ICMR

IBS Center for Management Reseach CLHR/054

www.Cmrindie.org

Employee Recognition: AKey Motivation Factor for

Millennial Employees
"The appreciation board helped in increasing employee productivity. At the end of
the day people wanted to stay longer!
-Corey Cormier, CEO, Legal Monkeys in May 2013
"One of the great things to come out of the program is to see how employees are
having fun with it and enjoying it"
- Krista Heffley, HR Business Partner, Freedom Financial Network in
August 2019
INTRODUCTION
Many research studies in Human Resources Management and OB have concluded that of all the
various intrinsic motivators, recognition and praise are considered the most effective. The studies
Suggest that when managers recognize an employee appropriately in front of other employees, they
not only boost the self-esteem and performance of that employee but also approve of his/her work
ethics. It has also been found that when employerS recognize the efforts of employees, it leads to
greater employee satisfaction, and satisfied employees are more likely to stay with the company
for a longer time and deliver more than what is expected of them.
Legal Monkeys,a US-based company that managed medical records for medium to American
law firms, implemented a unique, inexpensive employee recognition program had a
tremendous effect on employee motivation. Freedom Financial Network (FFN), another US-based
company, followed a similar strategy of employee recognition. To retain employees at its call
center that was dominated by millennials, FFN implemented employee recognition software as
against the manual approach adopted by Legal Monkeys.
ZERO-COST STRATEGIES AT LEGAL MONKEYs
Legal Monkeys adopted an inexpensive yet highly effective employee recognition strategy in 2013
to keep its employees motivated. The program, which was suggested by one of the employees
Jessica Varley", helped the company win appreciation from its employees as well as business
magazines and commentators.
Employees were encouraged to write a note of appreciation or thanks highlighting the
commendable work or attitude of their peers on an 8*10 inch glass picture frame called "The
Corey Cormier, "Legal Monkeys Appreciation Board," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPDZ
UdPaMS4, May 6, 2013.
Nelson, B, "Misunderstanding rewards hampers motivation," Canadian HR reporter, Vol. 17, 2004.
3 Hanh, The Use of Reward and Incentive Systems: ACase Study of McDonald's," https://toughnickel.
com/business/The-Use-of-Reward-and-Incentive-System-A-Case-Study-of-McDonalds, May 5, 2018.
htps:/fissuu.comvjessvarley/docslegal_ monkeys
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Employee Recognition: AKey Motivation Factor for Millennial Employees
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Appreciation Board." The board was presented to the receiver and read out aloud when all the
Snapshot of huddded
employees (calledHuddle").
"The Monkey "The Monkey Huddle")
The receivers kept every morning
the board (Refer
on their deskto until
Exhibit
they Ifeltforthea
need to pass it on someone else. Photos and videos of this gesture along with the Appreciation
Board comments were later p0Sted by the employees on their Facebook page and Twitter feed.
According to Legal Monkeys Corey Cormier, the program was in line with the company's
intent of not having a culture that focused solely on numbers and reassured employees that their
hard work and creativity did not go unnoticed. He also accredited the program for increased
productivity and employee retention ínthe organization.
The morning huddle was also used as a forum to share what employees had recently learnt as it
could possibly help ease someone's work. This ritual helped streamline organizational
communicatioD and' kept employees motivated. Employees were also given opportunities to
interact with industry leaders both within and outside of Legal Monkeys. This initiative helped
employees learn leadership skills informally. Further, mentors were assigned to new recruits
during their first week at the company. The mentors went out of their way to help new hires adjust
to work and the company's culture.
These zero-cost strategies yielded rich dividends for the company. Apart from decreasing
employee turnover and improving the company's efficiency, the strategies paved the way for it to
win laurels. As early as 2014, Legal Monkeys won the "Great Place To Work" certificate from
Great Place to Work®, a consulting and analytics firm that assisted companies in improving their
productivity through employee engagement and motivation. In asurvey conducted by Great Place
to Work®, 95% of the company's employees stated that Legal Monkeys was a great place to work
and 97% of the employees stated that they were provided with the necessary equipment and
resources for doing their jobs; the managemer* ated people fairly irespective of their gender;
the work environment was friendly; and new comfortable in their first few days.
USE OF EMPLOYEE APPRECIATIU. ND RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AT
FREEDOM FINANCIAL NETWORK

Freedom Financial Network, a US-based financial advisory company, followed a similar strategy
to retain employees at its call center (where millennials accounted for 60% of the workforce') and
encouraged them to abide by its 4 core values of Collaborate, Get Better, Act with Integrity,
and Care. In 2013, Freedom Financial Network launched the Freedom Star Recognition Program,
utilizing the "360 Recognition Platform"* of Terryberry, a US-based company engaged in
providing solutions that helped organizations develop, execute, and manage employee recognition
programs. Under this program, employees were encouraged to write notes of appreciation for their
peers whenever they demonstrated any one of the company's 4 core values (Refer to Exhibit IIfor
asnapshot of the 360 Recognition Platform).
Employees wrote these notes called recognition moments" on the platform using their mobile
phones and these were then displayed on large monitors hung on the walls of corridors to ensure
that every employee in the organization got to know and appreciate his/her co-worker's hard work
A zero-cost strategy costs a business or individual nothing while at the same time improves operations,
makes processes more efficient, or serves to reduce future expenses.
"Legal Monkeys," https://www.greatplacetowork.com/certified-company/1322426, (accessed on January
6, 2020).
"Employee Recognition Case Study, Freedom Financial Network," https://www.terryberry.com/,
(accessed on January 6, 2020).
360 Recognition Platform an employee recognition platform comprising different modules aimed at
enabling seamless peer-to-peer recognition, assisting managements in awarding employees on their career
milestones and facilitating managers in recognizing and rewarding their team members on-the-spot.

