Build Engagement Without Breaking Budgets

Horizon Hobby knew that engaging their employees with recognition from day one would help their overall engagement in the company. To that end, they specifically created an onboarding program to bolster their milestone program.

This onboarding program recognizes and rewards new hires on days 30, 60, and 90, and on their 6-month and 1-year marks.

But they didn’t stop there. Horizon Hobby also wanted to get top-down buy-in for recognition, which is why they started their Manager 101 program. This program trains new managers on the Horizon Hobby values and culture, and then rewards them with Awardco points.

These methods have created a culture of appreciation and gratitude that reaches every employee, no matter where they work. And by recognizing and engaging both new hires and new managers right off the bat, Horizon Hobby’s employee engagement scores have gone up by nearly 9% since implementing Awardco!

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Horizon Hobby has fully embraced Awardco and recognition, integrating it in with their culture seamlessly. They’ve implemented numerous programs, including onboarding, monetary peer-to-peer, free lunch for remote employees, new parent celebrations, safety, and more!

The best part is, they haven't ballooned their budget in order to create these programs. Some of the budgetary practices they follow include:

• Using existing budgets more effectively. An example of this is that Horizon Hobby uses their monthly meal budget to reward their remote employees with gift cards to restaurants of each employee’s choice.
• Starting out small. Horizon Hobby began with something they were already doing (milestones and service awards) and simply converted that process and budget to Awardco.
• Building over time. For their monetary peer-to-peer program, Horizon Hobby wanted employees to be able to freely recognize and reward the people around them with points. So they started with a small allowance for employees and grew the program over time.

By integrating employee recognition into every part of their culture and implementing smart budget practices, Horizon Hobby has created a workplace where employees feel valued and cared for.

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