Why a Recognition and Rewards Program Matters

Soon, we will be adopting a valuable recognition and rewards program at EPM Called Kazoo. You might be familiar with it, but in short, it’s an online platform that helps us put our priorities and initiatives at EPM at everybody’s fingertips, and therefore at the front of everybody’s mind as we move through our day. 

I’ve written before about our priorities at EPM being to empower people within the company so that together we can empower our communities. Another priority we’ve been focusing on is upgrading and integrating our technology to help bring EPM forward. Using tech tools like Kazoo along with the initiatives we’ve been developing to promote the culture at EPM, makes the whole process seamless as we grow and improve as an organization. 

Kazoo will help manage the performance and engagement of our employees in their day-to-day operations while providing a platform for recognition and incentives throughout to show our team how much their contributions are valued and appreciated. At the same time, we are promoting our own vision and many of our 23 Fundamentals at EPM are integrated. 

I’d like to share a couple of examples of how our culture is promoted seamlessly with the help of this platform:

EPM Fundamental 17: Continuously Improve Yourself. 

We ask our people at EPM to seek out and take advantage of every opportunity to gain more knowledge. We want them to intentionally increase skills, to become greater experts, and be lifelong learners not just for their personal growth, but so we have the strongest team working together. To remain leaders in our industry, we need our employees to be resourceful about learning and sharing best practices. That’s what we’re promoting with the help of Kazoo.  

One of Kazoo’s taglines is “Make your Workplace Work For Everyone”. So whether our employees are in office, working virtually, across the country, have worked with us since our inception, or are experiencing their first day with the company, we want the same message and same energy to be promoted as each employee works to empower people more. By adopting a rewards program, we are tapping into the psychology of great work and the ability to promote the same message no matter where or who you are within the company. And better yet, people feel great about doing a great job, which only means more amazing things for EPM.

EPM Fundamental 18: Show Sincere Appreciation

Affirmation matters! It’s a huge priority to recognize the accomplishments of those around us. Kazoo is a great way to regularly extend meaningful acknowledgment and appreciation in all directions throughout our organization. It helps us build those connections that are important to maintaining our culture.

In business in general, I really don’t think that enough emphasis is put into the component of true diversity. It’s one thing to all look different, but we have to also think differently and take time to show appreciation for those contributions. As leaders of the organization, we have to swallow our ego as much as possible- we work for our teams, not the other way around- and we need to really allow room at the table for those thoughts and ideas that help transform us. That’s how progress happens. We must be ready to address different thoughts to push us forward. 

Kazoo will help us maintain that focus on the greater good for all. We’re listening and adjusting and acknowledging the hard work going into what’s pushing us forward. That’s how we continue to overcome the failures and mistakes we have made in the past, and come back a little better every day.

Moving EPMs Vision Forward

I’m really satisfied with what we’ve been able to accomplish together as a team here at Equity Prime Mortgage. It’s not just that we made it possible, but the mentality that we have had throughout. We’re incredibly dedicated to our vision, and watching the team benefit from the hard work we’ve accomplished together has been amazing. 

Our positive, forward mindset has impacted our business, our personal lives, and transformed us. Spending every formidable day in our walk of life building our vision together. Seeing that journey has been awesome. Now we are building from that every day. With Kazoo, we will lift each other and recognize the impact that each person has that pushes our organization towards our goals.

Kazoo is going to empower our people to really show up in full force every day ready to crush it. Success is not a Hail Mary pass. It is going at it little by little, brick by brick, stone by stone. We’re creating leadership within our people by making sure that what we do is organized and has a purpose and makes sense to the growth of our business overall. If we are always working on making sure to improve others and ourselves, it will lead to overall improvement of the success of EPM, and continue to lead us into the future.