Lifestyle

Ring it on!

MORE COWBELL!: Employees at Flatiron p.r. firm DiGennaro Communications ring orange bells for great work — and studies say it helps companies have better employee engagement and productivity. (
)

When new hires show up for their first day at DiGennaro Communications, a Flatiron District public relations agency, the first thing they receive is a bright orange cowbell — and instructions to clang up a clamor whenever a colleague does exceptional work.

“At any point, [employees] can stand up, ring the cowbell and call somebody out,” explains founder and CEO Samantha DiGennaro, who instituted the tradition three years ago as a fun way to recognize her employees’ successes. “Everybody joins in ringing and cheering.”

The celebration erupts anywhere from a few times a week to a few times a day, when one of the company’s 35 employees has nailed a plum media placement or received glowing praise from a client.

“There is no better feeling than being recognized for your hard work,” says account executive Kelsey Merkel, 23, who’s received multiple cowbell kudos — for various media placements — over the past year. “Not only does this particular acknowledgment make you feel special in the moment, but it makes you realize the genuine sense of camaraderie and passion that your co-workers possess.”

The practice boosts morale — and, as it turns out, can also help bolster the bottom line.

According to a spring 2012 report by HR research and consulting firm Bersin & Associates, companies with recognition practices have 14 percent better employee engagement and productivity than those without. The report also found that employees find recognition from their peers to be more meaningful than traditional top-down acknowledgment from management.

“Oftentimes management is unaware of what employees are doing,” explains Manhattan-based HR expert Lynda Zugec. “Employees deal with their colleagues on a more regular basis.”

Zugec also cites the growing popularity of online platforms that allow workers to award their colleagues with everything from cash bonuses to gift cards. But, she says, the unique (and informal) recognition practices popping up at city offices — like DiGennaro’s cowbell-ringing — can be just as effective.

“It stimulates conversation and lightheartedness, creates a very collaborative environment and goes a long way in creating that overall sense of fun,” she says.

At the Hamilton, NJ, headquarters of Billtrust, a billing solutions outfit, employees who go above and beyond — such as developing a new tool to share the company’s services with clients — are recognized by the chiming of a giant gong in CEO Flint Lane’s office.

“The reality is that people like to be recognized on a day-to-day [basis],” says HR director Jeanne O’Connor, who instituted the playful practice last year after Lane spotted the idea in a business magazine.

Now the office’s 100-plus employees are in the habit of nominating deserving colleagues via a quick email to Lane; if Lane deems their work to have exceeded expectations — a distinction that’s bestowed about once a week — he’ll either hit the gong or invite the honoree into his office to do the honors. He also announces the recipient on the company’s internal social network.

“It’s to the point now that when you hear the gong, people go running to see who it is there,” says O’Connor. “Basically the whole company gets into a flurry.”

Adds Nick Babinsky, Billtrust’s marketing manager and recent honoree, “Being ‘gonged’ is a social event. It’s a recognition I can share with everybody. People send me emails and share the excitement.”

For employees of ZocDoc, the Soho-based medical-appointment Web site, peer recognition comes in the form of a monster. A green, furry, stuffed creature, awarded when the current honoree bequeaths it to a co-worker in another department via a company-wide email, sits proudly on the new winner’s desk until it’s his or her turn to crown a colleague of their choosing.

The so-called “Monster of the Week” award began back in 2009, when the CEO of the then-tiny start-up gifted the CFO with the stuffed monster for selling its service to a bunch of pediatricians despite having zero sales experience.

The following week, the CFO in turn awarded it to another team member to recognize brilliant work — and the tradition has continued weekly ever since.

“It’s taken on a different kind of meaning now that we’re over 400 people,” says Karsten Vagner, the company’s director of people, noting it’s rare for the same person to be honored twice in one year.

For those who do nab the award — like Christine Apold, the company’s sales operation manager — the shout-out is particularly sweet.

“It’s heartening to be reminded that the people who you work with on a daily basis recognize and appreciate the hard work that you put in,” says Apold.

“The ‘pay it forward’ aspect is one of the best parts,” she adds. “It’s wonderful to shine a spotlight on someone who always goes the extra mile.”