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Cargill's Course Is Set
December 26, 2008
With engaged employees helping it diversify and grow, Cargill seeks to be a global leader in nourishing people
By Andrea Doyle
Profile: Cargill, Inc
Industry: Food and Agricultural
Challenge: To motivate 160,000 employees in 67 countries in more than 70 businesses
Solution: Create a global recognition steering team and a formal recognition program
ROI: Cargill's fifth completed employee engagement survey, translated into 22 languages for employees around the globe, showed a 14 percentage point increase in employee engagement over the past five cycles of assessment.
The chief recognition officer at Cargill Inc., a food and agricultural company based in Minneapolis, goes to work each day and thinks about the best ways to recognize the contributions of 160,000 employees in 67 countries. While that might seem extremely challenging, it actually comes down to simple ideas. For example, one thing Bill Buckner, who holds that position, has discovered is that common courtesy and respect have to be built into any recognition program.
"Without the foundation of common courtesy and respect day-to-day, the informal gestures, like writing a note or giving a team member a high five, can seem disingenuous and cause a lack of overall credibility," Buckner says.
Cargill, a diverse company with more than 70 businesses, is on a recognition journey, says Buckner, who has been chief recognition officer since 2002. "It's like a marathon; we're not at 26.2 miles yet, but we are moving ahead. We will continue on our marathon to achieve a goal of enhancing high performance by growing our global culture of recognition. We've set the course and know where we need to go, but we have a lot of work to do," he says. "We need to be consistent in our deployment of recognition both individually and organizationally. We are just scratching the surface of appreciating the cultural differences and how they affect our recognition programs."
Buckner is one of six senior executives overseeing strategy. They work with a global recognition steering team. Six years into the journey, Cargill's financial results are a good indication that its recognition program is working. In fiscal 2008, revenues rose 36 percent to $120.4 billion. Cash flow from operations increased 77 percent to $7 billion.
 Food and the Food Chain
The company started from a simple grain storage facility on the American frontier, opened by W.W. Cargill in 1865. Today its operations include grain, cotton, sugar, petroleum and financial trading; food processing; futures brokering; health and pharmaceutical products; agricultural services like animal nutrition and crop protection; and industrial products.
This diversity created communications challenges for the recognition strategy, but the latest survey shows they're on the right track. To overcome language differences, the strategy relies on graphic representations of goals.
"As a diverse company, we need to ensure that our individual recognition is culturally appropriate. But while we are diverse, we have a single, global definition of recognition," says Buckner.
Its internal recognition Web site says, "Recognition is more than a plaque or statue. It can be as simple as greeting someone by name or remembering to say thank you." The site offers information about the Chairman's Awards program criteria and winners, gives ideas to help employees contribute to Cargill's culture of recognition, and allows them to send e-card thank-yous in English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, German or Dutch.
"Efforts around recognition are important, because they will allow us to grow and be our customers' partner of choice," says Buckner. "Regular recognition and praise leads to lower turnover, better safety records, higher satisfaction scores from customers and increased overall productivity.
 Depicting Recognition
The company's business model is depicted by a graphic that every employee knows and understands. "Embedded into the graphic illustration of our corporate strategy is recognition. This is key, since every single employee can see that recognition is a ribbon tying critical business practices together," explains Karen Sachs, manager, global diversity and inclusion, and a member ofCargill's global recognition steering team.
At the base of the graphic is Leadership, referring not to management but instead to behaviors, knowledge and the ability to learn and take action. The leadership foundation supports the pillars of High Performance, Customer Focus and Innovation. And all of that supports the goal of creating distinctive value for customers, communities, shareholders and employees.
When Cargill created its formal recognition program, the ribbon of Collaboration was added to the three pillars to symbolize the fact that all have to work together to be successful, and recognition is a big part of that.
When launching the program, the company held three global recognition conferences to explain what the recognition program would entail. These were large-scale events that highlighted the need to focus on recognition, especially as it relates to Cargill's goals around employee engagement.
Today, Cargill has many recognition teams in place at the business-unit level. The company celebrates top corporate honorees for outstanding achievement and accomplishment at its bi-annual awards ceremony. The most recent was last month in Minneapolis, where distinctions included Chairman's Awards for High Performance; for Customer Focus, for Innovation; for Leadership; and for Business Excellence.
In the alternate years, most businesses and functions award their own top performers. "This can include a handshake, a bow or a short note delivered in a timely fashion," says Buckner. "You can demonstrate courtesy and respect by the simple things, like noticing the efforts and accomplishments of people, getting to know the other person, listening, greeting people by name and smiling. Informal high fives and notes are important too, but only proportionately," he says. "Yes, we have award ceremonies, but the least amount of effort should be on these formal programs. There is a distinct connection between recognition, valuing each other, and engaging every mind and heart."
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