We’re happy to announce that Alisha Truemper is the winner of our third Tickled Pink Award. 1904labs gives this award to whoever has received the most recognition for going above and beyond throughout the year. That recognition comes in the form of “feathers” that teammates award to each other at regular stand-up meetings.
Alisha, a Human-Centered Design Lead and User Experience Architect at 1904labs, was awarded 10 pink feathers throughout 2018 for her hard work and help, which included helping to build presentations for internal company training, assisting human resources with interviewing a job candidate at the last minute, and designing visualizations for coworkers in her free time.
She was also awarded a pink feather for volunteering to help paint a health clinic at Lift for Life Academy in St. Louis — one of the few times a 1904labs employee has received a feather for work outside of the office. Still, Alisha wasn’t quite sure she’d win the prize.
“It was really close,” she said. “There were two people tied with nine. And then I had ten. So I just barely won by one extra feather.”
Alisha said she has worked at companies that had similar incentive systems, but they tended to be either too impersonal or hard to keep track of.
“You can be really trying to help people because you want to help people, but in the previous system it didn’t really feel recognized,” she said. “In this system, it feels like you’re recognized, and you have a little representation of that on your desk to remind you that you are appreciated.”
It’s rewarding to give that same representation of gratitude back to coworkers when they step in to help out, Alisha said. “It’s a cool way of showing your coworkers that you care.”
For example, she remembered the time she gave Glen Selle a pink feather after he attended and offered feedback on three user experience sessions she was conducting.
“His input was extremely valuable,” she said. “He clarified a lot of things I didn’t understand about the existing experience and was able to solve a problem that the user had, and just made more out of that session. It meant a lot to me that he showed up even though he didn't have to, and that he was engaged in the user testing.”
One part of the culture at 1904labs that has enabled the Tickled Pink Award to be successful is Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Alisha said those values help to create an atmosphere that fosters both friendship and honest, direct feedback.
“I love it here,” she said. “I regularly try to get anyone I’ve worked with before that I’ve enjoyed working with to apply here, if they have relevant job experience, because I think all the best people are here and should be here.”
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