IT Employee Exemplary Awards Program

The Information Technology Division of Weber State University is dedicated to the enhancement of workplace performance through recognition and positive reinforcement. Strategic and consistent use of recognition, reward and praise throughout an organization has proven to be instrumental in reducing turnover, increasing productivity and creating a positive work environment. Research has shown that employees that are recognized on a regular basis will promote organizational values and objectives, encourage positive behavior, increase productivity and customer satisfaction, and increase employee retention (Gallup Study 1999).

Employee recognition is key to addressing the demographic, economic and diversity challenges that the IT division faces in retaining and motivating employees.

Purpose:

To recognize and reward employees in the Information Technology division for doing an outstanding job aligned with the IT division and WSU goals. The program will provide meaningful reward and recognition to IT employees in support of the goals of the IT division.

Program Goals:
  • Create a sense of team and pride within the division.
  • Design a recognition program that is simple, immediate, meaningful, and powerfully reinforcing and motivating.
  • Improve employee morale and customer satisfaction.
  • Create a culture of recognition that enhances employee engagement, performance, and retention.
  • Include formal, informal and day-to-day recognition programs.
  • Foster employee recognition as an integral part of the division's human resource strategy.
Awards and Eligibility:

IT Most Valuable Player (MVP) – awarded annually to a salaried employee of the IT division. All full-time employees including supervisors, are eligible. Recipient will receive a gift certificate worth $100, a recognition plaque and will be honored at the IT division meeting.

IT All-Star Team – awarded annually to a formal and informal team (e.g., project team, team working to solve a problem) of two or more full-time and/or part-time employees. Recipients will receive a recognition plaque, gift certificate ($200 total for the team) and will be honored at the IT division meeting.

Sixth Player Award – awarded each annually to the division's most valuable student employee. Recipients will receive a gift certificate worth $50, recognition plaque and will be honored at the IT division meeting.

External Contributor Award – awarded annually to a WSU employee external to the IT division who has made a significant contribution towards the achievements of the division. Recipients will receive a gift certificate worth $50, recognition plaque and will be honored at the IT division meeting.

All of the above award recipients will be recognized in the following month’s IT’s News publication.

Peer Awards (PAWS) – an immediate award that an IT employee uses to recognize a peer (including full-time, part-time, and student employees). IT employees will keep a semi-annual log sheet documenting the PAWS awards they have given out. Recipients will be recognized at the IT monthly SnackBytes meeting. After an employee receives 3 PAWS awards they can redeem them for $10 on their WildCard.

Selection Process

IT MVP/All-Star Team/Sixth Player Awards - A selection committee will make the award selections. The committee will be comprised of one member from each department in the IT division (the Web and VP of IT Office staff will be combined). Each member will be a previous award recipient from their department. The committee will be facilitated by a non-voting IT manager. The selection committee will be rotated each time according to the previous awards, with the facilitator remaining the same. The deadline for submissions is 4 weeks before the award presentation. The selection committee will meet 2 weeks before the presentation to select the winners.

External Contributor Award - The IT Council will select the External Contributor Award recipient.

PAWS - Each IT employee is given ten (10) PAWS each year to award to their peers at their discretion.

 
Nomination Process

Nominations may be submitted by IT employees and all WSU employees outside the division. All nominations will be acknowledged and reviewed by the Selection Committee.

 
Selection Criteria

These awards recognize superior work in support of the following IT Goals.

  • Excellence in Customer Service
  • Excellence in Teamwork
  • Excellence in Communication
  • Excellence in General Operations
  • Excellence in Planning & Project Management

Excellence in Customer Service

  • A customer is defined as co-workers, students, faculty, staff, vendors or any outside customer that interacts with IT staff.
  • Quality customer service is exhibiting a positive attitude while listening to customers needs, assisting customers, meeting their needs in a timely and friendly manner, and following up to ensure the customer is satisfied.
  • Includes knowing campus resources and directing customers to someone who can provide assistance.

Excellence in Teamwork

  • Teamwork is individuals working together to provide high-quality results related to a common goal.
  • Strong teams communicate and listen effectively, exhibit flexibility, respect other members, and satisfy their customer(s).
  • Teams can be both formal (e.g., eWeber Team) or informal, that is two or more co-workers working to resolve a problem.

Excellence in Communication

  • Consistently communicating effectively.
  • Listening to customers.
  • Generating a mutual understanding and trust.
  • Fostering communication between individuals and/or teams.

Excellence in General Operations

  • Effective contributions to the general operations of the WSU information technology infrastructure.
  • Aligning priorities and efforts with WSU goals.
  • Achieving high-quality results.

Excellence in Planning & Project Management

  • Planning and project management are components of each employees responsibilities to be effective in their position.
  • Completing projects in appropriate time frames, requesting additional resources when needed, and following through on projects.
  • Communicating project status with team members and management.