RPI Best Practice 2009

Nomination Form Deadline for Entries: December 1, 2008

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RPI Best Practice Program 2009

Nomination Form

Deadline for Entries: December 1, 2008

Thank you for taking the initiative to nominate an organization for the Recognition Professionals International, (RPI - formerly NAER) Best Practice Award. Before completing this nomination form, please carefully review the RPI Best Practice Standards.

Eligibility and Application Fees

Organizations may self-nominate or be nominated by someone outside the organization. Please note: A nomination of any organization other than its own must be with the nominee’s approval. Recognition consultants or resource providers may not nominate client programs that are available to the marketplace for sale, however a client organization that has put the consultant’s program into practice and is currently using the consultant’s program is eligible, even if nominated by the consultant.

Nominees must be willing to share their programs and processes with RPI, be audited and have the results published. RPI Best Overall Award Recipients must be willing to present their programs/practices in a one (1) hour presentation at the RPI 2008 Fall Summit, Chicago, Illinois. The application fee for submission of a nomination is $150.00 for nominees who are RPI members and $400.00 for nominees who are not RPI members. The non-RPI member application fee will include a one-year RPI membership. The application fee should be submitted with this Nomination Form.

Completing the Nomination Form

Part A asks for basic information about your organization.

Part B asks for specific information about your recognition program in the context of the specific items covered by the Best Practice Standards.

All nominations must be submitted on this Best Practice Nomination Form and must be accompanied by a program document and/or other relevant materials sufficient to demonstrate that the program is documented as required by the Standards. These materials must be submitted via the online form, in an electronic format to or sent on CD to the below address. Please use pdf or jpeg images and Word programs. Materials must be submitted to:

Recognition Professionals International (RPI)

1601 North Bond Street, Suite 303

Naperville, IL 60563

To assist our judges, please keep the following two important points in mind:

  1. Please give specific examples in the Nomination Form, whenever possible, to supplement general statements; and
  2. Please include specific cross-references in the nomination form to the supporting documents and supplemental materials.

As you prepare this Nomination Form, please refer to the Best Practice Standards for more specific guidance on each item

Part A: General Information

Name of organization: Accenture

Dept/Division/Section (if applicable):

Address: 161 N. Clark Street

City/State/Zip: Chicago, IL 60601

1)Number of employees:186,000

2)The organization is: ___ non-profit ___ government _X__ for-profit

3)Industry:Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing

4)If we choose to study your organization, whom should we contact for more information?

Name: Aura Wynne
Position: Global Recognition Manager

Address (if different than above):

City/State/Zip:

Phone Number: (_312__) 693-5760

RPI occasionally transmits information regarding the Best Practice program via electronic communications (Email).

I authorize the Recognition Professionals International (RPI) to send association Email communications to my Email Address:

RPI occasionally transmits information to its members via FAX communications.

I authorize the Recognition Professionals International (RPI) to send association FAX communications to my Fax number: N/A

Who referred you to RPI? I am a current memeber

How did you hear about RPI?

Nominated by:

Name:Aura L. Wynne

Organization:Accenture

Address:161 N. Clark Street

City/State/Zip:Chicago, IL 60601

Email:60601Phone: (_312__)693-5760

RPI Best Practice 2009

Nomination Form Deadline for Entries: December 1, 2008

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Part B: Program Information

Please complete each of the specific recognition program elements covered by the seven Best Practice Standards:

Standard 1. Recognition Strategy.
Standard 2. Management Responsibility.
Standard 3. Recognition Program Measurement.
Standard 4. Communication Plan.
Standard 5. Recognition Training.
Standard 6. Recognition Events and Celebrations.
Standard 7. Program Change and Flexibility.

All nominations are judged first on Standards 1 and 2, which are the basic elements of a successful recognition program, and then on Standards 3 through 7, which treat specific program elements in more detail.

Please respond to each item in the spaces provided below. If necessary, you may create additional space below the item as needed.

Standard 1. Recognition Strategy.

1. Describe the organization’s recognition strategy. Include the specific recognition strategy statement and describe how the recognition strategy links to the overall organizational vision, mission, and values.

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.

In the past year, Accenture was named to:

•BusinessWeek’s Best Global Brands/Top 100 Brands (Accenture ranked #47 in 2008, up from #50 in 2007).

•Fortune’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” in 2008 for the fourth straight year, third year in a row finishing first in the Information Technology Services category

•Working Mother magazine’s “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” in 2008, which is six years in a row.

Accenture’s High Performance business strategy is supported by the talent of our people. Simply stated, our people make the difference. As such, attracting, retaining, developing and rewarding our people is paramount to Accenture’s long-term success.

Engagement correlates closely with high-performing businesses. External research shows a strong correlation between engagement and areas such as employee retention, employee performance, customer satisfaction and business results. Having a highly engaged workforce also means that we are delivering on our commitment to our people about their Accenture Career Experience.

