RECOGNITION THAT STICKSImplementing an Effective Communication Campaign for Employee Recognition and Reward Opportunities.

It all comes back to refrigerator magnets. C’mon. You remember. It’s that feeling you got as a kid when your most recent achievement earned prime real estate on the refrigerator. Inherently, your people still have that desire to please. To perform. They are all trying to be magnet-worthy. That’s why you need a recognition and reward message that sticks.

Marketing communications experts at ITAGroup, Inc. understand the importance of recognition. They know how to create a clear and compelling campaign that reaches your people and stirs them to action.

WHEN ENGAGEMENT EQUALS ROIAs an employer in today’s volatile economy, you’re probably under more pressure than ever to maximize the performance of your employees—and improve your bottom line. A successful recognition and rewards program can do both. Yet the challenge to make that happen is sometimes daunting, as more than one in every four (28 percent) American workers say they are not personally committed to their organization.1

Your program’s success rests not so much on sales figures or your return on investment, but on fostering employee engagement. If you communicate clearly with employees, sincerely recognize their outstanding performance and aptly reward them for their efforts, the ROI will follow. Growing evidence shows aligning employee efforts with corporate goals and increasing employee brand awareness directly contributes to bottom line results. In fact, a recent Towers Perin/ISR study found that earnings per share (EPS) for companies with higher levels of employee engagement rose by 28 percent, compared to a drop of 11 percent in EPS among companies with lower levels of employee engagement.2

COMMUNICATE THROUGH THE CLUTTERWhen it’s time to communicate a recognition and rewards program, many employers grow frustrated with the level of response they get from their own employees. Maybe they don’t get great attendance for kick-off meetings, or the memo they sent out collects dust in department mailflows. In reality, employees have a lot of other things on their minds—and even with their own employees, companies have to cut through the clutter to reach them.

As you assess your communication strategy, don’t focus on how you will communicate with employees; focus on how you will get through to them. Start by creating a brand that will cut through the corporate clutter. Envision a program that can drive engagement down to everyone

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in your organization. The behaviors that encourage teamwork and gratitude will come out when employees clearly see your vision and have the tools to recognize their co-workers and teams.

And while you’re at it, make the brand fun. Write clever copy. Develop a theme that packs a punch—one that employees will visually connect with and talk about. The brand can either support a year-over-year, ongoing program or the concept and design can be re-launched each year to re-engage participants.

AND THE MESSAGE GOES TO...Research reveals that we all respond differently to different methods of communications. So a “one-size-fits-all” approach is no longer an effective way to communicate to employees. Your communications campaign should cover a broad spectrum of print, electronic and dimensional media to help resonate with different audiences. What may appeal to a Baby Boomer—such as a newsletter—will differ from the HTML or social media that sparks the interest of a Gen X-er or Y-er.

Speaking of different audiences, your communication strategy should include the ability to send tailored messages to meet the needs of diverse audiences, whether it’s communicating to managers versus employees, or ambassadors versus channel partners. For example, management or supervisory levels will need guidelines on what behaviors to recognize and reward, and the point pool from which they have to work. Employees will need to be given an overall guide on when they will be recognized for certain achievements. They can also learn when they can recognize their peers.

WHAT COMMUNICATIONS WORKAn integral part of the engagement process is building the initial excitement for the program launch. One effective way to kick off your employee loyalty program is to hold a launch party. Generating enthusiasm and anticipation, launch parties provide a great face-to-face opportunity for management to make a personal connection with employees, introduce the program theme and communicate the rules of the program. You can drive attendance by making it interesting and fun, serve refreshments, conduct quizzes for awards or hold drawings, games and giveaways.

The launch of your program can also include:» HTMLs linking employees to the program website,» program brochures for participants,» program guides for managers, and» program-branded merchandise like mousepads, themed calendars, pens, etc.

To infuse your program into the company’s culture, you should create ongoing awareness of the program by using banners, branded posters, tracking posters and collateral in common areas that employees frequent. Employees can receive recognition through online certificates and e-cards with customized messages that can be printed and displayed in their work environments.

