SEATTLE, WA – December 19, 2012 – Employee recognition and appreciation are important drivers of employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention. However, despite the fact that companies spend over $46 billion dollars a year on recognition programs, studies show that over 50% of employees do not feel appreciated and 59% are unsatisfied at work. To help solve this problem, today, MeritShare is launching the first employee recognition service that combines both online and offline awards, peer recognition, social trophies, and gamification features to help companies motivate, inspire, and ultimately, retain their teams.
MeritShare’s online service creates a company-specific online site with awards, shout-outs, comments and points. MeritShare manages email engagement campaigns, reminders, and a weekly email digest to build a stronger work community around recognition and achievement.
Companies that use MeritShare can choose from stock social trophies or create and customize their own awards. San Francisco start-up Vungle who has been piloting MeritShare to reinforce company values like persistence with a Honey Badger award. MeritShare also leverages a physical element to its recognition strategy. For Vungle, MeritShare created a Honey Badger trophy for the company engraved with their logo and a matching online badge. Each new winner of the Honey Badger award is added to the “traveling” trophy on an engraved placard updated by MeritShare each month. Virtual and physical recognition encourages companies like Vungle to interact and appreciate one-another in both their online and offline worlds.
“As demand for talent continues to outpace supply, companies need to do more than offer perks de jour to retain their best employees,” said Travis Pearl, co-founder of MeritShare. Pearl adds, “With MeritShare, we offer organizations of any size, a easy and affordable way to for employees to give and receive recognition and appreciation.”
“MeritShare makes it easy to provide internal recognition and the social features help ensure more people know about key accomplishments across our growing organization,” says Ken Willner, CEO of Zumobi, a leading mobile media company and one of the top places to work in Seattle. “Our team partnered with MeritShare to develop a “ThankZ” award that encourages peer recognition and we’ve seen tremendous involvement from our employees at levels.”
MeritShare provides a free non-expiring service and premium tiers that start at $99 per month. Unlike other employee recognition providers, MeritShare does not require companies to purchase prizes and points. “Whether you manage a team or are an individual, you can start using MeritShare right now,” said Kevin Nakao, co-founder of MeritShare. “Our mission is to arm everyone with super powers of appreciation & motivation.”
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About MeritShare:
MeritShare was started this summer by Seattle technology veterans Travis Pearl and Kevin Nakao. Both previously worked at WhitePages (top 40 website) and launched several popular mobile and premium services.
Referenced Data Sources
Bersin & Associates 7/9/12
2011 Workforce Mood Tracker