Our company is going to launch an online English learning platform for our Chinese managers to facilitate them to improve their English proficiency in the self-directed approach. In order to promote this program and encourage those managers really make use of this resource, the Management is thinking to recognize those do well in the Program. I'd like to seek your kind sharing on what did you do in this aspect? Below is some of my ideas:
1. Learning Winner - who makes the most progress (assessed through public bodies)
2. Best Learning-In-Practice Award - who demonstrates remarkable progress in applying English at work (nominated by manager and assessed by giving a presentation)
3. Most Diligent Learner Award - who spends most time amongst all in the Program and completed most learning contents
What other great ideas you have?
Kindly share and thanks.
5 Responses
Great but…
Fantastic idea to recognise achievement but a slight note of caution.
Think carefully about how the "winner" will be nominated. Nomination forms can be quite tedious to complete and the "winner" could be chosen purely on the basis that someone could be bothered to fill in the nomination form rather than they were the best candidate.
Surver Monkey or similar would work as you could get more input from a wide range of people in the organisation and if worded correctly would be quite an accurate assessment of who is doing well…
Good luck
Recognition programs
Recognition programs are fantastic for moral and encourage employees to try harder. One program I’ve seen was based on a points system the company already used. An employee could earn points for volunteering for an overtime project, going beyond their normal tasks, following up, 100 consequetive non-sick days, etc. usually these recognitons would earn the employee 10-20 points. The points could be redeemed for virtually anything from mugs and t-shirts to vacations and local NFL tickets (5000 points). The training program I was involved in could earn the top scoring employee 100 points with every employee scoring above 90% earning 50pts.
When considering recognition in Asian cultures you really need to put aside our western ideas of appreciation and consider what the recipiant would appreciate. For example: in the western culture the word "winner" is a very positive lable and most people strive to stand out and be winners. now consider the very Asian saying: "The nail that stands up gets pounded down." Asians are taught in many ways to not stand out, but to contribute to the whole, to bring harmony, honor, to the group. Perhaps a similar point system in China should offer to reward the office with a new copier or upgrades to the break room.
After considering the differences in Western and Asian cultures the idea of labeling one employee as a winner may not seem like such a good idea. In fact it may cause managers to not participate in the program at all. I was told by a VP of Asia paciifc operations of an automotive manufacturer about his experience in S. Korea. He was promoting an employee durring a company meeting and ask the employee to come up to the stage. The employee looked at his supervisor (at least 5 levels of authority below the VP) as if to ask for permission to be promoted. Only when the supervisor nodded in agreement did the employee stand up ans walk to the stage.
As an alternative you may consider something like a plaque or other ornamentation that shows appreciation and contribution equally for all who achieve the goal without singling out one individual "winner".
Rewarding Learning
I like gdtmentor’s views. Many conventional awards are in the class of ‘ Getting them to Jump for Jelly-beans ‘ as Herzberg put it, years ago. Different societies and cultures may value different sorts of ‘rewards’. A different approach is to ‘Reward by advancement’. Give those who learn more opportunities; more responsibilities; more demanding work. Show that learning is valuable in itself. Giving ‘Gold Stars’ reeks of the schoolroom.
Kirkpatrick?
surely the reward is for the application of the learning rather than the learning itself; ie what is the increase in value generated by the learner…..
Tips
Those are excellent cultural notes of caution from gdtmentor. Asian cultures tend to perform better in online language learning than European cultures (especially in southern Europe where I’m based).
Our company’s been using an online English learning platform for some years as part of our blended language courses, and here are a few useful tips that we’ve picked up along the way:
– tie it back to the real world and encourage their line manager to raise the topic at their regular meetings, maybe raising awareness by having a weekly or monthly summary email of their reports’ progress sent to the line managers or department heads.
– useful also for online learning in general, as it’s often not considered ‘real work’, other colleagues often feel they can interrupt in the middle of an exercise, even if they’re only 5 of 10 minutes long. Give out a small sign (even something as simple as a postcard stuck on a springy holder) with a ‘learning, do not disturb’ message, which also raises the course’s profile and helps everyone take the learning more seriously.
– set up a series of motivational emails (autoresponder?) with tips and hints, and a representation of where they are compared to an average for the company, or for the online course, without naming names perhaps.
Good luck with the rollout, and keep us updated on how it goes after the first few weeks.
Alex Taylor