UK-based waste and resource management organisation FCC Environment (FCC) has seen its employees award 1,300 instances of social recognition since October 2018 via its online recognition programme.
FCC, which employees 2,400 staff across 200 sites, launched its online recognition portal in October 2018 to help improve engagement and align with its existing benefits provision, which works to strengthen the organisation’s people focus, develop a skilled and motivated workforce and ensure that staff feel valued. FCC’s reward offering also strives to make the business feel like a great place to work.
The programme, which uses both peer-to-peer and management recognition, is available via FCC’s benefits platform, FCC Extra, provided by You at Work. The platform also houses online total reward statements, payslips, flexible benefits, access to a money advice service and online discounts.
Employees can share peer-to-peer recognition by adding pictures to their online profile page and then offering public thanks to colleagues, aligned to specific categories. The categories, which include Helping Hands, Great Teamwork, Good Job, Great Ideas, Environment Commitment, People Focus, Doing the Right Thing and Forward Thinking, have been designed to complement organisational values. Employees can be copied into the recognition, so they are aware of the praise.
All of the thanks can be viewed in a continuous, social media style feed on the platform’s home page; this can be filtered, if employees wish, so that they only see recognition for people who are relevant to them.
The programme also allows nominated employees to receive perks at their manager’s discretion, via an approval process. Employees can be awarded a chocolate box, a gift card for coffee at Costa or Starbucks, mystery gifts, or a £10 One4All gift card.
The recognition system provides team awards and enables employees to make formal nominations for extraordinary achievements; these are called ABCD awards, and rewards are given quarterly.
FCC monitors the recognition programme using a reporting functionality on the platform. This also sends managers an automated email to remind them to recognise employees if they have not logged on for one week.
The programme was initially communicated to staff using posters, internal emails and emails sent from the benefits platform itself.
Naomi Nightingale-Okere, internal communications coordinator at FCC, said: “Since implementing this new recognition platform, we have had a lot of positive feedback; it seems everyone has taken to it very well and we have found it really bridges the gap between the formal recognition scheme we have in place, which is for extraordinary achievements.
“Having the ability to alter the perks we give out really helps to keep it fresh and, as an admin of the platform, I find it really easy to manage and fulfil all of the perks.”
