GATX increases cost transparency and increases employee survey results

What they needed

GATX had a recognition system, but it was outdated and complicated for employees to use. People were able to receive gift cards or pick rewards from a limited catalog, but it wasn’t really valued by employees or enhancing culture.

Additionally, costs were unpredictable, hard to track, and as much as 50% of the reward value was going to fees and shipping. The decision was made to make a change to Reward Gateway | Edenred’s employee experience platform to help employees get more excited about the program, make a bigger impact and reduce operational costs.

The budget goes more directly to people, and recognition – monetary and otherwise – is more prevalent and more effective. The messages of cost savings and increased control won over senior leadership’s approval for the platform.

How we helped

The GATX team first worked with Reward Gateway | Edenred to create their “GATX Rewards” Employee Experience Platform. This platform provides employees with peer-to-peer eCards they can send to anyone at any time. Additionally, employees can nominate colleagues for rewards, and managers have access to award pots to instantly award above and beyond work. These rewards, in addition to service awards, are redeemable via hundreds of retailers for the items employees truly want – without the high costs of the previous plan.

The team has been effective at using events – like Employee Appreciation Week – to remind the workforce to keep recognition front and center. Due to the success of the recognitions platforms, GATX was able to add wellbeing without any hesitation. Now GATX supports employees with wellbeing challenges like Summer Steps and the March Madness March with raffles and in-person events to continue to build community and excitement.

What they achieved

The team, recently awarded as a 2023 Top Work Place by the Chicago Tribune, is proud of having 86% employees active on the platform and 33% of employees actively sending recognition to their peers. But an outcome they are especially proud of is having employees engage with each other across the platform – whether it's supporting each other with recognition or challenging each other to reach new heights in their step goals. For evidence of how their efforts with GATX Rewards – and recognition generally – are having a real change in culture, look no further than GATX’s employee survey results. Their scores for whether employees have been recognized in the last seven days rose 3% after the creation of GATX Rewards.

“What makes it easy is the great support we get from Reward Gateway | Edenred. They are fantastic – if they don’t have the answer directly, we get quick responses and that is very helpful.” - Simone Cheatham, Director, Corporate Human Resources