Many companies are presently addressing the issue of reward and recognition for their as part of quality and continuous improvement programmes, but there remains no general guidelines or descriptions of such programmes which are readily available. These companies have made several attempts to create a process of employee reward and recognition for quality activities as part of its process of continuous improvement. All such attempts have had little success, resulting in the various systems losing their prestige among employees.



In Australia, a new process for employee reward and recognition was developed through a company's quality committee. It consists of 7 steps which can be used generically for any firm wishing to implement a system for staff recognition and reward.

The steps are:

1) Categories for awards - The emphasis of the reward and recognition process is to stimulate employee involvement in the culture change towards continuous improvement and aims to recognise those individuals that provide an example of desirable behaviour towards the company goals. Successful nominees are expected to have not only performed their defined roles but also to have contributed additional dimensions beyond their defined roles in the area of culture improvement.

2) Nominations - Nominations for each of the categories are received on a quarterly basis. They

are received from any individual in the company. The only prerequisite for a nomination is that it must be handed to the quality systems manager by the due date and on a formal nomination

form, thus providing some degree of consistency.

3) Review of nominations - Each nomination is accepted on the basis of the quality committee review at a meeting within the first week after the close of nominations for the quarter. The quality committee consists of eight representatives (not necessarily

senior managers) of each area of the business and includes the general manager as its chairperson, at least two executives and the quality systems manager. Each nomination is reviewed for acceptance on the basis of the criteria described above, whether there is any

disciplinary action pending for the nominee, together with an assessment of the most

suitable category for the nomination.

4) Recognition of successful nominations - Successful nominations are formally recognised at a company meeting, which all employees are invited to attend. The nominee, nature of the nomination and category to which the nomination has been assigned is also acknowledged. Each successful nominee receives a certificate from the quality committee, endorsed by the chairperson of the committee, congratulating and thanking them for

their contribution.

5) Review of successful nominations - Successful nominations are assigned to one of the members of the committee for follow-up review to decide the eventual quarterly award winner of the category. Committee members are not permitted to review applications for employees within their own department or area of business.

6) Awards - Each category winner is given an award consisting three components. One is that of a monetary component, consisting of either a getaway weekend package at a prestigious hotel or a money order to a leading retail store. Another is a framed certificate from the company and an accompanying certificate of endorsement from the Western Australian office of the Australian Quality Council. Also there will be an individual and group photograph photos used for publication in the company newsletter and are placed on a notice board in the company canteen. Each category winner also receives an individual copy of the photo. All winners are announced at a second company meeting which is attended by a representative of the Australian Quality Council who awards the successful nominees with their award of endorsement.

7) Annual quality award - Quarterly winners of each category also qualify for the Annual Quality Award. The categories used for quarterly award winners do not apply in the annual award; all 12 quarterly winners are compared with one another. Scores for the annual award represent an average of the sum of the quarterly review (performed during the year) and a repeat review (specifically for the annual award) utilizing different fellow workers and customers. Thus the annual award winner is decided on the highest score from six fellow workers, four customers and two separate assessments by the direct manager.

Any company wishing to implement a reward and recognition process can consider this 7 step process. This process can also be modified to individual company needs by varying the minimum score required for qualification (however, it is not recommended to remove a minimum score) and the rewards could also be changed accordingly.