America First Credit Union (AFCU) is one of the largest credit unions in the United States and employs over 3,300 people. Prior to the global pandemic in 2020, AFCU had a bi-annual bonus program that required a great deal of effort from many people to execute. While the high-touch bonus and recognition was what AFCU wanted, the pandemic forced over half of their employees to work remotely—and the bonus program had to adapt. AFCU turned to Awardco to create something wonderful.
Recognition in a Remote Workforce
Known for their exemplary customer service, AFCU works hard to thank their workforce for all they do with a bi-annual bonus program for each of their 3,300 employees. The program was detailed, high-touch, and designed to foster relationships between managers and their employees, and it worked. Personal recognition efforts like this led directly to AFCU’s employees continuing to provide best-in-class customer service—all because they felt appreciated and cared for. However, the program had to pivot drastically after the COVID-19 pandemic forced over 1800 AFCU employees to work remotely. Because of these changes, there was no way to administer the bi-annual bonus program as they did before, and a new system was needed.
“Semi-annual bonus distribution is a part of our culture,” says Kent Streuling, SVP of HR at AFCU. “Previously every manager hand-wrote a message to their employees every six months thanking them for their hard work, and it was all tied in with the bonus distribution. It was very high-touch, very labor intensive, and we had the process down to a science. We liked the connections that formed between managers and employees as a result of this program, but after COVID-19 most of our workforce went remote. Our semi-annual tradition wasn’t possible any longer, nor was it feasible.”
Digital Appreciation for All
Thankfully, AFCU had implemented Awardco in October 2019 for their service award programs. The launch of their service award program had been so successful that AFCU approached Awardco to see if there was any way to use Awardco to facilitate the semi-annual bonus program. Awardco came up with a unique digital solution within a matter of days and rolled it out to AFCU’s entire workforce within two weeks.
In working with Awardco, AFCU not only adapted to current circumstances to facilitate their bonus program, but they saved incredible amounts of administration time and logistical headaches, too. Whereas before an entire department would have to stop work for a day just to complete the bonus program twice a year, now with Awardco the entire program could be managed by two people in just a few hours. Managers still connect through personal messages, bonuses are still distributed, and employees still receive the high-touch treatment—all digitally through the Awardco platform.
Get the Details
Get the full case study below and see how AFCU saw benefits such as:
- 92.5% decrease in administration time for their bonus program
- 296 work hours saved annually (37 days!)
- 307% average increase in month to month recognitions
AFCU has changed the face of employee recognition in their organization by using Awardco, and has been able to adapt to changing global circumstances with ease to keep their workforce engaged and supported—no matter where they work. Read the full case study below!
