Head to our LinkedIn or X accounts every Friday, and you’ll learn which Yardstick team members have walked away with that week’s “Kudos” prizes.

We revamped our Kudos system earlier this year based on team feedback and, recently, a few people outside of Yardstick have asked us what it’s all about. So, in this blog, we’ll reveal everything, explaining what we do, why we do it, and how you could steal Kudos for your business.

Appreciation, but so much more

We can’t deliver for our clients if our team isn’t happy.

We know happiness is linked to various factors, and Kudos started as an innovative way to reward members of the Yardstick team who’d gone above and beyond for our clients the previous week.

Since then, it’s evolved into something that helps us appreciate all our team members while providing valuable insights into our team’s wellbeing and ways we can improve Yardstick.

Each week, we build an online form for our team members to complete, with four sections:

• The weekly Kudos vote
• A bonus nomination
• How are you?
• Virtual question and suggestion box

The weekly Kudos vote

Everyone (including me) has three votes, which are awarded to people who have impressed a client that week, gone above and beyond, or simply been good eggs.

Crucially, each vote needs to be accompanied by a reason.

More about the benefits of that later.

A bonus nomination

In addition, each week, we have a bonus question designed to encourage the behaviour we want to see. For example, in the link above, you’ll see we have “The Lighthouse Award” for offering guidance and clarity in tricky situations.

Last week’s bonus nomination rewarded team members who provide high-quality briefs to their colleagues.

How are you?

In this section, we ask each team member to rate their week with an emoji:

• 😃
• 🙂
• 🙁
• 😢

We then convert this data into the Yardstick Enjoyment Index – more about that later in this blog.

In this section, we also ask the team members to describe their week in a single word.

Virtual question and suggestion box

Finally, team members can ask any questions they want the Senior Leadership Team to answer at our next Parish Meeting, held every Friday at 11 am, or provide suggestions to improve Yardstick.

Appreciation, wellbeing, and improvement

What started as a fun way of appreciating and rewarding team members has transformed into a goldmine of information we can use to improve Yardstick and enhance wellbeing.

The weekly Kudos vote, bonus nomination, and comments

Voting is open all week, closing at 10.30 am every Friday.

We then hurriedly count all the votes before announcing the winners at the Parish meeting and reading out all the positive comments they’ve received.

Speaking for myself, watching the winners’ reactions as their names and the comments of appreciation are read out is the highlight of my week.

Then (and this is the really fun part) the two winners get to choose from a list of eclectic and imaginative prizes.

We offer 20 prizes in three categories: products, experiences, and vouchers. A charitable donation can also be made as an alternative.

Winners are asked to select which prize lists they want to choose from and select three numbers. For example, they might ask for numbers two and 13 from the products list and seven from the experiences.

From the products list, choices include:

• A book subscription
• A Bluetooth speaker
• A coffee subscription
• A Tassimo coffee machine
• A set of personalised stationery.

Experiences on offer include:

• Axe throwing for two
• Afternoon tea for two
• A falconry experience
• A comedy night for two
• A police interceptor high-speed passenger ride.

Finally, voucher options include:

• Apple gift card
• Just Eat gift card
• Amazon gift card
• Waterstones gift card
• Doughnotts / local bakery gift card

If you’d like to see all the prize options, click here, and we’ll happily share them.

Finally, our department heads share all the comments team members have received with them weekly, fortnightly, or monthly.

Emojis to describe the week

Working with the wonderful Jon Dunckley, our senior leadership team developed our mission statement last year: “We enjoy using our skills, talents, and experience to create exceptional work for our right-fit financial services clients.”

Life is too short to spend eight hours a day doing something we don’t enjoy, so we needed to find a way to measure enjoyment. To do that, we converted the four emojis listed above into the Yardstick Enjoyment Index. It’s early days for this, but we intend to measure the trend and react accordingly.

Words to describe the week

These words provide fantastic insights into how everyone’s week has gone and their general wellbeing.

We monitor the responses throughout the week, and we take action if we notice anything worrying or concerning. That person might want to be heard, helped, or just hugged, and we give the person’s team leader autonomy to take appropriate action.

Virtual Q&A and suggestion box

This is a relatively new addition, and the plan is to debate the suggestions at our weekly Senior Leadership Team meeting and answer questions at the Parish Meeting.

