Staff Recognition: Buttons

Employee recognition programs are no longer subjects of debate regarding their effectiveness; they are proven tools in both corporate and camp arsenals. Empirical evidence and numerous studies conclusively demonstrate that these programs significantly contribute to staff retention and overall employee satisfaction. In the current camping environment, where there is a war for top talent and fewer people are applying to work for us, staff recognition initiatives are not just beneficial but essential.

Camps aiming to foster a positive work environment and ensure a loyal staff that returns year after year, doesn’t call out, and has healthy self-care habits must consider implementing robust employee recognition programs as a strategic priority. These programs not only acknowledge the hard work and achievements of employees but also align with the core principle espoused by nearly every camp; that we value and recognize our staff.

It can’t be a question of “should we?”; instead, you should ask what are we going to do and how do we keep the costs down without diluting the effectiveness.

Enter the Buttong Program!

In the long list of things I thought were stupid but turned out to be brilliant our current recognition program, our Buttons are maybe number 1.

What we bought:

The button program. The initial outlay was about $120 when we bought this button machine and costs about $30 per year to maintain as we have to buy extra button kits. (We use it so much we actually wore it out and had to replace the mold for $50 after a few years.)

What we do:

We give one-inch buttons to staff to recognize just about everything. The system is simple, quick to execute, cheap, and effective. Part of its effectiveness and therefore permanence in our program is that it also becomes a subtle form of self-promotion where staff can display their achievements and character values in a way that appears modest or casual, but is actually intended to draw attention to their accomplishments or qualities. Because the Button system is kind of corny, and therefore very 'camp,' the staff can wear their buttons, or put them on their back packs framing their achievement within a context of humility, creating a subtle boast. That’s right, the button system is the ultimate humble brag!

Our button system is also incredibly sincere on our part, and the staff recognize this. In fact, the success of any recognition program hinges on this. We keep the program special. We don’t use it outside of summer, and campers never get buttons. Buttons are never given out as a joke unless the person receiving the button is in on it. (See poop buttons)

The buttons change year to year, but never change during the year. That way staff can show which years and how many years they worked, without saying which years or how many years.

We have informal rules that are in place and strictly enforced by staff:

1. You can’t trade buttons.

2. You can’t keep buttons you find.

3. If you lose a button, you have to be able to verify you earned it before it's replaced (this is fairly easy as we track them).

What do we give buttons out for?

1. Years of service - at the end of orientation, every staff gets a button to represent their years of summer service. Each year has a theme that we have tried to maintain through the years.

The list goes on. 5 years - The jackson five. 6 Years - A six Pack normally young Marky Mark, 7 Years is Snow white and the & dwarfs, 8 is an Eight Ball. Eleven was the character from Stranger Things.

2. Hardest Worker – The winners of our daily hard hats get a button each time they win.

3. Counselor Of the Week – These staff get a button with a COW on it. (form the first letters of the award title)

4. Guard of the week – Get a lifeguard-themed button.

5. Camp Kindness ambassador - receives a button with the face of the staff it was named in memory of.

6. Queen of theme – the winner of our weekly Costume theme award gets a queen or Freddie Mercury button.

7. Spirit award – the winners of our weekly spirit award get a button with our COO’s face on it. He's a huge advocate of camp. Both he and staff enjoy the irreverance of the COO being abutton.

8. Former Camper button – If a staff was a camper at our camp, they get a button.

In addition to the set buttons, we also give them out to recognize one-off events and random hardships or successes. We have also used them as an incentive certain tasks or get us help where we needed it.

Staff didn’t want to work our buses, so we made a bus button and, low and behold, the buses became cool.

We couldn’t get staff to clock in and out correctly when we changed our time managament system. So we created a series of buttons for no mistakes on your time sheet and suddenly errors reduced.

No one wanted to work our Thursday Night Pool Party (It was originally called a Luau, but we renamed it out of respect), so we started offering themed buttons. In 2023, they were SpongeBob characters; the year before, Lilo and Stitch; and the year before that, Elvis. From being a shift that was seen as a burden, people now sign up months in advance to work so they can complete the set of 10.

We have had staff who helped campers that had accident clean them selves up, so they got a special poop button.

Staff that successfully completed a challenging ropes course rescue received a button.

Staff that completed training on our computer system, and were now able towork our front desk and phones (a thankless task) get a button. The worlds worse job suddenly had more volunteers to get trained to cover shifts

Staff that appeared as a model in our camp guide. Yep we have one for that too.

Staff who take the picture that becomes staff of the day get a button, and what do you know the qualifty of pictures dramatically improved.

We had a really bad summer storm during camper drop off. The staff that worked the car line were soaked. The few that helped mentioed they should get a button for working through a flood. We obliged.

The list is long, but the important thing is you have to earn it. Our staff display them on their backpacks. Staff that have been here since we started in 2019 have 30 or 40.  Staff that are starting their first day only have one or two but they display it with equal pride.  One staff that thought the program silly and didn’t want to take part didn’t display his buttons.  But then it turned out he kept them in a small leather pouch that he kept in his back pack.  The buttons are special.

Things we never do.

Give a button that makes fun of a camper. Take buttons back. Use embarrsing pictures of staff or campers. Reward behavior that goes aganist our values. Give buttons for anything you would blush if your granny asked what you got it for.

The program works, its fun, and its cheap but its effective. This with our other staff apprciation efforts have taken us from a staff retention rate in the single digits to over 90% in 5 summers. (We hit 90% after 2 summers and have maintained it since then.)

You have our permission to steal this idea. But please give Meagan Springer or CampMechanics.com credit when you talk to others about it.