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Tennant CompanyOpens in a new tab, a recognized leader in the cleaning industry, has been in business for more than 150 years. Driven by advancing the cleaning industry, Tennant is passionate about developing innovative and sustainable solutions that help their customers clean spaces more effectively – more than 4,000 employees across 20 countries work together at Tennant to create a safer and healthier world. To accomplish this overarching goal, Tennant relentlessly pursues new technologies and creates a company culture that celebrates innovation.
Tennant partnered with Workhuman® to implement a peer-to-peer employee recognition program to reinforce their forward-thinking culture, retain top talent, and drive business outcomes. Let’s take a look.
The Challenge
As a global company, Tennant needed a recognition solution to connect a dispersed workforce. They wanted a platform that could ease the administrative burden of ensuring fair and equitable recognition despite a range of currencies and living costs.
The company sought a platform that would allow employees to engage with and celebrate their colleagues’ recognition awards. They saw that this added visibility helps to promote positive behaviors, encourage engagement, and bring their mission to life.
Tennant understood the importance of celebrating employees’ continued commitment to the organization’s purpose and values. Because of this, they had a clear need for a program that would both commemorate service milestones and recognize and celebrate meaningful work happening on a daily basis.
The Solution
In partnership with Workhuman, Tennant launched their social recognition program, Applause, to reinforce their company values with recognition and year-of-service awards. They chose Workhuman for its exceptional ability to provide personalized service awards and engage a diverse, global workforce via an interactive social feed, making it the ideal fit for Tennant’s specific needs.
Impactful service awards
Workhuman’s unique capabilities turn every year of service award into a social celebration with custom messages, images, videos, and more; these annual awards give Tennant employees something to look back on with pride and accomplishment.
Global capabilities that promote equity
Workhuman’s employee recognition platform translates into 8 languages at Tennant and makes giving equitable recognition simple, regardless of location or currency. The platform has a built-in, automatic proprietary standard of living index, eliminating the need to understand exchange rates or purchasing power parity issues.
A connected social network
The social feed is at the heart of Tennant’s recognition program – the recognition messages within the Applause platform show Tennant employees what “great” looks like and reinforce participation within the program.
Dawn Heim, senior manager of compensation and HR technology at Tennant, explains why the social feed is so important to the company: “It provides us with a centralized place to celebrate our achievements and to connect with others in the organization,” says Dawn. “We can see other people’s recognitions, and we can celebrate our service anniversaries, recognizing the tenure of our employees.”
[The social feed] provides us with a centralized place to celebrate our achievements and to connect with others in the organization. We can see other people’s recognitions, and we can celebrate our service anniversaries, recognizing the tenure of our employees.
An impactful, integrated program
Another core feature of Tennant’s solution is the integration of the company’s long-standing, best of the best program, called Leading Edge. This program allows for peer-to-peer nominations highlighting individuals and teams who champion Tennant’s values and go above and beyond.
The integration of the two programs into one platform helps drive engagement and reinforces positive employee behaviors every day, and on a larger scale annually. Award winners feel seen, proud, and part of a larger mission.
The Results
Through the years, Tennant has seen strong engagement with the Applause program. In 2023 alone, more than 15,000 recognition moments occurred – in addition to 3,000+ congratulations in the social feed and 500+ work anniversary celebrations – reinforcing a sense of connection and community across the organization. What’s more, 78% of managers have given recognition over the past year.
Recognition has become a cornerstone of Tennant’s culture – and something the organization will continue to reinforce in the years to come.