Selecting the Right Employee Recognition Partner

This article is part of our Recognition Buyer's Guide series. Access the rest of the series here:

1. Getting Executive Support for Employee Recognition Programs‍
2. Assemble Your Buying Committee
3. Prioritize Your Employee Recognition Goals
4. Research Top Employee Recognition Providers
5. Selecting the Right Employee Recognition Partner (you are here!)

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After researching dozens of employee recognition providers, watching demos and presentations, meeting with salespeople, and narrowing down your choices, it’s time to decide on a partner. Learn how to evaluate the different providers and choose the best one for your organization.

Look for pros and cons of each provider

As you evaluate each provider, consider these red flags and green lights:

4 Red Flags

1. Indirect answers

Vendors may use generic or vague responses that lack substance or detail when they want to avoid responding to a question. 

2. Software-only providers

‍A solution won’t be effective if it’s just a piece of technology with no support, communication, or strategy behind it. Many recognition providers are in fact, technology companies with no actual recognition expertise.

3. Generic solutions

‍If your solution looks like everyone else’s, doesn’t integrate with your existing tools or culture, or is not flexible to accommodate your needs, it’s probably not the best one for you.

4. Only provides one type of recognition

If a provider only has one type of recognition solution (like only points) or is just a gateway to an Amazon catalog, will that really be impactful to your employees? Or does recognition just become another form of compensation or currency?

5 Green Lights

1. Various solutions to meet all your recognition needs

Look for a provider that can meet all your recognition needs with unique solutions tailored to each type of recognition, whether you want to recognize during onboarding, for service awards and career anniversaries, every day great work, company celebrations, team goals and initiatives, innovation, sales goals, retirement, etc. How you welcome new hires will be different from how to recognize an employee’s 10-year anniversary. Giving points for everything will dilute the meaning of recognition. 

The possibilities for recognition are endless—your recognition partner’s solutions and reward options should be, too.

2. Deep expertise and research

‍Expertise in recognition and workplace culture is critical. Do they understand communication strategy, customer service, education, measurement, integrations, technical support, and award strategy? Look at what third parties say about the provider, their client satisfaction, company history, and where their research and best practices come from.

The O.C. Tanner Institute tracks, analyzes, and reports on ongoing organizational changes each year in their Global Culture Report.

3. Partnership

There’s a lot to be said for working with people you trust. Is the team of salespeople and subject matter experts made up of smart, caring people who listen? Do they understand you? If a potential vendor uses high-pressure tactics or drama to get you to make a decision in their favor, what will they be like as a partner? The pre-sales stage is a good preview of what the potential partnership will be. If the relationship doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

“O.C. Tanner cares about our business. They listen to our strategies and are interested in what drives Chevron. Then, they tailor recommendations to what will create value for us. It’s a remarkable partnership.”
‍—Tim Papa, HR General Manager, Compensation and Mobility, Chevron

4. Customization of platform and awards

If you want your recognition program to reflect your brand, culture, and values, find a partner who can customize their platform and awards. Your recognition program should look and feel like you, not the vendor.

5. Unwired, offline solutions and integrations

‍Employees who don’t use computers or mobile devices in their daily work need options to give and receive recognition. The best partners will help you ensure no one is left out.

Evaluate employee recognition providers with a scorecard

Use a scorecard to help you compare the spectrum of strengths and weaknesses of the providers on your short list. Your scorecard should contain:

• Criteria of functional, technical, and performance requirements
• The weight assigned to each criterion
• Ratings for each provider
• A final score

Example scorecard:

Tip: There may not be one partner who is at the top of every single category. Choose a provider who is a consistent performer across the board, rather than one who scores really high in one area but is mediocre or low across the others. 

“As we went through the process it became very evident that O.C. Tanner really had the tools, the systems, the people, and the expertise that we were looking for. It was a good match to where we were on this journey. They would bring best-in-class recognition to American.”
‍—Beril McManus, Senior Manager, Recognition and Engagement, American Airlines

Build consensus across your selection committee

Your scorecard or RFP may not show you one clear winner. You may need to confer back with your selection committee. Here are a few tips to help you achieve unity to reach a final decision:

• Keep the lane lines clear. Your IT ambassador should speak to technology considerations, your finance delegate should focus on the most consequential costs. Be upfront with each committee member about what you need from them, and what you don’t.
• Expect to have more questions. Your committee may raise new issues that require additional answers. Be ready to pose more questions to your vendors—which a good partner will be happy to answer.
• Keep communication flowing. Hold regular meetings with your committee throughout the process. And post-decision, include those same teams in meetings with your new recognition vendor as you implement your new solutions and tools.
• Decide who has the final say. It pays to designate someone to be the ultimate decision maker— someone who hears all of the committee’s input and makes the final selection or breaks a tie in a split vote. 

Selecting the best employee recognition partner for your organization is a monumental task—with equally massive rewards. In your search, you’ll inevitably find that not all recognition providers and programs are equal. That’s why the search itself is important and why we at O.C. Tanner are always ready to assist you.

“There is a shared commitment and desire to help our associates feel appreciated. The tools, data, and collaboration have been instrumental in creating a strong culture of recognition at Capital One. I appreciate the partnership and relationship that has been built over the years with the OC Tanner team to help support our program.”
‍— Nick Rosenthal, Principal Associate, Capital One