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Published July 2008

Intuit Spotlights Strategic Importance of Global Employee Recognition

Eric Mosley

Employee recognition can help companies build and maintain engaged workforces that are productive, conscientious and loyal. But to be effective, recognition programs must touch a large portion of the workforce, emphasize timely acknowledgement and allow organizations to reap benefits that enhance the employer-employee relationship.

When employee rewards and recognition initiatives are discussed with senior management, office parties and one-off gift certificates typically come to mind. Efforts often involve discretionary spending without measurable outcomes or business impact. Long-term strategic planning often is neglected, putting the value and sustainability of recognition and rewards programs at risk.

In a global context, efforts can be even more fragmented and tactical. While each country operates as its own island, offering varying types of employee recognition, programs frequently don't roll up under one strategic company-wide initiative. Companies operating in this fashion cannot effectively motivate the majority of employees, reinforce company values, shape the culture or influence the bottom line.

But recently, things have begun to change. Global companies now are scrutinizing their recognition programs to assess effectiveness and seeking new ways to create sustainable value.

Intuit Inc., a California-based financial software and services provider, has developed a successful employee recognition program called Spotlight that has been underway for more than three years.

The Evolution of Employee Recognition at Intuit

In 2000, following the arrival of Steve Bennett as the company's chief executive officer, Intuit conducted an assessment of its talent strengths, gaps and opportunities. One of the opportunities was in employee recognition, which the company believed would have an immediate impact on culture.

"It's all about trying to create excitement in the culture," said Jim Grenier, vice president of human resources at Intuit. "It's part of trying to build momentum and keep that momentum going. But how do you keep the momentum going day-to-day? You want to let people know they are doing a good job and, at the same time, reinforce the same messages about where the business is going and what's important."

In 2000, there was no formal employee recognition program and no budgeted funding for recognition. Managers developed their own ways of recognizing employees, but most did nothing, so Intuit developed an internal recognition program. The company found this difficult and time-consuming, and there was little consistency in adoption of the program from department to department. Awards were generally cash and tended to be quickly forgotten by employees.

In 2001, Intuit launched an online employee recognition program, allowing managers to give awards that could be redeemed for merchandise. Employees could choose gifts from an online catalog of about 2,000 items.

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