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Illuminate Reward and Recognition

Rachel Townend
August 5, 2024

Believe it or not, if you had been quick, you could have had the opportunity to apply for this unique role at Illuminate.

Job opening: Zoo Keeper

Job description: Keeping animals safe

Employment type: Internship

Location: Singapore

Experience: Entry-Level

Question: Have you ever had any Zookeeping experiences before?

Why? … because people make mistakes! A year or so ago we started using BambooHR as one of the software tools in our hiring process and as part of this onboard we gave some team training. The Zoo Keeper role was created to test out the functionality and we had a great session on how to upgrade our process. No more thought was given to recruitment until we decided to hire a Singapore Summer Intern some months later. The responses to our usually very thorough qualifying questions seemed somewhat unusual ‘I eat my lunch with animals every day’, ‘I have children’ and ‘Managing my team and office’ being among some of them. After some investigation it quickly became clear that the wrong job advert had been posted. Thankfully, and as you might have guessed, these responses came from our quick-witted team rather than aspiring job hunters, but the Zoo Keeper role was swiftly deleted to ensure that the same mistake would not happen again. One of our core values at Illuminate is surfacing mistakes and most importantly not burying them. Not only do we recognise and reward our achievements, but we recognise where we went wrong.

I’m not sure our short-lived Zoo Keeper hiring process pushed the business forwards but one of our team did immediately put their hand up to own the issue and we had plenty of team bonding and laughter about the tale thereafter!

Recognising our team at Illuminate is not just about acknowledging contribution but about appreciation, validation, transparency, challenge and owning mistakes.

“No matter where you are in the world, if you respect your people and you reward and recognise the right behaviours, they will deliver exceptional performance. That may sound like fluff, but it’s a hard-nosed business approach.”

Raj Subramaniam, President and COO, FedEx

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We operate a ‘no star culture’ at Illuminate and whether it be investing in a deal or clinching a new investor, we see this as a collective win. We take time to recognise all the fantastic work that our team does whether that be front or back office, investment team or not. Big wins are a byproduct of the little wins, whether it be celebrating the highs or dissecting the frustrations, we do it as a team. The best performing teams own each other’s successes, and this is what we strive for.

Recognition takes many forms, whether it be written, verbal, public, group or private, awards or promotions, perks or prizes, we try to encourage a mix. Most importantly, we never underestimate the power of a simple ‘thank you’. Reflection sits hand in hand and allows us as a group to recognise our wins and our failures, which act as a signpost to help us adapt and improve.

Praise in the moment, direct and fast is a non-negotiable from our perspective. Our values of Curiosity, Challenge, Commitment, Culture and Collaboration also flow through the organisation and help us naturally recognise and feedback to our colleagues almost subconsciously, however we do have a few more formal initiatives that help guide us.

Appraisd

Our employee performance management software (Appraisd) allows everyone in the team to submit feedback and recognition through the portal or Slack with such ease that this has become an integral part of our day to day. This gives such a morale boost to many but also sits better for those introverts of us who don’t want a fuss. Conscious and deliberate recognition is essential in a hybrid world and should be given to everyone in the organisation including our Partners (it can be lonely at the top).

Appraisd also allows us to have quarterly check ins with our team that give the opportunity to discuss the teams wins and frustrations for each quarter alongside reflecting on their individual feedback and recognition from the organisation with their manager.

Unsung Hero

Once a year we ask our team to nominate who they think was the ‘unsung hero’ of our team that year. The individual whose work may not have been recognised as much as it was indeed valued. This year the first, second and third prize awards went to two of our Finance team and one of our Executive Assistants.

‘Psychologist Dan Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational), found that praise is more highly valued than money. Occasional compliments can be more impactful than cash bonuses when it comes to raising worker productivity and motivation’

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The Excellence Awards

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The Illuminate Excellence Awards

Recognition is a huge part of our DNA and although this is now embedded in everything we do at Illuminate, as early as 2015 we created our much loved ‘Excellence Awards’. Loosely based on some of the values and associated awards given at a consultancy that one of our Partners used to work at, a poster was created and stuck on our fridge which formed the foundations of our now beloved and prestigious ‘excellence awards’. These awards boost morale, raise the energy in the room, create celebration, act as a cheerleading function, foster laughter and most importantly connect us as a team.

We nominate our colleagues for each Award (Excellence, Einstein, Guardian of PD & Numpty) and every quarter we do a prize giving to list the nominations and award the winners. The lucky winners get to keep bobbleheads and novelty figures on their desk until the next quarter when the prize is handed back in! Clearly these awards are not about prizes or money, they are about getting together as a team and recognising our successes and mistakes.

Excellence

For being a rockstar. Where someone reflects the core Illuminate Excellence Values. (Who went over and beyond this quarter, who did more than expected, who made a helpful contribution).

Einstein

Where someone has done something very innovative or clever and really thought outside the box.

Guardian of PD (Personal Development)

Recognising when someone has gone out of their way to help, coach, motivate or feedback to another team member.

Numpty

We all make mistakes and when we do, we value the recognition and learning that comes from them. Take acclaim in imperfection!

Public praise and recognition is not for everyone and nothing is absolute, so we remain committed to making ourselves available to our team and having 1 to 1 walks, coffees and meetings to allow for personal feedback and recognition to complement the initiatives discussed above.

Everyone needs a champion but one of the easiest ways to improve your own visibility is to give praise in the moment and elevate others. I’ve lost track of the number of times our Founder allocates praise to someone else for something that he also worked on but would not dream of taking recognition for. Long live co-elevation.

Our Awards & recognition help us reinforce our principles of fun, innovation, excellence, team and education but we are by no means alone when it comes to employee recognition. Google has their Googler to Googler program, Microsoft their ‘Kudos’ system and Salesforce’s “V2MOM” system. Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman in ‘do you tell your employees you appreciate them? discuss that according to the data collected on leaders across industries, every measure of morale, productivity, performance, customer satisfaction, and employee retention soars when managers regularly provide recognition.

We have a lot to learn as an organisation at Illuminate and are constantly adapting and embracing the spectrum of needs from our team and the market. We continue to make mistakes and like many organisations we have had team members feel left out or overlooked. Viewpoints and perceptions can misalign but we strive to learn each time and be better.

Great joy comes from knowing that we are ten years into our journey and we recognise that all the success we have been lucky enough to have to date is due to our team — the whole team — each and every one of you.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

William Arthur Ward

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Illuminate past and present … whether that be Partners leaving to become entrepreneurs, Interns returning to Business School or Assistants moving to opportunities new.

References and / or useful reading

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