In the 1990's at Sears Roebuck, there was a position called Recognition Manager. The man that held the position was responsible for implementing all the recognition programs at Sears. These included on-the-spot recognition of associates, length of service recognition, marketing recognition programs, sales achievement programs and quality supplier programs. This, besides all the departmental programs and existing programs, had to be blended into a cohesive plan to meet certain goals and objectives.
The first task when he was hired was to take an inventory of all the programs that Sears had. At the Hoffman Estates headquarters location alone, there were over 5,000 associates, with tons of embedded programs that had to be identified. Once done, the budget that was being spent across the company could be determined. This turned out to be a staggering number, since so many of these programs were department based out of what amounted to 'discretionary funds'.
His next task was to identify which programs had a positive ROI, and which programs were positive for team building and morale. It was not an across the board decision as to which would be kept and which would be discarded. The idea was to consolidate the entire package into a series of programs that could be measured by management and show a positive return. It was a huge undertaking and a number of toes were stepped on in the process, as some pet programs had to be eliminated. The good ones were kept around though, and new ones implemented.
One challenge, was to address the symbolic recognition that the Sears Tower service award pin represented. While the pin had great tradition, the tower had just been sold, it was unclear what the status of the name 'Sears Tower' was going to be, and the idea of annually presenting 35,000 lapel pins with the Sears Tower on them just wasn't going to work. The new design focused on the Three Compelling triangles, which was a reference to the company mission statement (adding value to Shareholders, Customers and Associates). It is always hard to break away from longstanding traditions, and many recognition programs at Sears were affected. Additionally, the company wanted to add something tangible to the symbolic recognition, and a gift program added to the service award pin was the result.
The real challenge for the recognition manager at Sears, was to keep people engaged in the process. He needed them to buy into the bigger picture of what Sears was trying to do. This was difficult, as many department managers had very good programs that they had implemented at the local level, and they were not eager to let go of them. On the global scale, some of the programs like the quality supplier recognition called Partners In Progress, were hugely successful. They recognized the top 2% of the suppliers to the Sears product line. To receive one of these awards as a supplier was a huge accomplishment. The very top 12-20 suppliers received the coveted Baccarat Crystal Tower on a custom base. The rest of the quality suppliers received a top of the line plaque with the Three Compelling triangles pressed into a metal medallion made from a mold. The program was very prestigious and received with much fanfare.
Sears evolved. Management changed. People created different focus. The roots of many of the success stories at Sears are founded in the roots of the recognition organization, and the sign on the recognition manager's desk: What Gets Recognized, Gets Done.
