Lam Research: Improving the Global Employee Experience with Recognition
Data from Lam Research's program showed both a positive correlation between recognition and reduced turnover and proof that frequent recognition is related to higher engagement.
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Lam Research, a leading manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, has been a Workhuman® customer since 2020. Data from one year into the program showed both a positive correlation between recognition and reduced turnover and proof that frequent recognition is related to higher engagement.
Watch Lark Kalstad, Director of Global Compensation, describe the reporting capabilities available within the Workhuman recognition platform and how they’re used in the performance review process. She also explains:
- How the company’s partnership with Workhuman iQ has helped the business achieve specific outcomes
- Which platform features help create a meaningful global program
- How the company is building a more connected, more inclusive culture
Read on for the transcript and catch the full video above. This interview was recorded at Workhuman® Live 2023 in San Diego.
What does employee recognition mean to Lam Research?
"Employee recognition at Lam Research is all about creating a culture of appreciation and celebrating the moments that matter and the great work that’s happening every day at the company. We all want to be seen and appreciated for what we uniquely bring to a project, to our work.
When you get a recognition, somebody actually took the time – it’s not automatic, it’s this authentic moment where they’ve noticed you and they’re calling out, like, 'Hey, you went above and beyond, and we really appreciate you.' And it’s wonderful when it’s got something monetary attached to it, but it’s really all about the message. That’s what, personally, I’ve remembered more than even the cash and prizes, even though that’s fun too."
What organizational challenges does recognition help solve?
"What we were trying to do in 2020 is to leverage what worked, but then get back to the table stakes. Like seamless redemption, a global customer support organization, global products that were meaningful wherever those employees were; we have employees right now in 18 different countries.
We absolutely wanted to increase our inclusion and our engagement as well, and felt that the Workhuman platform really helped us with that.
We want it to improve the global experience. We want it to add global parity so that it truly was a more meaningful program globally. In addition to increasing employee engagement, we also wanted to lower voluntary turnover, which we have done. There are a lot of things [that help us] build more connections with our employees."
And what about the results?
"Since we transitioned from the last platform to Workhuman, our participation and our reach have really grown. We’re at over 90% recipient reach, over 90% managers nominating, and over 50% employees nominating. The over 50% employees nominating is huge, because we have been ramping this whole time. We’ve almost doubled in the last three years.
We gave Workhuman our voluntary turnover data for a year, and then Workhuman iQ extrapolated all this amazing information to look at our correlations between voluntary turnover and recognition. All those Gallup and Gartner studies, where you see the beautiful charts, or what Eric Mosley puts up at the kickoff keynote [at Workhuman Live] – we were able to prove all of that – sometimes even more, confirm it even at a higher level – but with our own data.
We absolutely found with our own turnover data that more frequent recognition matters more so than the actual investment. So, we looked at scenarios where we were spending $500 in recognition, and then we did that analysis of, OK, if we split it out between one award, or two awards, or three or four or whatnot, and we absolutely found that the magic number was employees getting at least four awards had astronomically lower voluntary turnover rates. We also found that, if our new hires received recognition within their first six months, they were 3x less likely to quit.
We were really having this issue – you know, we’re a tech company and we were hiring a lot of new college grads, and maybe they were coming in and then it’s like, the grass is greener – but the ones that felt like they were really part of our culture and getting recognized and being seen, they stayed."
What about the reporting insights and capabilities within the Workhuman platform?
"For one, the information that just any individual people manager can get through the My Teams tab is fabulous. At their fingertips, they can see the recognition landscape of their overall team in terms of the nominator reach, the recipient reach, the types of awards that are being given – but then they can drill down and look at the individual employee, and they can see their timeline and where the person’s allies are.
The talent maps are incredible, that technology, to be able to really see all the different connections. Because recognition is part of our performance management program, we really try to get managers to go into their My Teams, download that crowdsourced performance report, and include that as part of the annual review, because it’s amazing, quality feedback.
It’s all there. You see the connections. You see who the stakeholders are that are working with your employees and what they’re saying. That’s just what’s on demand, automatically, for any people manager. And then, of course, Workhuman takes it way beyond that, because then we can partner with your Workhuman iQ team and dig even deeper."
How does recognition foster a culture of connection across Lam Research?
"One of the things we really wanted to do to build more connectedness is allow individual contributors to nominate more than one person at a time.
It’s so easy through the mobile app or through the web-based app; they can go in there – we’re not limiting it – so they can recognize their peer group or a larger team, and that’s really helped build those connections so it’s not just that one-on-one.
And then also, we see about 15% to 20% of our recognitions going across borders, whether those are business-unit borders or country and regional borders. We really like that."
“Employees getting at least four awards had astronomically lower voluntary turnover rates. We also found that, if our new hires received recognition within their first six months, they were 3x less likely to quit.”
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