Recognition Project
Management Framework
Recognition Project Management Framework
Idea Name:
Date Created:
Last Updated:
Use this document as a guide. Your process may be different depending on where you are starting and where you want to
go. The value of this document is to ensure you are considering every step in project implementation and to give you a
place to record your progress. Call ITA Group for assistance in completing this document. An ITA Group contact
will be in touch within 48 hours to help.
Tip: Ask yourself this: “Could someone pick up this document and move forward with a project, or would they need to
start over to understand the issue(s) like you do?” Give your reader enough detail to formulate an opinion and take action
based on your perspective.
Step 1: Introduce Idea
Start here if you are approaching leadership with an idea vs. following through on their directive. This step will help you
define and frame your idea for others.
Overall, what’s the problem or opportunity you see?
Example: We need to increase employee engagement. We need formal and informal recognition practices to impact
overall employee engagement.
Who does this problem impact?
Example: The lack of consistent reward and recognition practices across the organization impacts all key stakeholders,
including our team members, leadership, partners and customers.
How would this idea affect team members?
Example: Providing formal and informal ways to recognize team members for their behavior and efforts demonstrates
appreciation and gratitude from colleagues and the organization as a whole. Recognition and appreciation for a job well
done is important to overall team member engagement and our collective success as an organization.
How do you think this idea relates to our company’s vision and core competitive advantage?
Example: By implementing formal and informal recognition processes, we can focus employees’ efforts and align their
behaviors with our organization’s vision and objectives. Overall employee alignment helps us understand and further
develop our competitive advantages, and eliminate distraction.
Recognition Project Management Framework
Idea Name:
Date Created:
Last Updated:
What is the business value for our company (recruiting, cost-per-hire, turnover, administration, training, etc.)?
Elaborate only on those that apply.
Does it decrease cost? How? Example: Recognition is one driver of employee engagement. Higher levels of
employee engagement decrease voluntary turnover. And that directly impacts cost-per-hire and cost-per-replacement.
Does it increase employee engagement? How? Examples: It’s widely understood that recognition is an important
driver of employee engagement. While it’s not the only driver, it could play a significant role in increasing employee
engagement.
Does it increase customer satisfaction? How? Example: Employees will not treat customers better than they feel
they’re being treated themselves. Allowing appreciation and gratitude to flow more freely in the organization will inspire
our employees to deliver richer customer experiences.
Does it increase revenue (important for incentives)? How? Example: The direct connection between employee
recognition programs and organizational revenue is tough to make, as there are many variables that impact revenue.
However, by leveraging both incentives and recognition in our overall strategy, we can focus employee behavior and
effort on what directly impacts revenue.
Does it decrease risk? How? Example: Proactively addressing voluntary employee turnover can decrease the risk of
losing critical talent for important or hard-to-fill roles.
If the idea is accepted and approved, it will move to Step 2: Assess Idea. The goal of the assessment is to fully
understand the problem (or opportunity), evaluate multiple options to address it, understand the costs and benefits of
solving the problem, and recommend a solution or no further action. The following questions help define the investment
necessary to assess this idea.
What questions need to be answered during the assessment?
Example: What is the root cause? What are all the possible solutions? What assumptions are being made? Who are
the stakeholders, and how would they be impacted? Do we want to outsource any piece of the process?
Who needs to be involved in the assessment and why?
Consider the knowledge and skills needed to develop a recommendation. Don’t forget about critical stakeholders who
can make or break your efforts. Example: Small cross-functional team with a variety of tenure and experience.
How many hours do you think will be needed for team members to assess this idea and recommend a
solution? How many team members do you think would be needed on the assessment team? If those team
members did nothing but work on the assessment, how many days would it take them? Assume 8 hours of
work in one day.
Example: We believe the assessment process will take 8 weeks and will require 8 hours per week for each individual on
the team. For five team members, we estimate 320 hours total for the assessment.
What external costs do you estimate will be needed to assess this idea and recommend a solution?
Example: We do not see any external costs at this time.
Miscellaneous Notes:
Example: Assessment needs to be sensitive to our busy season (June – August).
Recognition Project Management Framework
Idea Name:
Date Created:
Last Updated:
Step 2: Assess Idea
Summarizes the assessment approach and how you formulated the recommendation. You are assessing the idea in this
step, but you should have a strong recommendation based on your findings from the assessment at the completion of this
step. Be careful not to jump to a solution until your assessment is complete, as you could miss important information or
valuable perspectives that could help shape your end result.
Idea Sponsor(s):
(The sponsor owns the definition of success and the scope of the assessment. He/she is responsible for removing
obstacles and making decisions to keep the team moving forward.) Example: VP of HR
Assessment Team Members:
Assessment Plan:
Examples could include surveys, interviews, focus groups, online research, off-site conferences, etc. The goal of the
assessment is to fully understand the problem (or opportunity), evaluate multiple options to address it, understand the
costs and benefits of solving the problem, and provide a recommendation on how to proceed.
What are the root causes of this problem?
Why is this problem happening? We need to make sure we understand the underlying problems in order to identify the
most effective solutions. This can vary based on creating new recognition programs or making enhancements to
current programs. Example: Our current reward and recognition practices aren’t having a real impact on employee
engagement or the overall business. We believe there are several reasons why the programs are not as impactful as
they could be….
Problem Statement:
One sentence that describes the problem without attributing blame. Example: It has been five years since the
organization made any changes or enhancements to our recognition philosophy and practices and there is not proper
alignment with current business objectives.
