In keeping with the military tradition of coin presentations, Schneider’s Value Coins should be given to the associate in person and with a handshake or another form of one-to-one recognition. If a handshake is used, the coin should be “palmed” and then passed from the right hand of the giver to the right hand of the awardee. The presentation should be discreet, personal and authentic, with the giver thanking their fellow associate for their efforts to live Schneider’s core values. Recognition should be immediate; when a leader sees an associate acting with safety, integrity, respect or excellence, action should be taken. This is a special moment for both parties involved, making it a memory to be treasured.
Dan Drella, director of safety and training, recalls receiving his Value Coin:
“I was doing a series of 30 driver interview in Atlanta and Chicago with Jim Herbert from associate relations. We traveled to both locations to talk with drivers who were involved in a pilot program with forward-facing dash cameras, obtaining their feedback on how it was to work with them and listening to their concerns. We were at a point in the program where we were considering expanding it, and we wanted to understand how the broader fleet might react to that expansion.
“At the conclusion of the interview process, Jim gave me one of the recognition coins. I was really surprised. Jim explained that he had been very impressed with how comfortably I’d spoken with all 30 of the drivers, and how I kept focus on our number-one core value of safety, while effectively fielding and responding to the drivers’ concerns. He was also impressed with how technically aware I was with the system that we were discussing, and how well I had prepared for the conversations — even going so far as to bring sample videos to share with drivers who had not yet seen what their dash cameras captured.