Recognition is a driver of employee engagement, and as a result, critical that employees feel regularly and genuinely appreciated and valued. Recognition aligns with our core values of Stewardship, Respect for the Individual and Best People.

Accenture’ recognition strategy is focused on building a culture of appreciation through a globally-integrated recognition approach to:

  • Align and integrate formal (Celebrating Performance) and informal (low cost/no cost) appreciation strategies that communicate and reinforce behaviors associated with Accenture’s Key Performance Factors.
  • Develop a collective consciousness and broader focus around appreciation and all leadership contribution areas – particularly “people developers” – so that managers take the time to appreciate great work and great effort, in addition to great results.
  • Create a story telling environment that models behaviors of appreciation and recognition throughout the organization.
  • Eliminate/prevent silos and barriers by encouraging appreciation across virtual environments, regions, functions and departments.
  • Imbed “appreciation” into the fabric of the organization so it becomes a natural component of an employee’s everyday job.
  • Continually reinforce Accenture’s internal brand.
  • Promote greater communication between managers and employees – using appreciation – to build trust and accountability.
  • Help managers easily recognize employees – and employees easily recognize each other.
  • Measure improvement in employee engagement and sense of alignment to Key Performance Factors and corporate goals.

2. Provide examples of how the organization provides a three-dimensional approach to recognition through the following:

(See the Best Practice Standards for definitions.)

Day-to-day recognition:

Accenture’s Celebrating Performance program is a global program which has proved to be valuable tool for employee recognition, motivation and engagement. Accenture people around the globe have embraced the opportunity to offer their colleagues “any time” recognition.

This program is available for employees to celebrate and reward high performance (as described through Accenture Performance Factors)– whenever and wherever it happens. Using Celebrating Performance, all employees at all levels are able to send e-cards and e-certificates to their colleagues and supervisors in recognition of superior performance on a project or task. In addition to e-cards and e-certificates, the program utilizes reward points, granted by supervisors and career counselors to employees in appreciation for a job well done. Accenture employees can also use Celebrating Performance as a tool to recognize service anniversaries.

Accumulated points can be redeemed for merchandise or services such as electronics, furniture and getaway packages, which are displayed in local catalogs. Merchandise and services are available for a range of “point prices” so that people may redeem points immediately, or opt to save them for higher “priced” items.

See Attachments 20 and 21 for sample ecards available to our employees through Celebrating Performance. These ecards and designed consistent with Accenture’s high performance business strategy.

Informal recognition:

At Accenture, Informal recognition is frequent occurance among teams and on at our client sites. Our Employee Engagement and Recognition website houses recognition best practices which are largely informal. Our supervisors and business leaders are implementing these activities, such as team lunches or dinners upon achieving a milestone or completing a key deliverable. Other forms of informal recognition come in the form of spot awards which can be accompanied by a variety of rewards such as flex time, time away from work to focus on friends and family, charitable contributions, etc… We also promote us of our Celebrating Performance tool as a vehicle to send a simple “Thank You” to our employees via customizable e-cards. This is key to our strategy as our employee’s voiced in our 2008 Global Employee Engagement Survey that their top two preferred forms of recognition globally are Celebrating Performance points followed by “Thank You” for a job well done. We also have paper-based recognition cards that our employees can have sent to them to facilitate the exchange of more personal, hand written thank you notes. Examples of informal recognition tips posted on the internal Employee Engagement and Recognition website include:

  • Say THANK YOU even for the little things – a small thank you goes a long way
  • Remember to recognize; at the beginning of each day put three coins in your right pocket; transfer one to your left pocket each time you recognize a team member; by the end of the day the threecoins should be in your left pocket
  • Set a goal today to identify what each employee on your team does best and recognize them for it; provide greater work challenges and opportunities as appropriate
  • Bring in the perks - specialty coffee, ice cream, movie tickets; whatever small tokens will bring a smile to faces
  • It’s never to soon to celebrate; welcome new team members with a celebratory event or a personalized card
  • Bring back souvenirs from travels to give to team members
  • Be specific and considerate with recognition; name certain accomplishments and ensure rewards are meaningful
  • Remember to recognize, even in tough times
  • Understand and leverage the internal recognition programs, tools and best practices available to you, i.e. Celebrating Performance and best practices captured on the Employee Engagement and Recognition website
  • When your team has to work into the evening or on a weekend, surprise them with a catered lunch or dinner
  • Recognize individual or team accomplishments in front of others. Consider publicizing them in an upcoming newsletter or highlight at the next team meeting
  • Send personalized hand written thank you notes to your employees
  • Recognize personal and family events and milestones within the team, e.g. children’s birthdays, completing a marathon, etc.

Formal recognition:

Accenture’s Celebrating Performance program is an integrating program which offers day to day, informal and formal recognition. Employees receive monetary or non-monetary rewards for performance based contributions as outcomes tied to our validated Performance Factors which are behaviors predictive of high performance. When employees receive a monetary or non-monetary award through Celebrating Performance, their supervisor and Career Counselor are copied on the award so that they are aware of the contribution and may take it into consideration as an input to the form performance management process.

