Spot Awards–A Detailed Plan You Can Use

Here are the last two of Cherry and Green’s Six types of incentive. [Go here for the first four types.] Cherry and Green are both principals at HR consultant Hay Group. They offered their remarks at a recent webinar hosted by BLR/HR Hero.

Plan Type		Overview		Advantages	Disadvantages
	Recognition		Cash or non-cash reward for a specific act or achievement. Usually based on peer or supervisor nomination.	Proven tool for building goodwill and communicating the strategy of the organization.	Requires basic leadership credibility. Can undermine equity if individual awards are given group achievement. If the recognition is for a profoundly impactful achievement or innovation, it may appear hollow (save $100,000, get a $100 gift card)
	Individual		Individual plans can contain any of the options outlines above.	Tailored to individual needs	A lot of administration.

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Individual Spot Awards

Cherry offers the following example of a carefully-worked-out spot awards program:

Example Title	Funding	Annual Frequency	Suggested Awards
Bronze Star	Allocated based on % of local payroll Budget set as part of annual planning cycle	40-50% of employees in any given year	Book, framed print, photos Clothing, gear, logo items Gift certificate (approx. $25-$100) Cash (approx. $25-$100) Personal gifts Food / celebration Recognition letter from leadership
Silver Star	Allocated based on % of local payroll Budget set as part of annual planning cycle	20-30% of company in any given year	Book, framed print, photos Clothing, gear, logo items Gift certificate (greater than $100) Cash (greater than $100) Personal gifts Food / celebration Public recognition Time off (1-2 days)
Gold Star	Central funding Budget set as part of annual planning cycle Proposed award value is part of nomination process Case demonstrating impact	Maximum of 5 recipients in any given year	Travel to other offices / work sites Cultural exchange opportunity Cash (greater than $500) Time off (3 days or more)

Setting goals for incenting non-exempts, one more HR challenge that goes back to the most basic of HR docs—the job description. Can’t set the goals without a clear picture of the objectives.

Job descriptions are critical, yet all too easy to back-burner. What’s the state of your job descriptions? Concerned they might not be up to date and ADA-compliant? … Actually, with BLR’s new program, they are.

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And we’re talking about virtually all of them, covering every common position in any organization, from receptionist right up to president. They are all there in BLR’s SmartJobs.

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Throw your keyboard away—More than 700 prewritten, legally reviewed job descriptions ready at the click of your mouse. Use as is—or easily modify, save, and print. Try BLR’s remarkable SmartJobs program at no cost and also get a free special report! Download Now.

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These are descriptions you can depend on. Our collection has been constantly refined and updated over time, with descriptions revised or added each time the law, technology, or the way business is done changes.

Revised for the ADA, Pay Grades Added

BLR editors have taken apart every one of the 700 descriptions and reassembled them to be ADA-compliant. And now they’ve added pay grades for each job, based on BLR’s annual surveys of exempt and nonexempt compensation, as well as other data.

According to our customers, this is an enormous timesaver, enabling them to make compensation decisions even as they define the position.

SmartJobs also includes an extensive tutorial on setting up a complete job descriptions program, as well as how to encourage participation from all parts of the organization. That includes top management, employees, and any union or other collective-bargaining entity.

Twice-Yearly Updates, No Additional Cost

Very important these days are the updates included in the program as a standard feature—essential at a time of constantly changing laws and yes, emerging technologies. And the cost of the program is extremely reasonable, averaging less than 66 cents per job description … already written, legally reviewed, and ready to adapt or use as-is.

You can evaluate BLR’s SmartJobs at no cost in your office for up to 30 days. Just click here and we’ll be delighted to send it to you.