A positive spin on company culture. Regular positive feedback from peers and management. Transparent, equal, motivational, available and always positive. Sounds good?
We developed virtual positive feedback tool, HUGS, as a way of sending and receiving positive vibes, thanks, support and appreciation for a job well done – or for being just awesome. In addition, HUGS is our very own bonus system that is anything but boring and traditional.
Culture of positivity enhanced
The idea behind HUGS came from Management 3.0’s model of Merit Money, which suggests motivational bonuses instead of traditional ones. We cultivated the idea further and combined positive feedback, peer reviews and management reviews all into one neat, huggable package.
Everyone is on the same level with an equal opportunity to get HUGS. No matter whether you are remote or onsite, manager or junior, salesperson or developer – your huggable behaviour and job well done is rewarded! Being nice to others, helping out, showing support or encouragement or otherwise working together will send HUGS your way.
HUGS offer a simple and fun-to-use tool for constant positive feedback. You are welcome to share it completely anonymously or reveal your name, the only thing you need to do is actually write a comment, reason for hugging that colleague of yours.
Hugging makes you smile
In practice, we have 5 HUGS every week to hand out to our Chosen Ones for any reason. This positive feedback will be delivered to the person along with all the other HUGS they received. Each hug also has a monetary value, so every time we HUG somebody, they will later get a small bonus in their salary.
We very quickly noticed that instead of the monetary incentive, the most valuable outcome of HUGS was positive feedback. The day the comments were released was the best day of the week. Getting recognition and feeling important is truly exceptional and something that would rarely happen otherwise. We (Northern) Europeans are not famous for giving praise and positive feedback to each other… But HUGS makes it easy!
Some examples of HUGS to make you smile like they sure made their recipient:
"It's great to work with you in Intra, you are very considerate, helpful, talented and professional :)"
"You have an amazing attitude towards work and I always hear a lot of good comments about you. Thank you for making my life a bit easier and customer a bit happier."
Why HUGS?
We have noticed in practice that HUGS have immediate and far-reaching benefits for both the employer and employee alike. Not to mention the benefits for the workplace as such. Some of these are:
- A positive spin on company culture
- Encouraging, supporting atmosphere
- “Huggable” behaviour
- Team spirit boosted
- Regular, constant feedback for self-development and reassurance
- “My work is noticed!”
- Constant peer reviews, management reviews
- Unlimited use cases in HRD (contact us for ideas and examples)
- Peer to peer and bottom-up bonus (when combined with a bonus system)
- Employee engagement
- Motivation, meaningfulness
- Positive employee experience: recognition & appreciation
- Hearing about the more distant ones
We are really proud of our HUGS and have a track record of using it internally for 6 years. It is constantly at the top when our people list our unique and valuable benefits and ways of working.