In addition to Celebrating Performance, Accenture offers over 200 global and local recognition programs designed to increase the engagement of targeted groups of employees based on identified recognition gaps and preferences as well as driven by business goals. Attachment 1: Recognition Inventory 2008 captures these programs and provides a brief description of each. Many of these programs do involve a formal nomination process, review committee and result in a formal recognition ceremony, such as the UK Oscars program.

At Accenture, we are largely a virtual workforce with over 186,000 employees in over 200 cities, 52 countries and 13 geographies. In order to spotlight our recognition success stories and best practices, we leverage targeted recognition communications and postcards, feature news articles for internal publications and post key information, reminders and success stories on the appropriate internal websites.

See Attachment 1: Recognition Inventory 2008

3. Provide examples of documented procedures for the following:

a)Process for identifying and recognizing day-to-day positive behaviors

Note: The program specific details captured in this application are those for our largest global recognition program, Celebrating Performance. Any details required for the 200+ recognition programs contained in the attached inventory can be provided, as needed.

Accenture’s Performance Factors are the organizing principle (and critera) on which the global Celebrating Performance Program was established. Accenture’s Performance Management process includes evaluation of high performance outcomes and behaviors. Performance Factors describe the behaviors. We felt it critical to reinforce these critical behaviors through our recognition program, thus linking it to our corporate goals and high performance business strategy. Performance factors are workforce and career level specific. See Attachment 2: Accenture Performance Factors for detailed descriptions of these factors. These descriptions are also embedded in the Celebrating Performance platform such when a manager or employee initiates the process to send an ecard or point award, they select the appropriate performance factors and the description is automatically displayed to ensure the contribution is appropriate for the factor identified.

b)Nomination, selection criteria, notification, and tracking procedures

As desicribed above, any employee can send any other employee (globally) a Celebrating Performance award. A key design principle was to ensure the process and toolset was simple. This is required for our diverse and virtual workforce. There is no formal nomination and selection process for Celebrating Performance as we put the power of recognition in the hands of our employees for this program rather than a review committee. The rewards are for the people by the people and each employee has the authority to evaluate another’s contribution

Accenture has numerous examples of formal programs which follow the traditional process of nomination forms, selection committees, etc… which we are happy to provide as required to support this application. What is unique about Celebrating Performance is that it breaks those traditional barriers and empowers our people to appreciate each other across levels on a peer to peer, supervisor to employee and employee to supervisor basis. Our engagement surveys tell us that this is what our employees value and what engages them in the area of recognition. In essence, we empower every employee to demonstrate appreciation and increase the engagement of their colleagues through recognition at Accenture.

The Celebrating Performance website contains the program guidelines, terms and conditions and FAQs to support the program is attached (Attachment 3). Additionally, our documented guidelines for Human Resources regarding proper use of the program at contained in the Celebrating Performance Usage Guidelines (Attachment 6). Extensive self service and centrally managed reporting options are available to suppor Celebrating Performance. The attached reporting job aid (Attachment 4) describes these reports available within the tool. Our off shore recognition support team in Buenos Aires also provide custom analyses and report to support employee and leadership requests related to our recognition program offerings.

c)Award selection

As per above, employees are individually empowered to select the individuals who meet the criteria to receive a performance award by evaluating their contribution against the performance factor descriptions provided.

4. Describe the overall recognition program objectives and how they align with the recognition strategy.

As stated above, the Celebrating Performance is designed to recognize above and beyond, high performance contributions.

Our objectives during strategy development for this program were as follows:

  • First, we wanted to expand rewards for “day-to-day” performance beyond the top 30 percent of our people (which is the model of our performance management process as a meretocracy)
  • Second, we wanted to institutionalize our Performance Factors as the standard for recognizing effective behaviors
  • Last, but certainly not least, we wanted to improve our employee engagement metrics

Our program achieved all three of these objectives within year 1 (2007). Our initial white paper developed to document program intent is attached for reference (Attachment 5) which articulates the desired outcomes and considerations.

There is a clear and visible tie between the Celebrating Performance program and our overall Recognition strategy. The program is first and foremost tightly linked to our high performance business strategy, it is targeted to increase employee engagement and it is designed to meet the needs and recognition preferences of our diverse and virtual employee population.

5. Describe how the organization builds continuous improvement into its recognition programs.

Continuous improvement is front and center in recognition in general as well as within Celebrating Performance. The measurement section of this application describes our Global Employee Enagement Survey which contains a section focused on recognition. The outputs of the survey are the leading data points used to review the effectiveness of our recognition programs and learn what we can do to expand our recognition offering and increase engagement. Additionally, in 2008 Accenture engaged in a global effort to inventory recognition programs and activities in order to share best practices across the organization and streamline efforts and realize associated cost savings. Finally, the recognition team hosts monthly calls with the key recognition contacts within each geography to gather local feedback to ensure we are offering the right mix of global and local programs that are having the desired impact on the hearts and minds of people locally.