15 February 2011
Employee of the month must be one of the oldest employee recognition programs around and it is still used by small and large organistions around Australia.
It is obvious given how long it has lasted that employers feel that it works well, but I wonder what employees think?
My own personal experience is that they are used to incentivise lower paid staff rather than more senior or higher paid staff. That was certainly the norm the last place I worked. There was a team of 15 - 20 in the Call Centre and each month they would take turns to receive the prize. Management picked a different person each month regardless of the person's behaviour (owners were obviously not seeing what I was seeing).
The biggest concern with Employee of the Month recognition, is that some employers (particularly in smaller businesses) believe that running an employee of the month incentive for staff is all they need to do to recognise and reward their staff. Employee of the Month recognition should not be a substitute for day-to-day positive recognition, reasonable remuneration and benefits, company sponsored activities and generally an environment of appreciation.
Problems With Employee of the Month Recognition
If you ever asked an employer what the criteria was for selecting their 'employee of the month', most would say that it was based on the employee's behaviour and activity during the previous month. Such general criteria for selection means that most selected employees have no idea what they have done to deserve the reward. It is important to remember that employees must understand exactly what they did right to win the award.
Furthermore, where there are several staff that exhibited similar behaviour, they should all receive the reward, rather than the employer picking one only based on their own judgement.
In many organisations, jokes about brown nosing and “must be your turn” are commonplace. They diminish the value in the reward and recognition that is given.
Employers must provide the award for each employee who accomplishes what it takes to achieve Employee of the Month recognition. Anything else defeats your purpose.