By Liane Briner
The challenge of recognising colleagues’ efforts in a timely and easy way was the catalyst for Pause for Applause at the Department of Transport (DOT).
How does Pause for Applause work?
Pause for Applause lets anyone in the organisation thank a colleague for their help, or a job well done, by emailing 30 words or less to the internal communications team. As a general rule, nominations are posted within 24 hours on the DOT intranet homepage.
The internal communications team discovered it was important to notify the nominee before publishing, as there was one instance where someone was not comfortable being nominated.
What does Pause for Applause look like?
Pause for Applause is essentially a tile on the DOT intranet page that states the name of the person who has been nominated by a colleague, and has the words ‘click to find out why’ written in a smaller font size underneath. This links to a page on the intranet that provides the full 30 word nomination, and lists other Pause for Applause nominations.
On the days when there isn’t a nomination, a generic Pause for Applause tile appears.
Has it been successful?
Pause for Applause was launched a year ago. Since then, there have been just over 200 nominations –averaging at about two-three submissions a week. There have been quiet times – especially in January and February – when six nominations were received for both months, however there have also been strong months, with 36 as the record.
To ensure the number of nominations remain stable, and come from various divisions within the organisation, the internal communications team and network, People Matters Group, and DOT Leadership team have helped raise awareness. It has been pleasing to see the direct correlation between promotion activities and the number of nominations.
There are approximately 1500 DOT Victorian Public Service employees.
