthia and the winner went to every cubicle in the IT department and thanked each employee for their contributions to NetApp. Cynthia also made a commitment to dedicate an entire day, every year, to thanking valued IT employees around the globe! Here’s an excerpt of what the winner had to say about his experience:"Being CIO for a day at NetApp was an amazing experience! In parting, I have one piece of advice for everyone: don’t wait for someone else to recognize a colleague’s work. Do it yourself and recognize them as a peer. Thank them in the moment with a sincere heart.“- Raj

5. Global Tax Management

Judges’ Selection

Complexity: Difficult

Impact: Long-term

Description: Employee feelings of ownership via ESOP plan plus customized Bobbleheads

As an Employee owned company, with an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), GTM allocates shares of the company to it's employees each year, which vest over a 5 year period. They want to recognize each employee as they became 100% vested in the plan with something representative of the overall company spirit, but also personalized. The answer was customized Bobbleheads! As employees become 100% vested, bobbleheads are created of them and put on display in the office entryway. The office keeps one for permanent display and gives one to the employee. Each individual Bobblehead is 'revealed' separately as it is added to the case. As many of our people work in different offices or at clients, we send out a company wide announcement which includes the photos used for the person, a picture of their initial clay model, the final Bobblehead and their biography information.

The ESOP plan is fabulous.....and the Bobbleheads are fun!

6. Mercantil Commercebank

Finalist popular vote

Complexity: Simple

Impact: Long-term

Description: Compensation educational consultations

Compensation is a sensitive topic and many organizations avoid this discussion. Mercantil Commercebank employees are encouraged to learn more about various compensation plans via open dialogue and transparency. 

They designed CompTalk which offers employees the opportunity to schedule one-on-one, confidential meetings with a member of the compensation team. CompTalk sessions are offered twice a month, giving employees the flexibility to schedule their meetings at their convenience.

In addition to providing an analysis of individual market competitive positioning, CompTalk provides a venue for open discussion and feedback where employees ask questions related to promotions, salary grades, incentive pay, performance appraisal, merit increases, peer comparisons, and market pay for their position. Managers support the program by having CompTalk presented at their departmental meetings.

7. Cornerstone OnDemand

Finalist popular vote

Complexity: Difficult

Impact: Long-term

Description: New-hire Orientation

Once per month, Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD) brings their newest hires in from across the globe to participate in a 3-day New Hire Orientation. The program includes presentations from each executive and functional area within the business.

CSOD believes strongly in giving back and engaging the community, so they use this opportunity to involve the team in a special community service project. In it's incarnation, this involved a bike build for low income children in the community and has more recently evolved to a skate board deck design, decoration and build that engages 20+ kids per month from the local Boys and Girls Clubs.

Other IdeasTo see the entire list from the Battle of the Best People Practice with even more ideas for employee engagement, click here

To see other employee engagement, employee recognition and employee reward ideas, check out our blog posts here

Web: www.youearnedit.comTwitter: @youearnedit

Thank You