Symantec * Making the Business Case for Employee Recognition in a Recession

Earlier this month, Symantec’s Senior Director of Global Compensation, Jennifer Reimert, joined me for a webinar on the business case for strategic recognition in a recession. I encourage you to watch the webinar and learn how Symantec went from determining business requirements for the program to go-live globally in just three months and quantifiable culture change in just six months!

Why is strategic employee recognition important? As Jennifer said: “Employee loyalty drives customer loyalty, which drives revenue – making recognition a business proposition at Symantec.”

Jennifer gives a detailed explanation of how Symantec measured employee satisfaction and quantified program success, and some additional highlights from the webinar follow.

Symantec’s goals for strategic employee recognition included:
• One platform, one brand, one executive dashboard
• Simple, global recognition to support and promote company values and desired behaviors
• Consistent and timely recognition with no additional burden on HR, managers or employees

Key rules for the program include:
• Make all employees eligible – anyone can nominate anyone else for an award
• Empower people to recognize a manager or members of a cross-functional team
• Simplify approvals with two award options with no approvals required and the remaining four awards with only one level of approval.

Major wins Jennifer highlighted in the webinar include:
• Enormous recognition reach with high frequency/low cost awards globally
• People can and do brag about their recognition and share their stories
• A guilt-free reward experience for recipients
• Cost-neutral program with far more reach and accountability
• Corporate governance over recognition investment everywhere in the world

Watch the webinar, then tell me in comments what your goals for strategic employee recognition would be.