Creating and Rewarding ‘Work Heroes’

People who display generosity of spirit at work are very important to a business. As are people who take the time to follow the right processes in what they do and create an example for others to admire and follow. These people may be managers, but very often they can be people who just care about what they do and take pride in delivering their best work every time. 

These types of employees are role models, heroes of your business if you like. Heroes and heroic behaviour aren’t just large gestures, they can be something very small that means a lot to one individual, for example, showing someone the ropes on their first day at work. 

Individuals who display these characteristics are vital to the fabric of your business because they set the standard for others to observe and aspire to reach. 

Employees demonstrating role model behaviours are vital contributors to business success and it’s important that their contribution is spotlighted and recognised not just by management, but also by fellow employees. 

Neon has experience in creating role model programmes for many types of organisations - from global legal partnerships to very large supermarket chains. For one such company, which had over 400 outlets, we developed a programme where employees made peer-to-peer nominations of colleagues, who in their opinion, best-demonstrated behaviours aligned to company brand values. Each month, the nominations in each store were assessed by a store committee comprising staff of all levels. Those approved, were then handed onto a judging team of UK senior management who determined the final winners and made recognition awards. The system was seen as very fair by all involved and hundreds of winners received nationwide visibility and acclaim. 

A hero programme has a powerful effect on staff opinion, loyalty and engagement and is a very cost-effective way of enhancing corporate esprit de corp. 

Get in touch to talk about the advantages a similar activity could bring to your business!

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