INTERVIEW. ‘Recognition has to be timely and frequent’

O C Tanner is a 90-year-old company that pioneered the recognition industry. It designs and helps implement global employee rewards and recognition solutions for clients. Beth Thornton, executive vice-president at OC Tanner, leads a team of 200 recognition strategists across the Americas, Europe, India and Asia Pacific.

Why do companies need recognition strategists to advise them? Isn’t that HR’s role? Does that mean HR is not doing its job?

There is a difference. HR has to champion recognition and steer it, whereas we call ourselves strategists. Our expertise lies in coming up with a recognition strategy suited to the company, based on research and best practices.

Earlier companies had a one-size-fits-all approach to recognition, now it is getting more personalised. Earlier, a recognition programme was done more to check the box. Today, it is a culture initiative to drive engagement and productivity, and companies look at impact. And culture initiatives often start at the CEO-level.

How is employee engagement evolving? Are companies confused, blindly emulating Google’s model of workplaces with food on tap, sleep pods and so on?

What companies sometimes miss out on is that engagement cannot be driven. This has to come voluntarily. Today, we see a lot of pressure among companies to create an environment people want to engage with.

Many companies believe happiness is the key to it and they try to create happy employees. But we believe it is the other way round. Engagement comes first and happiness follows.

A lot of companies seem to be gamifying recognition programmes. How does that work?

Gamification is an interesting concept, and draws people in. But companies need to understand that recognition has to be second nature at all levels. Leaders and managers need to be encouraged to drive recognition and witness the power of receiving. Those who receive recognition are more prone to giving recognition as well.

In your recognition strategy, which type of rewards work better – material or intangible ones such as words of appreciation?

We did research on this and found both are equally important. But rewards themselves are changing. Choice has become important. People want choice in what the company is giving them. And each employee has a different choice. But symbolic gestures too have a place. To give an example, when you win a medal at the Olympics and the national anthem is played, the feeling the piece of music gives cannot be replicated by cash or any other reward.

Some companies seem to be automating their recognition programmes. Is that how it will work here on?

Tech startups are providing rewards programmes with a lot of features. But tech is not a strategy, it just brings a strategy to life. Recognition, we believe, cannot be automated as these are about human interactions and not transactions. Technology can be used to incentivise – such as through notifications. But recognition expands your performance.

Any other trends?

Peer recognition is becoming important. Recognition programmes are also now getting more self-driven. Managers can now go and see how they are doing. It is becoming part of the work stream itself.

With many companies incorporating immediate feedback and round-the-year performance management, our role is also coming into play more often. If you have more frequent appraisals, there is more opportunity to appreciate. Recognition works better when it is timely and frequent.

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