At National Instruments, managers are given the tools to acknowledge employees for their extra effort. National Instruments' discretionary bonus program gives managers the ability to recognize individuals or teams of employees for completing special projects outside the scope of their normal job responsibilities. Employees may receive up to $2,000 in cash, and because it is at the manager's discretion, it can be distributed immediately. In a recent year, the company awarded more than $969,000 to employees through the discretionary bonus program. National Instruments also trains managers on the importance of freely offering recognition and giving feedback through a progCisco

Cisco's Off/On Ramp program allows eligible employees to take a career break of a minimum of one year and up to two years. Participating employees can use the Off/On Ramp for whatever reason they choose, such as for elder or childcare responsibilities, working on a nonprofit activity, or simply taking time for personal renewal. Unlike a personal leave of absence, an Off/On Ramp does not require employees to exhaust their Paid Time Off. In addition, while employees are not paid during an Off Ramp period, the leave provides employees with company-paid health benefits for the first year they are away from work. Employees returning to Cisco after an Off Ramp are connected with the staffing group to find a new role within the company before returning to work.ram in its Supervisory Development Series titled, "Recognition Is Free and Unlimited."

Autodesk's executive team strives for transparency in its internal communication -- even when discussing financial results, traditionally a sensitive area for many companies. The quarter-end financial results are shared with all employees through an invitation to listen to the quarterly earnings call, which is announced via e-mail by CFO Mark Hawkins. Playback of the call is posted on the corporate intranet and further reinforced by a "Carl Talk" podcast, where CEO Carl Bass recaps the earnings review, answers related questions from employees about the results and shares his latest insights on the direction of the company.

Monsanto's array of recognition awards is notable for its range and high level of inclusion. All areas of the organization are represented by a recognition award, with awards given for Global Safety and Health, Finance Excellence, Manufacturing Excellence, and Science & Technology. The Monsanto Pledge is an award all employees are eligible for, it recognizes employees or teams for exceptional work on projects or programs reflect the values of the organization. Through these awards, Monsanto seeks to ensure that areas of the company have means by which to recognize and reward excellent performance.

BBVA recognizes employees for their dedication through the annual BBVA Passion Awards. More than 2,000 executives can nominate employees for a Passion Award using a designated web application. Twelve individual winners and six teams are selected globally. Each of the individual awards is accompanied by a "success story," identifying the outstanding behaviors of the respective employee, while the "Team Award" recognizes and celebrates the best projects launched during the current fiscal year. In addition to the Passion Awards, each business area with BBVA has country-specific recognition programs.

With more than 30 chapters worldwide, the Women's Interest Network (WIN) at American Express provides female employees with a large array of resources for personal and professional development. The WIN Leader Interview Program, for example, provides rising women leaders the opportunity to interview current senior leaders one-on-one and in small groups to discuss business challenges for the company and learn about competencies necessary for success at American Express. Likewise, employees are able to hear company leadership share best practices, leadership tips and their own personal career experiences through WIN's Leadership Speaker Series. WIN also spearheads American Express' yearly participation in International Women's Day in 11 markets across the globe. Each local WIN chapter delivers programming that focuses on driving career development, building leadership capabilities and promoting community outreach and education.

At Hilti Corporation, the Culture Management Team believes that while orientation of new employees is important, it is equally important to ensure that all employees experience company immersion beyond the first year. Accordingly, the team has developed a series of follow-up "Team Camps" that all employees must attend every 12 to 18 months. Together with their work teams, employees participate in interactive sessions such as The Rubicon; The Pit Stop; Four Moments of Truth and Why Not. The team camps are normally held in a location away from their home base, which gives the employees a getaway from business to focus on teamwork and core values.

Telefónica utilizes a unique "Trust Spaces" process to assess the company's strengths and opportunity areas. An experiential activity, Trust Spaces is conducted in an environment of respect and confidentiality, in which employees volunteer to share their perceptions about their own job and the company. In the activity, employees are asked to answer three prompts: (1) If you met someone who wanted to work at Telefónica, what would you say to him or her? (2) Draw your feelings toward the company, your team, and your work, and (3) Share the opportunity areas Telefónica has as a company and as a culture. The activity concludes by asking employees to commit to different ways that they can work toward solving the issues they identified.