Recognition is a powerful motivator and creator of culture. But, leaders who harness symbolism and storytelling into their company culture magnify and deepen the significance of recognition. Here are five great examples of leaders who used symbolism to raise their employee recognition to the next level.
Glass Brains As a Symbolic Award
When considering what kind of a symbolic award to give your employees, you might not immediately think of a glass brain. But, one tech company has incorporated glass brains into their company culture.
When employees get a new patent, they don’t get a generic trophy or a gift certificate to celebrate. They get a glass brain. In addition to an award certificate, and gift card, employees are awarded a glass brain engraved with their name and the month and year of their patent.
Glass brains are displayed on a company “Wall of Fame” for all to see and admire. Regular recognition has met symbolic awards for a memorable experience. With each recognition and symbolic award, the symbolism and company history continues to become deeper ingrained into company culture.
Even newer employees who get the award become a part of the company’s important history and a chapter in the story. This connects employees in a way that recognition without symbolism would not do.
Another company, The Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) also gives a glass brain to award winners. Individuals that have performed extraordinary work in the field of brain mapping are awarded the Glass Brain Award. Only one scientist can win each year so this symbolic award is very prestigious and meaningful.
Personal Oil Paintings That Recognize Employees
Tech giant, Yelp found that gift cards and traditional awards didn’t cut it. So they turned to a new symbolic award to ramp up their recognition program and boost company culture. In addition to the more traditional components of a recognition program, Yelp started a tradition of commissioning custom oil paintings for employees.
Usually, the paintings are renaissance-style oil paintings. But, since employees get to choose how they want to be portrayed, they are sometimes more modern.
Nobilified, the company that provides this service, explained, “Receiving such a gift is not for the faint of heart. The genuine reactions and shocked looks of the faces of the receiver can cause endless laughter, to the point of breathlessness.”
Yelp displays the paintings on a Wall of Game in their office, where employees walk past the portraits daily. It’s a not-so-subtle way to continue to recognize winners daily.
The oil portraits at Yelp have contributed to building a strong company culture and tradition that’s woven around company history.
Company Custom T-Shirts Awarded Through Peer Recognition
ALKU, a technology consulting firm, added a spin to its peer recognition program by allowing employees to nominate their peers. Employees that demonstrate outstanding virtues, and company principles or make noteworthy contributions are given a t-shirt.
T-shirts are customized with motivational hashtags. Some of the hashtags on the T-shirts include #PitchYourNiche, #BeAPro, and #FollowMyLead.
One of the strengths of ALKU’s recognition program is that they have added an element of symbolic awards and given employees the power to nominate and give T-shirts away. Often employers like to retain control over recognition program, especially awards with monetary value.
By giving employees the power to nominate and give away custom t-shirts, ALKU has empowered employees and deepened engagement. The custom T-shirts have added to ALKU’s company culture and make being recognized more visible (employees wear the shirts and everyone knows they were recognized) and significant.
Custom Trophies As Part of A Rounded Recognition Program
O.C. Tanner continues to make the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For List year after year. Plus, they have landed many lists of the best recognition employers. That’s because O.C. Tanner doesn’t just research and create incredible recognition software (The Thanks Platform is under their umbrella); they put the best practices into practice!
O.C. Tanner utilizes their modern proprietary recognition technology, peer recognition, social recognition, ecards, gift cards, merchandise, and much more.
They also use symbolic emblems and custom trophies to recognize employees. Symbolic trophies are customized to specific departments and roles so employees aren’t just handed a standard trophy that “everyone gets.” Instead, by using custom, symbolic awards, employees are given something they can display proudly on their desk or wear on their clothing.
Symbolic awards don’t really achieve symbolic status if they are generic trophies.Yet creating a custom trophy doesn’t mean it has to be complicated for the employer.
An employer can give all employees the same type of trophy and still have it be special as long as it’s not a generic type of trophy. Something that’s custom to the employer can have symbolic meaning.
Casted Handprints on the Wall of Fame
Walt Disney World understands the power of symbolic awards. They’ve harnessed symbolic awards across their recognition program to showcase employee contributions.
In Burbank, CA, Legends Plaza is a hall of fame where bronze plaques of employees’ handprints are on display. The prints are a way of recognizing those who have impacted Disney films and parks.
The Disney Legacy Awards are the highest honor that a Disney employee can earn. In addition to the recognition awards and celebration, recipients receive a miniature version of the hand plaques that are in Legends Plaza. It’s a symbolic award, but is very meaningful to winners. The Fred Award gives recognized employees a bronze statue of Mickey Mouse. Other aspects and awards across the Disney recognition programs include customized emblems for employees to wear, special edition pins for name tags, and a host of symbolic awards.
That isn’t all that Disney gives employees, they also give awards with monetary value, including a free stay in Cinderella’s castle. But, embedded deeply within Disney’s recognition program, they have harnessed the power of symbolism.
Conclusion
When symbolism is added to a solid recognition program, it can enhance the ROI and create a deeper connection between the employee and the company’s history. Old and new employees benefit from the shared experience and story of symbolism. Even small physical tokens that are symbolic such as a pin, a glass brain, or an oil painting, become meaningful as it turns into the company culture.
Schedule an appointment for more information about how the Thanks Platform can help your company deepen employee connection through recognition.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.