DMV reinvents Employee Recognition Program

When employees are valued, satisfaction and productivity rises and workers are motivated to improve.

An essential part of building that culture in the DMV has been its Employee Recognition Program (ERP). The ERP is an employee-driven program that has been recognizing outstanding efforts in some fashion since 1996. But recent changes in state rules motivated the ERP to reimagine and realign its mission.

"The new rules greatly affected the way we could recognize employees, raise funds and spend the money we had," ERP member Zac Edwards told the recent Leadership Summit audience. "We needed to move from a program where we would give out rewards that had value but weren't performance based, to a program where our co-workers feel valued due to their outstanding performance."

The team reorganized, brainstormed ideas, and surveyed employees. With the energy of the new team and ideas from co-workers, a new ERP was developed.

Now, to recognize employees for outstanding service, a "Wall of Fame" was built that showcases employees who went above and beyond in the areas of customer service, productivity, and leadership, and pennants are hung in their cubicles. A quarterly newsletter is being published and the popular "Name That Tune" and "Family Feud" competitions were retained as part of the program's quarterly all-employee meetings. A white board was also installed in the DMV hallway to allow employees to write opinions and thank co-workers.

"The Employee Recognition Program is helping to drive the DMV's success and assist in recruiting and retaining the highest skilled and most innovative workforce," Edwards said. "The program has strengthened the link between employee performance and recognition and improved and increased employee engagement at a time when the DMV was going through countless changes."

Watch DMV's two-minute opening pitch here.


Published 11-02-18