Employee recognition should be clear, relevant and simple, says OVO Energy’s Julia Diggs
Any recognition programme should have four main components.
- It should make it clear to employees what they are being recognised for
- Be relevant to everyone in the organisation
- Not be overcomplicated, and
- Be a part of the company’s culture.
That was the message from Julia Diggs, director of people experience, at OVO Energy, at the Using recognition to encourage a people-centric organisation REBA webinar on 5 June 2024.
“Listen to employees and create a moment that feels special to individuals,” she said. “It becomes relevant to everyone and recognises the things that are most important to them and to you as an organisation.”
Reward and recognition are core to OVO Energy’s people offer – policies, terms and conditions, rewards and culture. “We’ve done our best to tailor that to make sure that [the offer] rewards and recognises people in the way that matters to them,” said Diggs.
It’s also “built on” the company’s values and Plan Zero mission – part of which is to reach true net zero by 2035. “We have three simple values: find a better way, do what’s right, build something great. They have clear outcomes that go along with them.”
Among OVO Energy’s recognition programmes are OVO cards, based on the values, that are sent by anyone at any time via the recognition platform. “They are a way of saying ‘thank you’ for anything you want to thank people for. We have one card sent every seven minutes now,” Diggs said.
The company also has a Customer Heroes programme in which 10 people are nominated each week by customers, peers or both, then individually contacted by leaders to say thank you, receive a small award and are celebrated at ‘connection’ events.
“It's using recognition continuously, making sure that we link it to the culture and how we succeed, and making sure that we really focus on the things that make us stand out and what we stand for,” Diggs added.
