Insurance Company: Elevating Culture with Recognition

Situation

An insurance company with over 40,000 employees in over 25 countries knew their goal of becoming an employer of choice depends upon having great employee experiences. Creating an environment of everyday recognition is a big part of that. “Putting People First is why we put so much emphasis on doing recognition correctly,” says their Manager of Compensation. “We want to put our employees first and make sure they feel valued and appreciated for the great work that they do.”

The company wanted to elevate their existing recognition programs and partnered with O.C. Tanner on a journey to take recognition from good to best-in-class.

“We challenged ourselves to evolve our recognition program and with O.C. Tanner’s help, we made updates and implemented new best practices,” says their Director of Recognition.

Solution

Championed by executive leaders, their new recognition solution creates one consistent global experience for all employees. Key features include:

• A points-based program with peer-to-peer recognition
• Expanded award offerings (over 6,000 awards to choose from)
• Social recognition tools so employees can comment and like one another’s recognition
• A new Yearbook^TM solution to recognize years of service
• Localized solutions for global locations, with a program in their local language and local catalogs and awards that resonate with their employees

“These tools were created to amplify recognition moments and create more meaningful ways for employees to support each other,” explains their Director of Recognition. Each aspect of their recognition solution was carefully considered to improve employee engagement, inspire ongoing discretionary effort, improve retention, and help employees feel connected to the company.

Surveys are regularly sent through the program to gather data, comments, and suggestions for improvement, and are reviewed every month. The company also has 150 employees who serve as recognition champions, to help gather feedback and communicate key messages and updates about recognition. “Our program belongs to our employees. Our north star is their feedback,” says their Compensation Specialist.

“ As we work to create compelling employee experiences, recognition has helped us create a culture where employees around the world feel empowered to live our company values and that their unique contributions are appreciated.”
—Chief Talent Officer

Results

Recognition is indeed becoming best-in-class at the organization:

• Satisfaction with recognition is up 20 points from their previous program.
• Over 300,000 recognition moments happened in the last year.
• Over 50% of employees have been recognized 10 or more times in the past year.
• Participation numbers have exceeded global benchmarks by double digits for over 3 years (and counting).
• Employees who send and receive more recognition had a higher probability of being a Net Promoter and lower odds of attrition, saving the company $10-$15 million per year in attrition costs.

Employees feel valued and connected, are proud to work at the company, and want to stay. The company is well on their way to delivering a best-in-class employee experience that puts people first and elevates culture.