Leadership Award Program Design for Tech Organizations

Introduction to the Award Program

Any discussion of employee incentive programs will make use of many different terms, most of which mean different things to different people. In order to ensure clarity, this paper begins with a basic lexicon.

Employee incentives are a form of payment tied to the performance of employees. The incentive payment can be either intangible or tangible, with or without an actual cash value. Because they are non-discretionary, incentive payments can be given at any time when the performance of an employee warrants it. This inclusive category encompasses awards, bonuses, recognition, and rewards.

The categorical term award covers a great deal of territory, and commonly includes monetary incentives, plaques and trophies, prizes and contest payouts, public recognition and commendation, and travel bonuses. A reward is generally given to an individual when a pre-determined goal has been met. Bonuses are typically distributed to a group of employees when a team, department, or business enterprise performs well on fiscal returns, sales, and similar metrics. Recognition takes place after the fact or on the occasion of some milestone anniversary. Employee recognitions are typically a public display of appreciation that may include tangible items and/or intangibles, such as a formal thank-you letter or email, an extra paid day off, or cash for submitting a winning improvement suggestion.

The award program described in this paper is designed for the high-tech industry — specifically for a software development enterprise. A leader in this type of company is likely to be responsible for the full cycle of development of a software product and would head a team of software engineers. The leader will be capable of working as a member of a horizontal team of peer leaders from departments across the enterprise, such as marketing, compliance and legal, client accounts, and sales. Encouraging and rewarding technology innovation is a primary focus of this award, but the emphasis is not solely on product creation (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013). It is about the vision and execution that opens the way to new technology development, and the corresponding pursuit of novel ways to bring products to launch (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013).

The intent of the leadership award program is to build ubiquitous leadership — not to create followers, nor to single out a small minority of employees to be nurtured as leaders while everyone else is placed in a box labeled "Employee, Non-Leader" (Deal, 2007). Rather than simply scaling the operations, models, and processes of the business, employees recognized by the leadership award program will give evidence of spending time and resources to build leadership capacity throughout the organization (Deal, 2007).

Recognized leaders will demonstrate self-awareness and awareness of culture, context, emotion, and organizational dynamics (Biro, 2013). Criteria for awarding leaders will hinge on examples of engaging with, listening to, learning from, and observing employees (Biro, 2013). Leaders likely to be recognized and awarded will exhibit humility and practice sensitivity (Biro, 2013). The leadership award program will help identify instances when leaders encouraged other employees to challenge the opinions, positions, and perceptions of established leaders (Avolio & Yammarino, 2013). One marker for this type of behavior can be seen when a leader changes his or her mind, conveys that unlearning is a positive, and actively seeks both personal development and growth as a leader (Brent & Dent, 2010).

Rating Criteria and General Attributes

A nomination process will be used to identify exceptional leadership within the target organization. Similar to a 360-degree performance evaluation process, the nomination process is designed to gather information and perceptions from colleagues at all levels and across all departments with which the leadership award candidate engages in work transactions.

Selection Criteria & Associated Rating Criteria

1. Demonstrates the ability to motivate others.
2. Fosters an environment that encourages and permits others to fully contribute.
3. Clearly communicates a path to goal attainment.
4. Establishes a culture of continuous quality improvement.
5. Appropriately and enthusiastically recognizes achievement.

Selection Criteria & Associated Rating Criteria

Major Award Categories and Selection Criteria

1. Creates an environment where creativity is fostered.
2. Creates an environment where mistakes are an accepted basis for learning.
3. Establishes focus on being a learning organization.
4. Equitably builds in time for innovation.
5. Rewards intermediate steps toward innovation.

Selection Criteria & Associated Rating Criteria

1. Trusts team members to thoroughly research objectives.
2. Recruits and hires people who challenge conventional thinking.
3. Pushes reliable data upward to evoke change.
4. Takes responsibility for failures.
5. Chronicles successes and keeps tracking toward them.

Selection Criteria & Associated Rating Criteria

1. Supports employees in achieving, learning, and growing.
2. Recruits and hires for a diverse team.
3. Regularly meets with all staff to discuss the rationale behind decisions.
4. Encourages and follows up on suggestions.
5. Ensures horizontal and vertical channels of communication.

Rating of the selection criteria is based on a 5-point Likert scale using the following convention:

0 — Does not apply
1 — Never demonstrates
2 — Rarely demonstrates
3 — Occasionally demonstrates
4 — Consistently demonstrates