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Getting Reuters Back on Its Feet
March 01, 2007
Reuter' recognition program still going strong
By Leo Jakobson
One of the keys to keeping a successful employee recognition program successful is not resting on your laurels. When we looked at Reuters' Living FAST Recognition Program two years ago, it was one strand in a five-part performance improvement strategy that had helped the London–based global information provider pull out of a period of serious difficulties, including a collapsing stock price.
"We are now out of the dire place," says Megan Healy, Reuters' management development program manager for the peer nominated, points-based incentive. "The transformation was successful, and now we are moving into the growth phase." As for Living FAST—the acronym stands for fast, accountable, service-driven and team-oriented, the four turnaround goals—she says, "It may not have been the turning point, but it certainly reinforced the FAST goals."
The points-based recognition program is still growing. Between the third quarter of 2004—the statistics in our previous story ["Motivating the Masses," Feb. 2005]—and the third quarter of 2006, the number of awards given out doubled, says Healy. And in the first three quarters of 2006, a total of 2,577 awards, representing 13 percent of the global staff, have been given out, says Danny Hackett, Reuters project manager for development of Living FAST. That represents more than one third of the awards approved over the program's three-and-a-half-year life.
"We are really concerned with customer service," Hackett says. "And the one most used award category is service-driven." It accounts for about 45 percent of all awards approved since the program launched in June 2003, he adds.
At the same time, the program's criteria, goals and platform have remained the same, Healy says. It is still a two-tiered program, beginning with a broad-based peer recognition component in which anyone can nominate a team member for an award. The second component is more prestigious. Twice a year, a panel reviews all of the peer-award write-ups and selects the best. These awardees are recognized company-wide, receiving a note from the CEO, a crystal trophy, a sizable point award and lots of internal publicity, Healy says.
While one of the ways Living FAST has changed in the past two years is a dramatic increase in the maximum award—the program originally allowed managers to select awards ranging from a thank-you up to 100 points. The maximum is now 500 and soon will jump to 1,000, Healy says, adding, "We have been careful to keep it about recognition, not the reward."
Another big change planned for this year is an increase in the internal marketing of the program to the company's more than 15,000 employees in 89 countries. "When it launched, we did a global rollout," Healy says. "There was a lot of buzz around it." Another marketing push came with the first global awards announcement after six months, and then again on the first anniversary of the program, she recalls.
"After that, we took a step back and let it become business as usual," Healy says. While the program remained an integral part of the company's management training program, she adds, "We didn't hear about it as much, but [employees] were still using it."
One of Hackett's new goals is to communicate more, encouraging employees to continue using the Living FAST program. "We are saying, 'We have a great program, let's put it out there more,'" he adds.
Another recent change is a delay in informing awardees they have been recognized. Initially, the system, created by Westborough, Mass.–based incentive house Globoforce, was programmed to notify winners as soon as a manager approved the nomination. "We received feedback that what's missing is the ability of the manager to come over [in person] and pat someone on the back, and let them know that something is coming," Healy says. Last year, Reuters had Globoforce insert a 24-hour delay in e-mail notification, and add the ability for managers to print out award certificates. "I see those certificates on desks when I walk around 3 Times Square," says Hackett, referring to Reuters' U.S. headquarters in New York.
Reuters also has been working with Globoforce to widen the selection of gift certificates winners can choose among, particularly for workers in offices outside the Britain and the United States. The company also has sizable contingents of staff in Thailand, France and Bangalore, India, as well as smaller operations around the globe. "We have done a lot of work bringing on merchants in Asia," Hackett says. "We asked the staff to suggest stores to add to the list."
The fact that the program was designed to allow managers to use their discretion has brought about other changes, Hackett says. "In Asia, [managers] have taken the lead," he adds. "They have a different type of recognition culture. It is much more focused on team awards than on individuals." In fact, two of the most recent global awards went to large teams, he says.
That discretion is one of the reasons the company has found it difficult to measure return on investment in hard numbers, Healy says. "But we do a lot of research," and get a lot of feedback, she adds. A forthcoming employee survey will gather more data. "It's soft, but we get enough feedback to justify what is a relatively low-cost program," Healy says.
Profile
Company: Reuters Group
Industry: Global information provider
Objective: Recognize employees whose work reinforces corporate goals as the firm rebuilds after a period of difficulty
Strategy: Build and expand a peer-nominated, points-based global recognition program
Results: Nominations have been increasing steadily, and nearly half of the awards are for actions that directly improve the key customer service category
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