How We Recognize Phenomenal Employees with the CRISPY Awards
We believe living and working with a purpose brings amazing benefits. Recognizing employees through appreciation events is just one of the many ways organizations can motivate their internal talent (outside of promotions and bonuses, of course). And it’s effective too—68% of organizations with an employee recognition program said it positively affects retention. Here at Phenom, our Core Values are at the heart of our company, nurturing our mindsets and guiding our daily decisions. To inspire happiness and motivation, we encourage employees to live out these values not only in the office, but outside of the workplace as well! Our Phenoms know the core values very well (they do happen to be posted on the TVs and walls throughout our offices!). To celebrate those who embrace our values each and every day, we host a quarterly awards celebration called the CRISPY Awards to recognize standout individuals. Here’s a glimpse into how this program came together, as well as our latest winners! The CRISPY Awards are our way of recognizing employees for exemplifying our company core values of Curiosity, Responsibility, Intensity, Self-Confidence, and Positive Thinking. An award is also given to an individual who embodies all of the values. We started recognizing our employees over a year ago. Employees nominate their colleagues who instill one of our core values throughout the week. We get countless nominations, which is partially due to our highly collaborative environment where employees work together to complete complex projects. When you have an open culture that encourages collaboration and teamwork, the nominations pour in! Also check out: What Really Drives Employee Referrals Teamwork! Our HR team spends weeks preparing for the event. Our focus is on personalization, which takes a lot of hard work when you have 6 winners. Our whole team helps make each award special: Winners receive a personalized gift, T-shirt, and desk swag that reflects the core value they embody, as well as a not-too-embarrassing giant photo of their face. To make it happen, we stalk their social profiles, reach out to their team members, and call their families to learn as much as possible. We even collect videos from spouses, family, and friends who congratulate the winners. During the CRISPY ceremony, it’s priceless seeing the expressions on their faces when they see their loved ones (including pets) on screen. Last week, we even had a whole Barre class wish one of our winners congratulations! Also check out: How to Measure Employee Engagement 1. Matt McCollum for Curiosity ...And the Winner: Matt won for displaying curiosity on a daily basis and working tirelessly into the night time and time again. 2. Noella Scudder for Responsibility ...And the Winner: Noella won for displaying tireless effort, working crazy hours of the night, and for helping our customers in tremendous ways. 3. Julie Te for Intensity About the Core Value: High energy and drive are necessary for accomplishing our goals—and we have big goals! 4. April Breeden for Self-Confidence About the Core Value: We encourage people to be bold and believe in our purpose to help a billion people find the right job. 5. Whitney Bedwell for Positive Thinking About the Core Value: We love our jobs, and you should too! People should come to work happy and inspired every day, and that belief fuels our collective desire to accomplish our mission. ...And the Winner: Whitney can always be found walking around the office exuding a positive attitude; I don’t think you can get a more appropriate person for this one! Behind-the-scenes: As luck would have it, Whitney was the one running the show and planning for the CRISPIES! So, we had to "fake" a winner to throw her off. This was a task in itself—as Whitney was gathering and planning for the other winners, my team was preparing to present one of the awards to her. It was difficult, but we made it work. In the end, Whitney was super surprised! 6. Gabriella Csanyi for All the Core Values Gabi overwhelmingly received the most votes for embodying all of our phenomenal core values. After starting here as a customer who came from an environment that is the exact opposite of what we try to create here, Gabi has a deep appreciation of the Phenom culture and has embraced it to the fullest. Congrats, Phenoms!
What are the CRISPY Awards?
How the CRISPY Awards Come Together
And the CRISPY goes to...
About the Core Value: Constant innovation and improvement doesn’t just happen. It’s rooted in curiosity, which drives our motivation to explore, question, and wonder.
About the Core Value: Responsibility represents the care and deep understanding for our product, customers, employees, and community.
...And the Winner: While there is no shortage of intensity at Phenom People, Julie has displayed intensity and embraced our culture from Day 1.
...And the Winner: Within her first 30 days, April took to learning the Phenom platform quickly, and was already ingrained in the culture helping people with demos, and breaking it down for customers.
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