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January 10, 2002

Service recognition getting a makeover: Gifts will include tickets, bookstore merchandise

Photo by Mary Levin
A committee that recently finished evaluating the UW’s Service Recognition Program suggested more options for employees receiving gifts. Some of the new options are shown above.

Changes being implemented this month in the UW Service Recognition Program will for the first time include employees all over campus who reach five-years of service and give employees with greater service new choices in the gifts they receive. The changes come out of a yearlong effort by a committee made up of employees from throughout campus.


“Our contract with the vendor that provides service award gifts was up for renewal, and we decided to use that as an opportunity to improve the program and make it more meaningful,” said Evelyn Harris, of Human Resources Administration, who chaired the committee. Karen Kavanagh, vice president for human resources, endorsed the committee’s recommendations.


Employees who are honored for 10 years or more of service will notice the changes in the type of gifts offered to them, as well as in the opportunity to assign the value of the gift they would receive to several alternatives:




  • A Husky Card account, good for purchasing items at a variety of campus venues;



  • Tickets to UW athletic or performing arts events; and



  • A UW scholarship or fund of their choice.

The actual gifts offered have changed because the University has switched vendors. Gifts will now be supplied by the University Book Store, and include such items as books (The Glory of Washington, University of Washington: The Campus Guide), a blanket bearing pictures of campus buildings, a leather-bound memo pad and a University seal pendant. Thanks to the change in vendor, the selection of gifts will be greater than usual for a while, because HR will continue to make the former vendor’s gifts available as long as supplies last.


All five-year employees will receive the same gift – a lapel pin bearing the UW seal.


The committee began its efforts after two focus groups – consisting of departmental service award coordinators led by Training & Development’s Jonathan Halperin – discussed the program and made some general recommendations. Topping the list was a desire for quality, variety and flexibility in the gifts, as well as building in a tie to the University.


“We tried to increase flexibility by allowing employees to assign the value of their gift to one of the new gift alternatives,” Harris said. “And we built in ties to the University in the choice of gifts – the books about the University and the tickets to UW events, for example.”


Members of the focus group also were concerned about the manner in which service awards and other recognition are given, and recommended that guidance be provided to departments on how to develop a good recognition program.


To that end, the committee has developed a Web site, http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/pol.proc/servawards/, on staff recognition. There, employees can view the gifts available for each level of service and departments can get ideas on how to recognize employees, not only for years of service, but for their accomplishments on the job as well. The site even includes a congratulatory card in a PDF format that departments can download and use.


“With the new program, employees will receive certificates of service along with their service awards,” Harris said. “Departments will have a choice of using the certificate sent to them by HR or they can use a template on the Web to personalize it for the employee.”


Harris said she and other team members are really excited about the changes to the service award program. “The team listened to what staff had to say and tried to respond to their concerns.”


Members of the UW Service Recognition Team include Nancy Albright, HS Academic Services & Facilities; Brenda Banks, HR Operations, Health Sciences; Robert Bratager, Applied Physics Laboratory; Shirley Brown, Human Resources Operations, Upper Campus, Bothell and Tacoma; Rebecca Browne and Teresa Dickerson, Organization Development and Training; Evelyn Harris, Human Resources Administration; Susan Lawrence, Computing & Communications; Ken Lindemann, University Stores; Liz McFarland, Intercollegiate Athletics; Denise Rollin, Finance & Administration, UW Bothell Campus; Lynne Siverson, Housing & Food Services; Zene Tefera, School of Dentistry, Office of the Dean; Lynn Thompson, Medical Centers Human Resources, Harborview; Theresa Wu, Facilities Services.