BRINGING SMILES TO HERSHEY

CASE STUDY

ABOUT THE HERSHEY COMPANY

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.

“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.”

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 CHOCOLATY CHALLENGE

poor visibilityredundant solutions

limited access

CESAR VILLA DIRECTOR, TOTAL REWARDS

INTERNATIONAL

THE BIG CHALLENGES

“We needed to create a global experience, the same experience

for every employee.”

CESAR VILLA DIRECTOR, TOTAL REWARDS INTERNATIONAL

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.

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

11%11% increase in recognition

satisfaction in 2014

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

7%7% increase in recognition

satisfaction in 2015

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.

© 2016 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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