Changing work culture through peer appreciation

A software company in Delhi proves that Employee Popularity Awards can be a powerful morale booster for the staff In today's competitive job scenario, it is difficult indeed to get a really good job, but it is even more difficult to keep the good job. You have to constantly prove to your employer and colleagues that you are just the right person for the particular job. In the good, old days' of lifelong security, once you had a job, you kept it for good. You acquired many skills while on the job and grew with the organisations. But today, you have to acquire many more skills than your immediate job demands. However, many employees are discovering, much to their chagrin, that even constant updating of skills is not helping them enough to keep their prized jobs. It is not enough for you to be good at your job; you must also be seen to be good at your job.

In an age of large, multinational corporations, the distance between the top employer and the average employee has only increased. There is no daily interaction with the big boss and much of the time, he is left clueless about the role of several employees in his own organisation. Though HR departments are there to fill in this gap, most employees are left to fend for themselves. This leads to feelings of insecurity and frustration.

As a way out of this gloomy scenario, some HR departments have come out with a concept of Employees Popularity Awards. The first step in this elaborate scheme is what is called the familiarisation process, in which new employees are taken round the organisation to familiarise them with the different units and their work methods. The new employee too is asked to briefly introduce himself and discuss his pet passions and projects. The next step is the interaction process, in which employees of different units interact with one another on special occasions like office get-togethers, festivals, picnics, cultural functions, sports meets etc. In the case of employees within the same units and departments, the workplace serves as an appropriate place for the interaction process. But to keep the process going at a fairly steady level, department heads are encouraged by the HR personnel to involve their subordinates in constant discussions and brainstorming. The third and final step is the evaluation process, in which, through a cleverly designed questionnaire, employees are rated by their own colleagues and peers.

Performance versus popularity: What makes this whole scheme unique and successful at the same time is that it is different from the usual performance appraisal by the employer or the management team. In the employer evaluation, the basic inputs for the appraisal come from the department heads in conjunction with the management-HR network. The sole and over-riding criteria in this process are the employees' relationship with their immediate bosses. The employees' equations with other employees either in the same department or different ones are never taken into account. In places where teamwork is so essential to the movement of the organisation, the traditional performance appraisal fails on many counts. One, intra-departmental teamwork is ignored and two, inter- departmental interaction is side-stepped. In this situation, an employee's main objective becomes to please his boss. The employee, rightly or wrongly, believes that his work does not matter as long as his boss is happy. Unfortunately, many bosses themselves sustain this belief through their actions, by revealing, subconsciously, their vulnerability to subtle and not- so-subtle subordinate manoeuvres.

It is in this context that the EPA or the Employee Popularity Awards becomes a valuable instrument to boost staff morale and bring about a definitive culture change within the organisation. Instituted by the Hughes Software Systems (HSS) in Delhi last year at the instance of enlightened HR opinion to use public relations as a tool to boost career growth, the awards are a medium of employee-to-employee recognition. In the HSS scheme, this system operates along with the formal management driven award system. So, the popularity awards go hand in hand with the performance awards. Retaining the old system while adopting the new system was necessary so as not to throw the baby along with the bathwater. In the last one year alone, the HSS has launched 12 popular awards, which are behaviours pulled out of the HSS culture and value system. In each quarter, three characteristics - Great Communicator, Great Mentor, Terrific Troubleshooter - are chosen, and all employees have one vote for each of these. The votes are polled through the office intranet and the persons getting the maximum votes in different categories are declared the winners. The person who gets the total maximum votes is declared the `Most Popular Employee.'

This programme has been a tremendous success and a great motivator for the staff to put their best foot forward. So popular has this programme become that a few IT companies in other metros have also started instituting these awards. During annual get-togethers at the end of the financial year, these awards are taken into account, and they get translated into more perks and increments for the winners. The most voted persons in this scheme have become the role models at HSS for other employees to follow.

Chain reaction: This has started a chain reaction and a healthy competition within the employees. What is remarkable is that, unlike in an informal system where the most popular peers are invariably those who can pamper the ego of their colleagues, under this system, more and more staff keeps getting inside the popularity net. For example, people who want to be good communicators try to improve their communication skills, the great mentor aspirants consciously try to do a good turn to the others and the troubleshooters think of new and ingenious ways to smoothen the working of the workplace. So, the whole organisation benefits in totality, as a result of this unique system.

In HSS, the awards have been won by people from all functions and departments, from all levels and positions, and by old-timers as well as newcomers. An interesting fallout of this practice has been humanitarian gestures. The winners of the awards often get together and decide to contribute for humanitarian causes such as donations towards the victims of Orissa cyclone, material relief for the widows of the Kargil war, blood donations etc. What is more is that the winners in the different categories are asked to inculcate newcomers into the HSS culture through citation of their examples. Fresh entrants, on the first day itself, get to imbibe the unique HSS culture, motivating them from the word go. Besides, cards of appreciation can be sent through the office intranet for those doing good work.

The Corporate Excellence Award for the Asia Pacific HRD Conclave has been another feather in the cap of the Hughes Software Systems. This pioneering trend has proved that peer appreciation and recognition can be a powerful tool for the transformation of work culture. A tool geared for excellence in a challenging business environment.

Vanit Sethi