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Employee Recognition: AKey Motivation Factor for Millennial Employees
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and diligence. For the outstanding employee, it wasa matter of pride as he/she got recognized and
his/her effon got noticed by everybody across the office. The notes of appreciation could be posted
immediately without the hígher management's approval having to be sought. This immediacy was
the key to the program's tremendous success.
As per the company's management, employee participation in the program was a steady 77%
during the period 2013-2018, while manager's participation rose from 74% to 79% during the
same period.' Further, a total of 106,156 recognition moments were posted by the employees
during the S-year period.? The "360 Recognition Platform" also hélped Freedom Financial
Network do away with physical gift cards. The platform awarded points to employees based on the
number of peer nominations they received or on their reaching service milestones. These points
could then be redeemed for vouchers from the company's canteen. Krista Heffley, the HR
Business Partner of Freedom Financial, strongly believed that the Freedom Star Kecognition
Program helped the company retain millennial employees who had the propensity to change jobs
regularly in search of job satisfaction and appreciation. Further, the employee recognition program
enabled the company to bag the "Best Places to Work" award, given bý The Phoenix Business
Journal,° in 2016 and 2017
FUTURE OF EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION PROGRAMS

The 2016 Incentive Benchmarking Survey report published by Incentive Research Foundation
(IRF)1° revealed that leading companies across the woria stroingy ebelieved in the effectiveness of
non-cash rewards and employee recognition." Further, with expected to dominate the
global workforce by 2020, employee recognition programs were expected to take precedence as
millennials highly valued appreciation for their work, instant 'feedback, and a sense of
accomplishment.
In view of this rising trend, many software companies had launched employee appreciation and
recognition software. Someof the most highly regarded software were Kudos, Motivosity, 1SFive
Continuous Performance Management, Bonusly, and Bucketlist. (Refer to Exhibit II for a list of
key features in employee recognition software).
Analysts believed that HR personnel could look at relying on the traditional recognition
approaches as seen through the Monkey Huddle at Legal Monkeys or the use of appreciation and
recognition platforms as in Freedom Fínancial Network, which ran on software. The former had
the advantage of minimal costs while the latter would incur costs but suit the mindset of the
millennial workforce.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Discuss the underlying principles driving the effectiveness of the employee recognition
programs of Legal Monkeys and Freedom Financial Network.
2. How can companies redesign workflows with the aim of intrinsically motivating employees?

The Phoenix Business Journal presents the The Best Places to Work" award to leading business
organizations in recognition of their employee friendly programs.
10 IRF is a US-based non-profit organization engaged in funding and promoting research to enhance the
application of incentives and motivation in business.
n Rob Danna, "Recognition In The Workplace: It's Not What You Think It Is," https://www.forbes.com/
sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/02/28/recognition-in-the-workplace-its-not-what-you-think-it
is/#4cd6e4203daS, February 28, 2018.
2 Barney Cotton, "2020 Workforce To Be Dominated By Millennials," https://www.businessleader.co.uk/
2020-workforce-to-be-dominated-by-millennials/57878/, January 7, 2019.

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 ICMR Employee Recognition: AKey Motivation Factor for Millennial Employees
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Exhibit I:
The Monkey Huddle

Source: http://Megalmonkeys.com/company
Exhibit II:
360 Recognition Platform

Send Recognition

l ty i t r

Source: "Employee Recognition Case Study, Freedom Financial Network," https:/www.terryberry.com/,

(accessed on January 6, 2020)

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ICMR Employee Recognition: AKey Motivation Factor for Millennial Employees
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Exhibit III:
Employee Appreciation and Recognition Software
Company Name Software Name Features Clients
Kudos Inc. Kudos Realtime feedback, Shell, Marriott, DHL
customizable rewards and Express
analyic insights
Motivosity, Inc. Motivosity Instant recognition, DuPont, University
performance monitoring, of Colorado, Hitachi
and employee surveys Chemical
15Five 15Five Continuous Employee engagement, Hubspot, American
Performance employee surveys, Red ross, Adobe,
Management performance reviews, and Spotify
employee recognition
Smartly, Inc. Bonusly Employee recognition and Chobani, CB
rewards and analyzing Insights, Headspace,
employee skillsets Oracle
Bucketlist Bucketlist Employee recognition, UT Federal Credit
Rewards customized rewards, and Union, Stamford
synchronization with social Hospital
media
Source: htps://www.kudosnow.com/, https:/www.motivosity.com/, https:/www.15five.comV, htps://
bonus.ly, https:/bucketlistrewards. com/