Rewards & Recognition Programme - Creating a Positive Workplace

According to a survey, 69% of employees would work harder if they felt that their efforts were better appreciated. As companies struggle to find a way to deal with the challenges of global economic recovery, the simple act of recognizing an employee in a meaningful and memorable way can augment/amplify the productivity levels, lower employee turnover, and create a sense of belonging.

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Sriram Vinjamuri, Chief Customer Officer, Tanla Platforms has been a champion of employee recognition, having been at the receiving end at his previous organisations. He shares the journey of how the Rewards & Recognition programme, his passion project, came into being and his vision for the same at Tanla.

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How it started

For the last few years, we were focused on chasing goals, different milestones & achievements. We realised now, that a lot of good work has happened, goals reached, and milestones achieved – it was time to streamline the reward & recognition framework for this good work.

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We wanted our R&R programme to cover a wide range:

• For teams that have been working on a breakthrough
• The ones who have already achieved a breakthrough
• A team that has gone out of the way and delighted the customer
• Also, a team that constantly manages to deliver on time
• The set of bright sparks who are consistently delivering for Tanla & its subsidiaries
• Employees who take up certain big, audacious goals and deliver
• Those who have devoted a lot of time in their career at Tanla
• The ones who come up with something innovative, and create solutions, etc.

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How we wanted to approach it

As a growing company with a good mix of young talent and experienced leaders, we wanted to set a company culture wherein we bust the myths about how R&R is viewed:

• The first myth is about recognition being top-down. We want recognition to happen in every possible way, bottom-up, top-down, and peer-to-peer.
• The second myth was recognition is elitist in nature; we want to create a culture of inclusion where all employees feel included and involved.
• Next is the popular myth of recognition = huge financial rewards. We have the big rewards; however, recognition has a wider umbrella. From sabbaticals to Ivy League education to time-offs, we want to go beyond tangible benefits.
• Finally, the notion that recognition requires magical results. We believe that even small increments in one’s regular work can create substantial results.

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The Plan

• We started with the basic – managers and function heads acknowledging the good work, which will help employees get regular feedback from managers as well as highlight their achievements across the organisation.
• Then we created Spot awards, where the reward is provided instantly to recognise the extra effort one puts in.
• Next, we have the regular rewards for people who make the month and quarter achievements happen, along with team awards and awards for long service.
• And lastly, there are the big awards like the CEO award and the ICC club – awards so big that, they will drive performance and hunger to achieve more.

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The idea is to keep the feedback and performance assessment loop open throughout the year, for employees to stay motivated, get timely recognition and be able to strive for excellence in their work. The R&R programme, while driving a healthy competition to excel, will also take away the negative competition with peer-to-peer awards in the system.

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The Vision

We know that a good programme is only as good as its implementation. We are counting on technology to facilitate ease of use, make processes faster and easier to manage. Apart from the usual benefits of R&R - employee empowerment and retention, we want to create a company culture that is appreciation based & works for the greater good. “I believe it is when ordinary people do ordinary things consistently we capitalise on the incremental gains, letting the organization become extraordinary.” Sriram says, “We expect that the R&R programme will drive hunger within the employees to excel. The ultimate success of an R&R programme is when an employee can predict and contribute those actions that will help him differentiate and get recognition. This is what we have set out to achieve; the entire organization is working towards making this a success and hopefully, by this time next year, we will have a lot of success stories to share.”

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To be a part of Tanla’s growth story, join us: https://www.tanla.com/careers

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