Benefits to Yardstick

So why do we do all this?

Firstly, announcing the winners, reading out the comments, and awarding prizes every Friday means we finish the week on a high.

Secondly, each week gives us around 150 positive comments to share with our team members.

Then, the Yardstick Enjoyment Index and words to describe the week help us measure enjoyment and wellbeing while helping us identify any issues we need to address.

Finally, over time, we hope the virtual question and suggestion box will help people get their questions answered while providing a route for everyone to challenge our senior leadership team.

Benefits to our team

Answering for our team wouldn’t be right, so let’s hear directly from them:

“The best thing about Kudos is its frequency. Every week – not every month, or quarter, or Christmas, but every seven days – we Yardstickers get to celebrate the good work of one (or more) of our colleagues. In every Friday morning company meeting, we hear the reasons co-workers have been nominated – evidence of the talent and effort on display across the business. Long may it continue!” Adam, Conversion & Digital Copywriter

“I would say Kudos is up there as one of the best perks to working for Yardstick. Having been working here for nearly three years I’ve luckily managed to win a couple times and the feeling is second to none! (plus the towels / air fryer came in very handy whilst moving into my first home! ) I especially like the change up we’ve had this year “kudos 2.0” where we now have a bonus nominee each week – based off of a specific topic ie. “who thinks about the little details”, “brilliant briefer”…, which I feel helps to highlight the team’s strengths even more!” – Bex, Web Developer

“Yardstick sets a high bar for the quality of the work we produce, so everybody is going above and beyond for clients most days. Kudos ensures that all the hard work is recognised and we don’t fall into the trap of simply expecting everybody to go the extra mile without acknowledging it.” – Ben, Personal Finance Copywriter

“I really like seeing team members being celebrated, especially the unsung heroes who often make things happen behind the scenes. It’s lovely to have the acknowledgement happen in front of the whole company and really boosts morale. Plus, the prizes are great! My first kudos prize – an air fryer – is now a kitchen staple I couldn’t live without!” – Maddie, Deputy Head of Content

“Even if you don’t win a prize, receiving your monthly kudos messages is a great reminder that your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. And when you do win, the prizes are a fantastic bonus, with a great range of experiences, vouchers, and products to suit everyone.” – Liam Anderson, Personal Finance Copywriter

“When you have an “employee of the month” it’s just that, one person, once a month, and the reasoning may never be explained to the rest of the team. But with kudos you’re having different members of the team being given the spotlight each week, and everyone not only knows why, but also has a say in why, the person(s) won.” – Jordan, Designer & Developer

“With so many of us working remotely, I think kudos brings us together and ensures we all feel like part of the wider team.” – Katie, Head of Social Media

“It’s a lovely extra little thing that makes you feel appreciated by everyone not just your closest team members. A celebration of individuals wrapped in a lovely blanket of team appreciation!” – Fifi, Content Delivery Executive

“As a relative newbie I’ve found the Kudos system hugely helpful in getting to know what the other teams are working on/who people are. It also offers a strong sense of teamwork which is important for remote workers. Having worked in agencies before it’s refreshing to see such a focus on positivity rather than a constant production drive, and the separate individual category gives members from all teams a chance to win. Although I haven’t won (yet) the prizes are amazing!” – Kay, Personal Finance Copywriter

“Having been a winner of a Kudos prize early in my career at Yardstick, I can’t understate how proud I felt. It’s incredibly validating to receive recognition from your peers, especially when you feel like you’re still getting to grips with the ins and outs of your new role. I love that people get to feel that way each week, and I think it’s incredibly important to celebrate our wins, no matter their size!” – Heather, Personal Finance Copywriter

“Being able to vote for multiple people and leave detailed feedback is an effective way to let others know that you appreciate the work they have put into something for you. Those comments are then shared with everyone, which means your messages always get back to the person you voted for, and they get that boost of seeing them, too.” – Matt Batsman, Head of Content

Feel free to steal

If you like our Kudos system, please steal it for your business.

Please let us know if you have an alternative way of rewarding your team. We’d love to hear how we can improve what we do.

Finally, if you have any questions about Kudos, how we do it or why we do it, feel free to email phil@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call/WhatsApp me on 07785 284429.

I’d be thrilled to answer them.