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Compensation & Benefits

Effective Global Employee Recognition Requires Consistency

Derek Irvine

Biogen Idec creates new standards of care in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs. Founded in 1978, the company is a global leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization of therapies. Biogen Idec helps patients in more than 90 countries with products that address diseases such as lymphoma, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The value of strategic employee recognition lies within an appropriate understanding of how recognition fits into a total rewards package. The goal of total rewards is to drive employee engagement and achieve the highest return on investment with the optimal mix of rewards. Recognition is an important component of that package at Biogen Idec.

“Recognition is a vital part of the Biogen Idec culture of meritocracy,” said Susan McGowan, associate director of benefits. “When we let people know that we appreciate their contribution and hard work, it motivates them to deliver the same kind of desired results on an ongoing basis for our colleagues, patients and shareholders. We measure our success by how well we enable people to achieve and to thrive in their role.”

Knowing the company needed a single global strategic employee recognition program, Biogen Idec established a recognition steering committee and selected Globoforce to launch its strategic recognition solution to all of its 4,550 employees in 28 countries. Dubbed “Applause” to represent the spontaneous and immediate spirit of recognition for preferred behaviors Biogen Idec wants to promote, the program objectives were to:

• Implement a consistent approach to spontaneous employee recognition company-wide.
• Reinforce and promote behaviors that reflect company values.
• Promote and enhance a common corporate culture across all employee populations.
• Encourage cooperation and teamwork across departmental and geographic boundaries.
• Recognize employee efforts.

Implementing the on-demand Applause program provided Biogen Idec with a paperless process to recognize employees. This reduced internal administration, and the online platform provided a way for nominators and managers to recognize colleagues, regardless of border and distance restrictions, further reinforcing a global environment.

Further, reporting features enable the company to track program utilization rates globally and across business units, ensuring the program is used consistently and effectively to meet departmental and company-wide objectives.

Available in five languages, Applause provides all Biogen Idec employees with an opportunity to recognize and acknowledge co-workers efforts in a simple, consistent way. Nominators can send an e-card to simply say “thank you,” or nominate a person or team for an award at multiple monetary levels based on achievement criteria.

Applause starts by recognizing things that are most important to Biogen Idec. The criteria for recognition are grounded in the company’s core values. Tools within the program also help employees assess behaviors and results deserving of recognition and recommend an appropriate award based on predetermined criteria. This process maintains consistency in how employees are recognized for their day-to-day contributions and milestone results. Further, Applause enables delivery of timely, personally meaningful and culturally relevant recognition that is more valuable to the recipient.

“Applause reminds us to celebrate successes and the people who help us achieve them,” McGowan said. “By bringing our company’s values to life, we are driving the employee behaviors we need to achieve our strategic goals. And we are doing so equitably for all employees, wherever they may live around the world.”