Seeking Advice on Launching an Employee of the Month Program: Your Insights Needed

My company has plans to start an Employee of the Month Program. We want to implement this at two levels, meaning two (2) employees per month shall be selected for this award in the following categories:

• 1 Staff Employee (i.e., Accounts, Admin, Marketing, and Sales Department, etc.)
• 1 Technical Employee (Production Department)

I would appreciate your views and guidance on these specific areas:

- Since the award is given at both the Management level and the Technical level, should the awards be named separately?
- Who should be allowed to nominate? (HODs, peers, or both?)
- Should we have a separate committee to oversee the overall execution of this program?
- What parameters would be required for an employee's nomination and/or selection?

Kindly send in your suggestions and opinions. It would also be helpful if you could share how your company practices the same. Looking forward to hearing from many. 

Regards,
Elsa 

We have implemented this in our company for the last few years, and it is working perfectly. You can do the following:

1) List down the criteria for the nomination (ROI, Performance, Targets, Discipline, etc.).
2) Nomination is to be made by Department Heads.
3) Create a panel, primarily a team of three people, to select the best among the nominees.
4) You can name these two awards separately – Best Employee: Technical; Best Employee: Support.

Instead of giving them any cash prize, the company may choose to give gift coupons or award points to the best employee of the month. I hope this will help.

Thanks,

Here are some useful articles I found online. These might help:

- http://www.ehow.com/how_4485719_star...nth-award.html - How to Start an Employee of the Month Award
- http://www.ehow.com/info_7761498_emp...rocedures.html - Employee of the Month Procedures
- http://www.ehow.com/info_7869961_emp...-criteria.html - Employee-of-the-Month Award Criteria

Regards,
Elsa

Very good initiative and one that I'm sure will bring some excitement to the organization. Sanjeev has given you an absolutely perfect framework on what needs to be done. I'm going to touch on a few things that you should not do or be careful about.

1. Do not let this initiative become just one more management gimmick. What you are attempting to do is an extremely powerful "Employee engagement" and motivational tool. So an aura/expectations need to be created, set, and maintained about this initiative. It should not become a mundane activity.

2. The selection panel should know the criteria based on which they will decide. This needs to be clearly communicated to all.

3. Do not have a politically active personality on the final panel. The likelihood of such a person hijacking the entire activity for their personal agenda is high. So stay away from such personalities.

4. Every department head must nominate multiple people. The final panel then decides who wins.

5. Audit the process regularly. Ensure that one individual is not being nominated multiple times regularly unless fully deserved.

6. Do not nominate someone just because they completed their target. Nominate only if they have exceeded expectations, not simply met.

7. Prizes must be different and interesting. They must mean something. Remember, giving someone 500 rupees might seem like a good idea (especially if they are all low-income group), but the same 500 rupees would seem ridiculous for someone whose salary is 25,000/- a month.

All the best and have fun!

Cheers,

Navneet

Dear Navneet,

Those were some valid points you touched upon. Addressing these subtle yet important points will ensure that this endeavor is a truly fruitful and successful one. Thanks for your feedback.

Regards,
Elsa :)

Hi Jyoti, honestly speaking, my company has no plans of initiating any such practice as of now, but maybe later in the future, it would consider something like this. Also, for my own learning, I would appreciate it if you could kindly send me the details you might want to share to my email address: [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]. Thank you for your help and support in learning and helping others learn.

Thanks again...!

Indeed, a very good initiative but needs a lot of attention to figure this out. Firstly, I feel that it should have only one name as you are doing it for the employees, and maybe you are trying to select two people instead of one, so it does not make any difference.

Criteria for Employee of the Month

Coming to the criteria, you should be looking at all the parameters that help an employee in meeting their deliverables and standing tall in their department (performance, attitude, teamwork, ethics, integrity, discipline, etc.). The panel should comprise heads from the HR Department and the Business to have buy-in from them because, at the end of it, they are the people who can help you in making it successful (Panel - Business Head, HR Head, and the COO if required).

Nominations Process

Nominations should reach the HR department from the respective Department Head, providing the reasons for the nomination. You may give cash, gift coupons, or a certificate signed by the HR Head and the Business Head.

Hope this clarifies.