How do you measure "Thank You"?

How do you go about measuring the impact of your company’s Thank You program? Finding that 42 percent of companies that spend millions on these programs don’t know how well they work, the folks at  Globoforce have put some thought behind it.
In its recently released white paper, “Measuring Recognition: (How to Build the Business Case for Strategic Recognition in a Recession,” Globoforce advises businesses take these  steps to measure the success of “strategic recognition” programs”:

1. Decide how you’ll measure success before the program launches. Effective metrics should be based on factors including costs versus outcomes, gains in productivity and performance, and company values and strategic objectives. Stay away from simply counting the number of rewards given, which measures just that.
2. Next, set up a performance baseline for recognition. This gauges how the program impacts employee morale, productivity and performance against former and future Thank You programs.
3. Use employee surveys and the program itself to measure results regularly and consistently. This ensures that the program remains on target.
4. Look for trends in analyzing results. This analysis can uncover valuable information about who is using the program best, and who isn’t.
5. Share meaningful results with employees, managers and executives. Tailor the message to each audience, reporting relevant information to each group.

Engagement today is critical. Measuring the success of Thank You programs aimed at engagement just makes sense. Explains Globoforce’s Head of Global Strategy Derek Irvine, “When executed properly, strategic recognition holds the power to increase motivation, enhance engagement levels and drive bottom line results through improved productivity levels. With critical outcomes like this on the line, it serves all companies well to make a thorough assessment of how their programs are functioning and make necessary adjustments to maximize the return they get on this investment. In the end, it will benefit employees and management, and impact company performance.”
That’s powerful stuff, when done well.

gThankYou® Certificates of Gratitude™, when given as employee gifts, are a way  savvy Human Resource Executives help their company’s say “Thank You” to colleagues.  gThankYou, LLC is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  The company is best known for its Ham Gift Certificates, Turkey Gift Certificates and Grocery Gift Cards.