A Five-Star Program

    They created the Five Star Program, a multi-tiered reward system with a theme built around the company’s star logo. Each star represents a separate program, Skor says. The first two, which were already in place, are the bonus program and employee service awards. The team added three programs that reward employees for exceptional customer service and teamwork, internally and externally.

    The first, called the Shining Star, is a peer-to-peer certificate program. When employees experience or witness great service or teamwork, they give Shining Star certificates to show their appreciation. Employees can give the certificates to anyone in the company, regardless of their title or location. One copy is delivered to the employee and another goes into a fishbowl for bimonthly drawings for gift certificates, logoed prizes such as T-shirts and coffee mugs, and other small items.

    About 10 percent of certificate recipients win fishbowl gifts. The team considered giving every Shining Star recipient a small gift, but they were concerned that the program could be abused. With a drawing, there is no way to know who’ll win.

    "Employees like the Shining Stars because it’s not a top-down system," Skor says. "They have a tool to thank each other." Employees frequently post their Shining Stars in their offices or the common rooms, and Skor lists all the winners each month at the company’s intranet site. "Our people are proud to get those certificates."

    The second program, called the Super Star award, is given by directors to employees in recognition of great performance. As part of the program, each year directors are given a pot of "Starbucks" coupons equaling roughly $40 per employee in their unit, which recipients can use to buy logoed merchandise or exchange for gift certificates.

    When directors see employees doing excellent work, such as going out of their way to help customers handle claims problems, they can give them up to 50 Starbucks on the spot. "The point is for directors to be able to reward great behavior the moment it happens," Skor says. Directors are also encouraged to use the money at least once a year to throw a party in honor of team successes.

    The final program, called the All Stars Award, is in recognition of performance above and beyond the scope of the job description. It’s based on a cash incentive that allows directors to give up to $750 to an employee who makes major contributions to the corporation as a whole. To win this award, employees have to do something truly exceptional, Skor says. For example, if an HR person does great work during open enrollment, she might receive 50 Starbucks, Skor says, whereas if a technical employee works late and comes in on the weekends to be sure the new phone system is up and running on schedule, that would be worth an All Star. The awards have been given to teams that have improved company productivity, and to units that have been recognized by the government for doing exceptional work in the field of health-care management. "It’s a big deal to win an All Star," she says.

    It was the development team’s idea to make the All Star program cash-based while keeping the other programs gift-based. "We didn’t want people to expect payment for doing their jobs," Skor says. And the development team didn’t think cash was necessary for the other programs to be successful. "Employees like to be told they are doing a good job. It doesn’t have to be a large sum of money; they just want the recognition."

Workforce, June 2002, p. 88 -- Subscribe Now!