Celebrating employee achievements through award schemes can be highly motivating for staff.
Awards can be given to nominated individuals or teams, or to the organisations in which they have been active. Awards can be an excellent way of demonstrating your organisation’s commitment to employer supported volunteering - some companies award a small sum of money to each applicant's nominated charity.
Awards can also be an effective way of finding out what employees are doing without appearing intrusive. They do need however to be effectively communicated and easy to apply for, as some employees will be reticent about applying. Selection needs to be open and participative to avoid suspicions of favouritism. Furthermore, any external publicity for the awards needs to be carefully managed to avoid employees thinking it is a PR exercise.
If a formal awards route is not suitable, then an informal gathering of volunteers where they can exchange ideas and stories, with a formal thank you from the Chief Executive and some food and drink is a nice alternative.
The annual campaign Volunteers Week encourages the recognition of volunteers during a week long celebration every June. For more information go to www.volunteersweek.org.uk
Case studies
Barclays
In 2007 Barclays held its eleventh annual Chairman’s Awards which celebrates the fantastic work that Barclays people have been doing around the world in the areas of community, equality and diversity, financial inclusion and the environment.
It's important to Barclays to encourage and inspire colleagues to get involved in the causes that they care about the most. 33,419 Barclays people received direct support for their community activities last year - to the benefit of 8,279 community organisations.
The Awards are made at a national level throughout the World with finalists being invited to a Global event held at a high profile venue hosted by the Barclays Group Chairman and Group Chief Executive. The winners receive a trophy and a cheque of £1000 for their chosen charity.
Zurich Financial Services
The Zurich Cares annual charity awards recognise both individuals and teams who have made a significant contribution to the community. Applications are welcome because of contribution either through the programmes of Zurich Financial Services or through direct external charitable involvement.
The Award categories are:
- Most effective individual fundraiser
- Most effective fundraising team.
- Most effective volunteer
- Most effective volunteer team
- Most Supportive Manager
- Outstanding Individual Contribution to the Community
The winners, and two runners-up for each category, are invited to an evening award ceremony in London, hosted by the Chief Executive. Each category winner receives £500 for the charity of their choice, with each runner-up receiving £250 for their chosen charity.
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) administers independently judges the scheme.
Royal Bank of Scotland
Now in their second year, RBS Chairman’s Awards for Community Excellence are held annually. This year over 500 employees were nominated from across the group, and winners from 51 finalists received cheques for their chosen charities.
"The Chairman's Awards for Community Excellence were launched in 2004 to recognise the outstanding commitment of the thousands of staff across the Group who volunteer their own time to help others in the community. We are immensely proud of our employees and congratulate each of them on the outstanding contributions they have made to their communities throughout 2005."
Sir George Mathewson, Chairman of RBS
