The Wall of Fame (cont.)
Here’s your award of the month or year blue print for excitement.
The what, when and how to decide, who should be named for employee of the month (year), are the cornerstones to an effective program. If this is not done with much thought and employee participation, your program is doomed before it starts. Avoid the dooming by asking your employees what the criteria should be. It’s best to have separate criteria for management and non-exempt workers as they should have different working goals to strive for. Here are some criteria suggestions for clerk or non-exempt type folks:
- Work attendance record (no “lates” or absences allowed - after all your awarded employee should be your “model” for others).
- Adherence to posted schedules - different than the above. You don’t want your model employee changing their scheduled work with the wind.
- Team playing. This means such virtues as helping their peers, flexibility with bosses, and jumping in on unscheduled work shifts when unexpected worker shortages happen. Also, it means the occasional assisting peers with non-customer duties such as stocking, cleaning, etc.
- Positive attitudes. This may sound trite, but someone who “emanates sunshine” is a real plus to customers, peers and bosses.
- Productivity. How many customers does this person process in a given shift compared to others on the same shift? Some clerks seem to want to avoid customers and others look forward to them. Also, how is the accuracy of their drawer cash and are they making their best efforts toward customer interaction - a real source of added revenue and some pure profit add-ons. Are they busy working or busy making it look like they’re working?
- Consistency with performance evaluations. If you do performance reviews (and you should!, be certain that your occasional written or oral feedback, good or bad, and what you may have written on a review form, are similar. You don’t want to recognize achievement for an area that you are about to criticize on a review or vice versa.
Keep in mind that whatever the criteria is for an awards program, it’s fated for success if employees are an integral part of the criteria decision process. The brainstorming for this can be one on one owner/manager to employee, or in a group setting such as a monthly store meeting. Also, consider an “awards committee” comprising some clerks, an Assistant Manager, Store Manager, etc. for brainstorming and updating the review process. And, don’t think you have to give “turns” for the award. Don’t “keep the peace” by moving the award around so everyone eventually gets one. It will lose its integrity. Give the award to the deserved individuals only! However it’s compiled, be certain everyone understands what’s expected, how to achieve it, and that award decisions will be based as much as possible on an objective review of the criteria results.