“A” in Engagement with Amgen and Avnet!

Globoforce customers Amgen, a global biotechnology firm, and Avnet, a global distributor of computer and electronic components, were recently featured in Incentive Magazine in “Amgen & Avnet, Two Views of Global Recognition.” Below are a few excerpts from the article. I encourage you to read the whole thing to see how these very different companies approached the highly important task of strategic employee recognition.

When asked what the objectives are of engagement programs, Steve Church, the senior vice president and chief human resources development officer of Avnet, said:

"An engaged employee performs better. They stay longer and they're your best recruiters. They go above and beyond. They perform better so the company performs better. And as the company performs better, there are more opportunities for advancement, [employees'] compensation is better, and there is a sense of winning, of succeeding in the marketplace. What does that do? It builds more engagement. If you think about it, it's sort of a symbiotic relationship, and that's what we're trying to accomplish."

Amgen also proved this by simultaneously launching its Bravo! global recognition program to all 17,000 of its employees scattered throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. As Mary Kennett, Amgen's senior manager of human resources and the Bravo! program leader said:

“Amgen had a culture of recognition, but did not have the tools to recognize people on a global basis. We needed a tool to keep the staff engaged [and provide recognition] in a timely manner, so that the recognition occurs close to the accomplishment and reinforces that accomplishment and behavior."

As the article states, “Fully 85 percent of Amgen's employees have either nominated a coworker for a Bravo! Award, sent an award or have received one themselves, resulting in 45,000 awards in the first full year of operation. Amgen reached its goal—to have between 5 and 8 percent of its employees nominated for an award on a weekly basis."

Congratulations Amgen and Avnet for achieving such success among your employees!