In what processes does the problem cause pain and in what way?
Process: Example: Reward fulfillment
Pain Caused: Example: Reporting is inefficient and inaccurate.
Who feels the pain from this and how?
Role: Example: Total Rewards Manager
Pain Caused: Examples: Too much time on administration
If this problem didn’t exist, what would that look like?
Be descriptive–how do you feel, how is your work day different, etc. Example: The Total Rewards Manager could
spend less time on administrative program duties. This allows more time to leverage programs as flexible and agile
tools for focusing employee behaviors and efforts on mission-critical objectives.
Recommendation:
(Based on the findings from the assessment)
Miscellaneous Notes:
Recognition Project Management Framework
Idea Name:
Date Created:
Last Updated:
The next step in the process is to present the Idea Assessment to your leadership. The goal of this presentation is to find
out if the recommendation is approved and score the recommendation for prioritization. If the project is approved, it will
move to the Develop Solution and Deliver Solution steps.
Step 3: Develop Solution
You have introduced the idea, assessed the idea for feasibility, and received approval from leadership to act on your
recommendation. Step 3 is where you start to take the recommendation and turn it into action.
Vision Statement:
One or two sentences sharing a vision for the future without this problem. Example: We want to position our employee
reward and recognition programs as a real motivating element within our Total Rewards Strategy.
What possible solutions enable us to reach this vision?
Example: We could outsource to a third-party partner. We could also hire additional staff within Total Rewards.
What are the pros and cons of each solution?
Be honest and think about all possible implications. It helps to look for a variety of different perspectives and opinions
when building this list.
Solution:
Pros:
Cons:
What is the recommended solution and why?
Be thorough here, using language and reasoning that will resonate with your specific audience. This means you may
need a business case that looks at the issues and solutions from different perspectives (Manager, Employees,
Leadership, Customers, HR Professionals, Etc.).
How many hours do you think team members need to develop and deliver the recommended solution?
How many team members should be on the project team? If those team members did nothing but work on the project
development and delivery, how many days would it take them? Assume 8 hours of work in one day. Example: We are
asking for a core team of 3 individuals to spend approximately 5 hours a week for the next month.
What estimated external costs should be budgeted to develop and deliver the recommended solution?
These are the incremental costs budgeted for completing the development and delivery of the recommended solution.
Example: $XX,XXX in fees to outsource or partner with another organization.
How will we measure the success of the solution?
How will we know if the implemented solution adds value to our organization? Example: We have the ability to
leverage the current employee engagement survey as a means to measure. We also recommend creating a short
survey to assess employees’ perception of the program.
What is the timeframe to determine success?
How long until we know if the implemented solution adds value to our organization?
What is the ROI for this solution?
ROI is calculated using the costs associated with a recommended solution (direct project effort as well as ongoing
costs) and the expected benefits of the solution. Expected benefits must be tied to one or more of the following:
increasing revenue, decreasing costs, decreasing risk. It’s simply not possible to calculate ROI for every single
recognition program, but a properly designed program with clear objectives and a defined measurement framework will
give you the clearest picture of ROI. (See SAMPLE Measurement Framework)
What could keep us from delivering the recommended solution and achieving the projected ROI?
These are your project risks; review cons noted above.
Recognition Project Management Framework
Idea Name:
Date Created:
Last Updated:
What assumptions are we making about the development, delivery and ROI of the recommended solution?
Example: Employee data is accurate.
Miscellaneous Notes:
Step 4: Deliver Solution
Defines the scope and expectations for a project based on the approved recommendation.
Steps 4 and 5 can take on many different forms depending on the recommended solution, so leverage the information
below as you see fit. Remember, Step 4 is the implementation step of the process and is often where much of the
“heavy-lifting” of project management takes place.
Project Sponsor(s):
The sponsor owns the definition of success and the scope of the project development and delivery. He/she is
responsible for removing obstacles and making decisions to keep the team moving forward.
Core Project Team Members:
The core project team members are responsible for participating in project team meetings and completing the project
deliverables.
Team Member Name:
Role on Project Team:
1.
2.
3.
Extended Project Team Members:
The extended project team is engaged on an as-needed basis and provides feedback, expertise and validation.
Team Member Name:
Role on Project Team:
1.
2.
3.
Key Stakeholders:
These are the individuals that meet one or more of the following criteria: They directly benefit from or are impacted by
the solution, they can remove roadblocks and exert influence, their energy (positive or negative) can impact project
success.
How often and in what format will the Project Team share and assess progress with key stakeholders?
Examples: Chatter posts, weekly update emails, face-to-face meetings, iteration intervals and reviews.
How will the Project Team get work done?
Examples: Dedicate X focused days to complete work, weekly work sessions, work independently with regular touch
points.
How will Project Team members hold each other accountable for getting work done?
Examples: Daily status updates, weekly commitments, clearly communicating missed expectations.
Define “done” for each project deliverable?
Be as specific as possible.
Deliverable:
1.
2.
3.
Definition of Done:
Recognition Project Management Framework
Idea Name:
Date Created:
Last Updated:
What is in scope for the project?
List any elements (besides deliverables) that help define the boundaries of the project.
Miscellaneous Notes:
Recognition Project Management Framework
Idea Name:
Date Created:
Last Updated:
Step 5: Measure Solution Impact
Defines the specific goals of the solution and how to measure achievement of them or progress toward them.
Varies greatly based on the defined solution. See SAMPLE Measurement Plan.