Recognition as a Driver of Performance: Margaret’s Story

Christine Bénard, a Senior Advisor at Sociabble with over 20 years of experience in managing large industrial sites, shares memorable stories from the field in this series of articles. Through these stories, she explores the key drivers of employee engagement and imagines how, with today’s tools—notably Sociabble—these dynamics could have been amplified. After the stories of Pierrot, on assignment in Romania, and Jean-Marc, the musician operator, today we discover Margaret’s story.

Margaret, the “MacGyver” of production lines

Margaret was an operator in her fifties, assigned to a PSA assembly line at the Valeo site in Nogent le Rotrou, which manufactured air conditioning and heating units. She was a real “MacGyver” of production.

Margaret had charisma and inspired the entire team with her natural leadership. When I went to the factory, I enjoyed stopping by to see her. Of course, there are always uncertainties and irritants on every production line, but on this line in particular, every problem was an opportunity to excel and use creativity to find a solution.

Often when there is a technical problem, operators call on the supervisor and/or the process engineering team. Unfortunately, issues often pile up and sometimes they are not dealt with immediately. So on this production line, we didn’t just report the problem; we took pleasure in “finding solutions,” sometimes temporary and sometimes makeshift, but immediate and pragmatic fixes to ensure quality, productivity, and ergonomics.

One day, we had a visit from Valeo’s CEO. We chose Margaret to present our continuous improvement approach to him. I seem to remember that she presented an invention from the line for a “white dot” marker holder that made it possible to perform this checkpoint more quickly, but above all without “staining” the assembled device. In fact, it was quite a long time ago, indeed 20 years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday that Margaret was beaming: she had left her work clothes behind and dressed up, because the occasion was so important. It was as if she were going to a gala evening. For her, it was much more than just a meeting with management: it was recognition of her work and expertise. She was proud. And, of course, she was able to explain her improvements with a professionalism that impressed the CEO.

That moment moved me deeply. Margaret and I, along with others, had succeeded in creating a magical virtuous circle: involvement, empowerment, and above all, recognition.

But how can we show appreciation beyond words?

Daily recognition: beyond just words

Recognizing means listening first and foremost. It means going to meet employees at their workstations and letting them talk about their daily lives and their ideas. It means taking a genuine interest in them. And it also means valuing their successes. At the time, we implemented various initiatives to achieve this.

• Suggestion programs: Inspired by Toyota methods, this system allowed operators to propose ideas for improving quality, productivity, and workplace ergonomics. We were among the best sites in terms of the number and implementation of suggestions. In my opinion, this was because we had a well-established process that included “recognition.” The executive committee audited this process regularly, production line by production line. We had a 10-point audit grid, and the 10^th item was: “Have there been any recognition actions on the line by management?”
• Internal awards and challenges: We regularly organized competitions and awards, such as: the prize for the best line for quality results, with a meal at a high-end restaurant with the executive committee for the winning team (and their spouses); or the G-G+ challenge, which rewarded the best individual and team cost-cutting initiatives. Later, at Alstom, I created the “I Nove You” program to reward the Group’s best innovations (this program still exists 15 years later and generates a lot of enthusiasm: the winners present their innovation in a video that is broadcast throughout the Group, serving as a great source of pride and commitment).

• Open days and drawing competitions: Factory employees were proud to show their work to their families and friends. For the occasion, we organized a drawing competition for children: “Draw mom/dad’s job.” The best drawings were printed on large canvases and hung in the factory aisles. It was a truly emotional moment, and the factory felt more human and joyful.

In 2005, we applied for the award for best European factory, presented by INSEAD and Usine Nouvelle. And we won! To celebrate, I decided to put up a large banner at the factory entrance, where all our employees passed by every day, as well as clients and suppliers: “Best European Factory: thank you to all our employees!”

One day, a Group executive who was visiting the site criticized me for this initiative, saying that it would give people “big heads” and that “employees, thinking they were the best, would no longer make an effort.” Of course, history proved the opposite: pumped up and highly motivated, employees continued to fight hard and win numerous customer contracts on highly competitive global platforms, particularly against competitors’ low-cost sites.

How can we better amplify this recognition today?

At the time, we did our best with the tools available. But thinking back on Margaret’s story, I wonder: what if we had had Sociabble?

Today, technology makes it possible to transform recognition into a real driver of engagement and collaboration on a large scale. With Sociabble, Margaret’s story could have taken on a whole new dimension, giving her visibility far beyond her team and promoting wider sharing of best practices.

1. Digitalized suggestions for improvement and real-time monitoring

At the time, suggestion programs still relied on paper forms and manual approval processes, which sometimes slowed down the implementation of ideas.

With Sociabble, Margaret could have submitted her improvements directly online, without wasting any time:

• A simple and accessible digital form: No more paper! Margaret could have entered her ideas directly on Sociabble, with the option of adding photos and videos to better illustrate her initiative.
• Optimized processing via the Service Desk feature: The necessary approvals would have been automated, streamlining the process and avoiding administrative bottlenecks.
• Transparent tracking of requests: Margaret and her colleagues could have seen the progress of their suggestions in real time and been notified as soon as a decision was made.

Not only would this have accelerated the implementation of ideas, but it would also have reinforced the feeling that field teams were being listened to and valued.

2. Immediate and widespread recognition

With Sociabble, initiatives like Margaret’s could have been promoted much more quickly and widely.

• Highlighting the best ideas: Each week or each month, the most impactful suggestions could have been promoted on the news feed, with a message from management emphasizing their importance.
• Badges and awards: A digital rewards system (badges, certificates, rankings) would have made it possible to instantly recognize employee involvement.
• Internal promotion campaigns: Special publications could have been dedicated to improvements in the field, showing their concrete impact on production and well-being at work.

This type of recognition strengthens commitment and encourages even more initiatives, creating a virtuous circle of continuous improvement.

3. A large-scale exchange of best practices

With Sociabble, Margaret’s story would not have remained local: it could have inspired and impacted hundreds of other operators across the group’s factories.

• An interactive library of ideas: All suggestions for improvement would be archived, classified, and accessible in an internal database, facilitating the transfer of innovations in the field.
• Easier cross-site collaboration: Another factory in another country could have drawn on Margaret’s experience to solve a similar problem.
• Machine translation and global accessibility: improvements could be read in each employee’s native language, facilitating the dissemination of best practices internationally.

4. External visibility and a stronger employer brand

With Sociabble, these actions would not only be recognized internally, they would also help enhance the company’s image.

• Employees as ambassadors for their company: Margaret and her colleagues could have shared their success on social media with a single click, turning these stories into authentic testimonials of the company’s dynamism.
• Promoting industrial professions: This content would have changed perceptions of production professions, showing that they are synonymous with expertise, innovation, and pride.
• Attracting talent: By highlighting these successes, the company could have attracted new talent, drawn in by a culture that values and recognizes its employees.

Recognizing means building tomorrow’s commitment

Margaret’s story illustrates a simple truth: recognition is not a luxury, but a fundamental driver of motivation and performance. Too often, managers still do not take the time to listen, observe, and show appreciation.

By sharing these testimonials today, I am paying tribute to those behind-the-scenes contributors who are the lifeblood of our companies. I also hope to remind everyone of the importance of recognition, not as a one-off gesture, but as part of company culture that should be instilled on a daily basis.