Domestic and General launched an international reward and recognition scheme for its 2,500-plus employees in December 2014. The reward programme, provided by Red Letter Days for Business, is available to employees in six countries: the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Phil Harvey, group HR director for the warranty provider, says these types of schemes are a great way of engaging a global workforce. “After just six months, more than 40% of all our people had taken part in the scheme, and our flagship Employee of the Year award generated more than 50 individual nominations,” he explains.
The points-based programme has four levels of award: Everydaymore, which allows an employee to instantly reward a colleague who they feel has gone above and beyond their role with 10 points; Managingmore, which allows managers to reward exceptional contributions with 50 points; Monthlymore, an international monthly award, where staff nominate peers who have delivered results against the organisation’s values of care, creative, driven, dependable, expert and fair, with 1,000 points; and Employee of the year, for which the winner is chosen from among all recognition winners during the year.The level of award can be redeemed against vouchers for experiences, high-street shops, cinema visits, hampers and holidays. “Our award recipients tell us that what they really value is the ability to choose what they do with their points”, says Harvey. “We’ve seen skydivers, surprise holidays and pampering days, as well as many household purchases and treats. Points have even been put towards making a wedding day really special.”
Harvey says implementing the scheme has not been an easy process but that, ultimately, it has paid off. “A huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes: setting up the system, managing the employee database with our partners, communicating the scheme, co-ordinating and arranging the awards,” he says. “But the investment and effort are worth it; everyone in our [organisation] knows that we will support them when they want to call out great performance and behaviours, and that we will give them the tools to do so.”
