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BRINGING SMILES TO HERSHEYA CASE STUDY

BRINGING SMILESTO HERSHEYA CASE STUDY

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Founded in 1894 by Milton S. Hershey, The Hershey Company has a longstanding history

as the chocolate and confectionery leader in North America. Their portfolio of more than 80

brands includes such iconic favorites as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Jolly Rancher,

and Ice Breakers. The Hershey Company has been headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania,

for more than 150 years. Approximately 21,000 Hershey employees worldwide work every

day to bring goodness to the world through great tasting snacks.

Hershey’s values tell the story of “One Hershey”—a global and diverse team that is open

to possibilities, grows together, and makes a difference by having a positive impact on

everything they do.

ABOUT THE HERSHEY COMPANY

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Now leaders have tools to

empower employees and keep

them motivated. Giving recognition

used to involve a lot of process.

Now they can give recognition

more frequently with less hassle.”

CESAR VILLA DIRECTOR, TOTAL REWARDS

INTERNATIONAL

Hershey’s employee base is diverse and dispersed, with many different

generations working in tandem all over the world. Each year, a global

employee survey called “Many Voices, One Hershey” is used to track

metrics on culture, engagement, and satisfaction across the company.

Back in 2013, survey results indicated that recognition had a positive impact

on engagement and retention in parts of the business where recognition

programs were prevalent. However, Recognition and Reward was the item

with the greatest decline on the survey—down 8% from 2012 to 2013.

Upon completing an audit of the state of recognition at Hershey, the team

found that there were very inconsistent employee experiences. While there

were many functional recognition programs, they had poor visibility and

offered redundant solutions across the business. “Not all managers had

access to recognize their employees and not all employees had the same

experience across the globe. Essentially, we didn’t have a consistent strategy

for recognition,” says Cesar Villa, Director, Total Rewards International.

A CHOCOLATEY CHALLENGE

poor visibilityredundant solutionslimited access

THE BIG CHALLENGES

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We needed to create a global experience, the same experience

for every employee.”

CESAR VILLA DIRECTOR, TOTAL REWARDS INTERNATIONAL

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Founded in 1894 by Milton S. Hershey, The Hershey

Company has a longstanding history as the chocolate and

confectionery leader in North America. Their portfolio

of more than 80 brands includes such iconic favorites

as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Jolly Rancher,

and Ice Breakers. The Hershey Company has been

headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for more than

150 years. Approximately 21,000 Hershey employees

worldwide work every day To address employee

feedback, Hershey set out to develop a true culture of

recognition. That would start with consolidating all of

their disparate recognition and reward programs into

a global solution to drive engagement and support

Hershey’s Best Place to Work culture. Success criteria

for the new, global program would involve increased

participation and engagement scores, budget controls

and process effectiveness.

Hershey chose Globoforce as their partner in this

endeavor. On why they chose to partner with Globoforce,

Cesar says, “Simply put, it’s the proven experience

that Globoforce has in recognition. We interviewed

Globoforce’s customers and they said they’ve had great

experiences with good coaching and global technology.

And one of the most important things is the global

approach that Globoforce offers and the easy-to-use

technology.”

Working together with Hershey, Globoforce created the

SMILES recognition and reward program. The program

is uniquely branded and linked to Hershey’s core values

of Open to Possibilities, Growing Together, Making a

Difference, and One Hershey. It’s open to all employees,

in 17 countries and five different languages. Employees

can send their peers SMILES through a website

or mobile app. Paper options are also available for

Hershey’s offline employees in manufacturing facilities.

Points-based rewards are redeemable for thousands of

merchandise and gift card options around the world,

depending on where the employee is based.

“Now leaders have tools to empower employees and

keep them motivated. Giving recognition used to

involve a lot of process. Now they can give recognition

more frequently with less hassle,” says Cesar. to bring

goodness to the world through great tasting snacks.

Hershey’s values tell the story of “One Hershey”—a

global and diverse team that is open to possibilities,

grows together, and makes a difference by having a

positive impact on everything they do.

THE DELICIOUS SOLUTION

Every 10 minutes a

Hershey employee is

recognized by a colleague

More than 100,000 recognition

moments delivered since

launch 2 years ago

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After just one week, 8.7% of the company was

recognized. And after a year, more than 50,000 SMILES

were awarded, with 68% of those rewards coming

from leaders. 81% of the recognition occurred across

different countries, which is crucial for Hershey’s global

workforce. Additionally, the program achieved 100%

cross-organization recognition within its first year. The

team was also pleased to see the frequency of recognition

increase, with 8% of employees being recognized on a

weekly basis. Finally, recognition satisfaction increased

by 11% after SMILES was implemented.

There has been great feedback and stories from

employees so far. Cesar notes, “We interviewed

employees in manufacturing plants. One said, ‘I

have been here for 25 years and this is the first time

that I have received recognition.’ So that’s something

impressive. It proves that their ideas count and that their

contributions are taken into consideration. They also like

having thousands of options in the awards network. For

example, they can take their family out to dinner and

they can say, ‘I’m proud because my ideas have been

recognized and I can share what The Hershey Company

has given me.’”

Hershey is well on its way to creating a culture of

recognition. The team is currently building a roadmap

to include all recognition activities in Hershey SMILES,

including well-being initiatives, sales contests, and

life changes. “When you get married, celebrate your

birthday or are promoted, you will be recognized in

Hershey SMILES.” says Cesar.

SWEET SUCCESS

increase in recognition satisfaction in 2014

increase in recognition satisfaction in 2015

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Founded in 1999, Globoforce is the world’s leading provider of employee recognition solutions. Through its social, mobile, and global technology, Globoforce helps HR and business leaders elevate employee engagement, increase employee retention, manage company culture, and discover actionable insight about their talent. Today, employees across the world are living their company values and achieving peak performance through the SaaS-based Globoforce platform. A private corporation, Globoforce is co-headquartered in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Dublin, Ireland.

© 2017 Globoforce Limited. All rights reserved.

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Let Globoforce help you make the case for recognition

in your company.

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