How should an association structure its professional awards program? That was the topic of conversation on a recent AEI Year-Round thread. AExperience reached out to Cody G. Jones, CEO at the Greater Tyler Association of REALTORS® in Tyler, Texas, and Amanda Soderberg, association executive at Upper Peninsula REALTORS® in Marquette, Mich., to find out more about how they structure their successful awards programs.
First of All, Be Specific
“I think awards act as both a push and a pull for engagement—when the awards are specific,” Jones says. “I’ve evolved away from production-based awards offered at the association. I feel individual production is best celebrated at the brokerage level because there are too many niches in real estate for an association to properly recognize top performers. ... Instead, I like to see awards focused on specific association activity.”
Soderberg agrees. “We’ve only done the award once so far, but even in the first year we saw some really positive engagement,” she says. “One of the main reasons we created it was because getting newer agents involved can be tough! We wanted a way to recognize those who have really hit the ground running and are already showing professionalism, involvement, and a strong REALTOR® [association] spirit.”
For a Rookie of the Year or Rising Star-type award, for example, associations might look for members who demonstrate some of these attributes below:
- Active involvement in association events and activities
- Professionalism, including taking professional education courses
- Strong reputation with clients and peers
- Leadership potential, initiative and motivation
- Community service, charitable or civic activity involvement
- Positive REALTOR® association spirit and collaboration with others
- Productivity (as just one factor among others)
UPR also specifically asks for supporting examples or testimonials.
Second, Create a Policy
“When I arrived, GTAR did not have any actual awards policy,” Jones says. “Like many of our policies and procedures, they were either the verbal directive of past AEs or crafted from a motion buried in board minutes over 20 years old. So, we aimed to rectify that.”
A formal policy can help provide much-needed detail, outlining criteria, how to nominate or apply for an award, how the selection process works and how awardees will be recognized.
Third, Budget Wisely
Meaningful awards can be given and recognized with minimal cost. At UPR, the main cost is the fun, celebratory trophy given to awardees. “We announce the winner alongside our other award recipients at our annual Continuing Education event,” says Soderberg. “That gives us a great opportunity for photos and recognition without needing to create a separate event.”
In another example, for GTAR’s RPAC awards, Jones says he added “jewelry designer” to his skillset with a popular lapel pin custom created for GTAR by the REALTOR® Store: “Very elegant, very classy and most of all important to me—supremely affordable.”
Finally, Reap the Benefits
By flipping the focus to association activity, Soderberg says that awards have helped UPR connect with newer members early on, identify future leaders and members who may be great candidates for committees or increased involvement down the road, and showcase the value of its members to the community by sharing their story.
“We also saw good engagement from nominations themselves,” Soderberg says. “It got brokers and peers paying attention to newer agents and what they’re doing, which was really nice to see.”
“At GTAR, we have been doing the Chuck Gregory Rookie of the Year Award for years,” says Jones, “but only recently have we seen both immediate past winners and future winners serving in our newly created Member Engagement Committee. For us, that combination has been a strong package.”
He adds: “The best feedback I can get as an AE is, ‘You know, so-and-so is crushing it as community services chair this year; she should win the Good Neighbor Award.’ Or a new [member], who has recently engaged in many of our events and activities, came up and asked me directly, ‘What do I need to do to win the Rookie Award?’
“Whether it’s a retrospective look at recognizing member involvement—or a member who has strong drive and wants a goal to attain—I think both sets of energy are kind of my responsibility to embrace and cultivate for the good of all our members,” Jones says.
