Recognise This! – Deeply embedding your core values in how employees are rewarded is critical to overcome too much emphasis on results achievement to the detriment of company reputation.
A foundational tenet of strategic employee recognition is recognising the “how” as well as the “what” – in other words, acknowledging and praising the manner in which results are achieved as much as recognising the results themselves. This is a critical point as simply recognising the “what” (the results) without recognising the “how” (the values demonstrated in achieving the results) can quickly lead a company down the Enron path. After all, one of Enron’s core values was “integrity” but that surely wasn’t apparent in how their employees were encouraged to achieve end results.
Another company in the news during the recession for too much focus on the “what” was Goldman Sachs. Now, I’m pleased to see the investment bank in the news for promoting a new reward approach based on demonstrating “cultural” behaviours in line with their company mission and reputational goals. From their Business Standards Committee Impact Report:
“We also changed our annual employee performance review and rewards processes to include an assessment of reputational excellence, linking “cultural” behaviour to how our people are recognised and rewarded…
“Now, as part of the review questionnaire for all professionals, reviewers are asked to rate the reviewee with regard to their focus on trust, transparency and long-term orientation in connection with client relationships. These changes have reinforced four key messages to all of our employees regarding (1) the importance of serving our clients, (2) the importance of protecting the firm’s reputation and upholding our culture and values, (3) the link between ‘cultural’ behaviour and how people are recognised and rewarded in our organisation and (4) individual and collective accountability…
“These changes have impacted our decisions about compensation and who we reward. Moreover, our review and reward processes more powerfully communicate and reinforce to our professionals the need to focus on our clients and our reputation and to always act in accordance with the highest standards of the firm.”
Incorporating your core values into the formal performance review process directly is certainly one way of effectively driving home the importance of the “how.” Doing so more informally and frequently through timely, specific recognition throughout the year is also necessary to make living these “cultural behaviours” become second nature in how the work gets done every day.
How does your organisation reinforce your core values in how employees are measured, recognised and rewarded?