FREQUENCY BUILDS FAMILIARITYThe objective for providing timely updates is to encourage ongoing engagement, and communication plays a huge role in this. In fact, the most common step mentioned in a 2009 survey of CFOs to improve employee morale is more and better communication.3 To keep the content relevant and timely, consider introducing special events tied to holidays, internal promotions, a wellness program and years of service as components to build upon your program. Once these promotions are completed, recognize employee best practices and achievements in upcoming communications.Additionally, the frequency of communications for a program is critical to its success, as there is a direct correlation between awareness and participation. Studies have shown that if you receive

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a message three times, you “hear it,” five times, you “understand it,” and ten times, you “act on it.” Considering that statistic—and the thousands of messages the average person receives a day— your task of communicating effectively becomes that much more important.

THE RIGHT COMMUNICATION MIXDetermining the most effective communication medium for your employee loyalty program can be a real challenge. While some employees may rely heavily on electronic communications, others may simply disregard emails due to the saturation levels. That’s not surprising when you consider that the average consumer is exposed to 3,000 marketing messages per day.4 Or if part of your employee base doesn’t have daily access to a computer, traditional methods of communications can be developed.

So if you are debating which is a more effective communication medium to use—say, online vs. print—it’s not an issue of which is better, but rather how different media can complement each other for a fully integrated communication campaign. For example, to help drive Web traffic, keep in mind that the initial awareness of the program’s website location will likely need a few other traditional drivers like direct mail or promotional items with the website’s address. In fact,67 percent of online action is driven by offline messages.5 Traditionally, your communication mix will contain more traditional print elements at launch, with brochures and environmental graphics. As the program moves into ongoing operations, a transition to electronic methods takes place. This is primarily due to the efficiencies of having a one-stop website resource that enables employees to have secure, easy access to updated information. As an employee, the website allows you to locate another employee and send a recognition award directly to him or her with a courtesy notification sent to their direct supervisor.

Additionally, as a manager or team leader, you can access reports on available budgets and participation by employee. And it’s okay to think outside the box to effectively reach employees, upon identification. For example, there are several tools that can be used, such as on-the-spot awards that can be filled out by a manager and presented to an employee. Another creative approach for recognizing an employee who has earned an award is to present him or her with a scratch-off card.

A COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN EXAMPLEThe following example provides an overview of how a thoughtful, strategic and timely communication campaign can be drawn up to support an effective recognition and rewards program.

RECOGNITION AND REWARDS PROGRAMLength of Program: 12 Months

Launch Phase: Start your program off right with a memorable event. Launch parties are a great way to get employees excited and provide support from management. If it’s not feasible to bring your entire audience together into one location, launch kits can be delivered with all the necessary materials. Some examples of launch materials include:

Launch Material Type Managers/Supervisory Roles Employees

Announcement HTMLs X XFlash Movie X XProgram Website X XProgram Guide/ Webinars XAnnouncement Brochures X XPosters/Banners X XProgram-BrandedPromotional Products X X

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Operations Phase: Keep the momentum going in your program using frequent reminders. The messages should always be timely and relevant, providing clear and concise information as a reminder to recognize achievers. Here are some effective communication tools to help you accomplish this:

» Congratulations e-mails» Website postings» Intranet sites» Year-end newsletters

As your program reaches year end, it’s time to start planning the communication strategy and building excitement for the coming year’s program.

1 Randstad's 2009 World of Work U.S. Workers Study2 Towers Perin/ISR Employee Engagement Report: www.isrinsight.com, July 20083 2009 Accountemps Survey4 William C. Taylor, “Permission Marketing.” Fast Company, December 18, 2007. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/14/permission.html5 iProspect Offline Channel Influence on Search Behavior Study.” Print-in-the-Mix—A Clearinghouse of Research on Print Media Effectiveness

http://printinthemix.rit.edu., 2007.

» Learn more about building employee loyalty at your organization. Visit us at www.itagroup.com.

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About ITAGroup Business is driven by loyalty. ITAGroup drives that loyalty with a comprehensive range of loyalty solutions. We combine incentive programs, rewards and recognition, group travel and event management to engage employees, motivate channel partners and ignite customer devotion. And we rely on traditional business values like hard work, integrity and great client service to make sure our clients are successful. Let ITAGroup drive the power of loyalty for your company.