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BRINGING SMILES TO HERSHEYA CASE STUDY
BRINGING SMILESTO HERSHEYA CASE STUDY
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Founded in 1894 by Milton S. Hershey, The Hershey Company has a longstanding history
as the chocolate and confectionery leader in North America. Their portfolio of more than 80
brands includes such iconic favorites as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Jolly Rancher,
and Ice Breakers. The Hershey Company has been headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania,
for more than 150 years. Approximately 21,000 Hershey employees worldwide work every
day to bring goodness to the world through great tasting snacks.
Hershey’s values tell the story of “One Hershey”—a global and diverse team that is open
to possibilities, grows together, and makes a difference by having a positive impact on
everything they do.
ABOUT THE HERSHEY COMPANY
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Now leaders have tools to
empower employees and keep
them motivated. Giving recognition
used to involve a lot of process.
Now they can give recognition
more frequently with less hassle.”
CESAR VILLA DIRECTOR, TOTAL REWARDS
INTERNATIONAL
Hershey’s employee base is diverse and dispersed, with many different
generations working in tandem all over the world. Each year, a global
employee survey called “Many Voices, One Hershey” is used to track
metrics on culture, engagement, and satisfaction across the company.
Back in 2013, survey results indicated that recognition had a positive impact
on engagement and retention in parts of the business where recognition
programs were prevalent. However, Recognition and Reward was the item
with the greatest decline on the survey—down 8% from 2012 to 2013.
Upon completing an audit of the state of recognition at Hershey, the team
found that there were very inconsistent employee experiences. While there
were many functional recognition programs, they had poor visibility and
offered redundant solutions across the business. “Not all managers had
access to recognize their employees and not all employees had the same
experience across the globe. Essentially, we didn’t have a consistent strategy
for recognition,” says Cesar Villa, Director, Total Rewards International.
A CHOCOLATEY CHALLENGE
poor visibilityredundant solutionslimited access
THE BIG CHALLENGES
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We needed to create a global experience, the same experience
for every employee.”
CESAR VILLA DIRECTOR, TOTAL REWARDS INTERNATIONAL
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Founded in 1894 by Milton S. Hershey, The Hershey
Company has a longstanding history as the chocolate and
confectionery leader in North America. Their portfolio
of more than 80 brands includes such iconic favorites
as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Jolly Rancher,
and Ice Breakers. The Hershey Company has been
headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for more than
150 years. Approximately 21,000 Hershey employees
worldwide work every day To address employee
feedback, Hershey set out to develop a true culture of
recognition. That would start with consolidating all of
their disparate recognition and reward programs into
a global solution to drive engagement and support
Hershey’s Best Place to Work culture. Success criteria
for the new, global program would involve increased
participation and engagement scores, budget controls
and process effectiveness.
Hershey chose Globoforce as their partner in this
endeavor. On why they chose to partner with Globoforce,
Cesar says, “Simply put, it’s the proven experience
that Globoforce has in recognition. We interviewed
Globoforce’s customers and they said they’ve had great
experiences with good coaching and global technology.
And one of the most important things is the global
approach that Globoforce offers and the easy-to-use
technology.”
Working together with Hershey, Globoforce created the
SMILES recognition and reward program. The program
is uniquely branded and linked to Hershey’s core values
of Open to Possibilities, Growing Together, Making a
Difference, and One Hershey. It’s open to all employees,
in 17 countries and five different languages. Employees
can send their peers SMILES through a website
or mobile app. Paper options are also available for
Hershey’s offline employees in manufacturing facilities.
Points-based rewards are redeemable for thousands of
merchandise and gift card options around the world,
depending on where the employee is based.
“Now leaders have tools to empower employees and
keep them motivated. Giving recognition used to
involve a lot of process. Now they can give recognition
more frequently with less hassle,” says Cesar. to bring
goodness to the world through great tasting snacks.
Hershey’s values tell the story of “One Hershey”—a
global and diverse team that is open to possibilities,
grows together, and makes a difference by having a
positive impact on everything they do.
THE DELICIOUS SOLUTION
Every 10 minutes a
Hershey employee is
recognized by a colleague
More than 100,000 recognition
moments delivered since
launch 2 years ago
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After just one week, 8.7% of the company was
recognized. And after a year, more than 50,000 SMILES
were awarded, with 68% of those rewards coming
from leaders. 81% of the recognition occurred across
different countries, which is crucial for Hershey’s global
workforce. Additionally, the program achieved 100%
cross-organization recognition within its first year. The
team was also pleased to see the frequency of recognition
increase, with 8% of employees being recognized on a
weekly basis. Finally, recognition satisfaction increased
by 11% after SMILES was implemented.
There has been great feedback and stories from
employees so far. Cesar notes, “We interviewed
employees in manufacturing plants. One said, ‘I
have been here for 25 years and this is the first time
that I have received recognition.’ So that’s something
impressive. It proves that their ideas count and that their
contributions are taken into consideration. They also like
having thousands of options in the awards network. For
example, they can take their family out to dinner and
they can say, ‘I’m proud because my ideas have been
recognized and I can share what The Hershey Company
has given me.’”
Hershey is well on its way to creating a culture of
recognition. The team is currently building a roadmap
to include all recognition activities in Hershey SMILES,
including well-being initiatives, sales contests, and
life changes. “When you get married, celebrate your
birthday or are promoted, you will be recognized in
Hershey SMILES.” says Cesar.
SWEET SUCCESS
increase in recognition satisfaction in 2014
increase in recognition satisfaction in 2015
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Founded in 1999, Globoforce is the world’s leading provider of employee recognition solutions. Through its social, mobile, and global technology, Globoforce helps HR and business leaders elevate employee engagement, increase employee retention, manage company culture, and discover actionable insight about their talent. Today, employees across the world are living their company values and achieving peak performance through the SaaS-based Globoforce platform. A private corporation, Globoforce is co-headquartered in Southborough, Massachusetts, and Dublin, Ireland.
© 2017 Globoforce Limited. All rights reserved.
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