Employee surveys shape new recognition program

Breezeline leadership wanted to develop an employee recognition program to address the immediate need to attract, engage and retain talent. First, they needed to better use data to differentiate employee recognition for each audience—from new hires to tenured team members.

The telecom brand also needed a technology solution that was easy to launch and could support ongoing recognition and incentives. Connecting the recognition program to the brand’s core values would further empower team members and help improve customer experience.

Employee-centric program strategy

Program design began with discovery and research to align leadership and employees’ expectations with new platform inclusions. Employee feedback captured during discovery confirmed the importance of milestone celebrations, as well as peer-to-peer and manager-to-employee recognitions. These insights inspired a news feed function within the recognition platform for coworkers to share birthday and service anniversary congratulations.

Centralized, easy-to-use app

The platform experience serves both team members and managers. For team members, it’s easy to log in from a desktop or mobile view to send and receive recognition and view incentive opportunities. Withone click, managers can access their comprehensive dashboard and instantly see how their teams engage in real time.

Immersive, branded communications

Consistent branding of the program, named Blueprint Perks, drives engagement while making it clear how to engage. The communications plan reinforces key messages, including the value team members bring to fulfilling the brand’s mission and core values.

Timely touchpoints

• Hype video
• Program launch communications
• Program website
• Monthly catalog promotion emails
• Quarterly updates
• Recognition certificates
• Recognition budget reminders

Homepage features

• Recognition tool: Employees can easily issue recognitions from anywhere they work
• Award storefront: One-click access allows users to browse and redeem from thousands of award options
• Points balance: Personalized points balance lives front and center
• Data visualization: Managers can track their team’s quarterly progress via the dashboard, which highlights program enrollment, issuance, recognitions received and budget use

Quarterly employees challenges

By closely monitoring the budget and effectively managing funds into quarterly challenges, the organization realizes a higher ROI. Implementing timely program adjustments encourages even more recognition issuance and reinforces the desired values-based behaviors.

• New-user challenge: Employees issue their first recognition to earn points; this strategy familiarizes employees with the process and builds the habit of recognition
• Value-aligned challenges: Inviting team members to issue at least one recognition per core value to win points and prizes (via games of chance) deepens their connection to core values

Maximized budget allocation and ROI

Ongoing program optimization supports as much employee engagement as possible from the program budget. Underused employee recognition funds are identified and redirected back to the flexible quarterly promotion.

Increased retention

Growing a culture of recognition has had a direct impact on retention. New hires who receive at least one recognition in their first 90 days have a 17% higher retention rate than those who don’t.

Big wins and program expansion

As initial investments demonstrated value, Breezeline leadership added more incentives and recognition experiences to the program.

Achieving successful program adoption and results so soon after launch proved that formal employee recognition was valued, and the onboarding experience was effective. The partnership continues to build on the launch through ongoing performance reviews and rolling out new strategies to improve talent acquisition and retention.