At the heart of every great workplace are the employees that make it that way. Now, a program to ensure that employees’ accomplishments are noticed, shared and honored at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has been awarded an Anvil Award of Excellence by the Public Relations Society of America.
The revamped Rewards and Recognition Program was developed by Jefferson Lab’s Communications Office in partnership with the lab’s Human Resources Department. The project overhauled the existing program and included focus groups research to elicit employee thoughts and recommendations, an evaluation of program categories, and leadership commitment to the new program. The revamped program’s goals were to strengthen employee engagement, increase employee participation, and celebrate staff contributions to the lab’s scientific mission.
The project that revamped and launched the program received the 2026 Anvil Award of Excellence in the Internal Communications > Associations/Government/Nonprofit Organizations category.
“This recognition reflects our commitment to engaging in best practices in public relations and in operating at the highest levels of professionalism,” said Jefferson Lab Chief Communications Officer Lauren Hansen. “It is especially gratifying to see this award for a program that we helped rebuild from the ground up to honor the accomplishments of our workforce. These are our colleagues, and they make Jefferson Lab’s mission of scientific discovery and technological innovation possible.”
The program was also awarded an Award of Excellence and the Best in Show award in the PRSA Hampton Roads Chapter 2025 Pinnacle Awards.
The revamped program was launched in late 2024 with new award categories to broaden participation. A new internal website thoroughly described each award and provided example nomination materials. For instance, employees are nominated for and awarded Safety Excellence Awards in recognition of actions that advance the laboratory’s commitment to a strong safety culture. Recipients of these awards are recognized during lab-wide safety forum meetings.
The program launch included a plethora of cohesively designed communications, including direct emails, newsletter highlights, site-wide screen displays, intranet notices and other ongoing communications efforts. In addition, all awardees are highlighted on the website, with announcement of new awards shared in the internal newsletter.
“This program was redesigned from the bottom up with employee input at all levels. We wanted to ensure it would resonate with our staff and provide a readily available resource for highlighting best practices and notable contributions to the lab’s mission. At its core, we wanted to create a program that connects with our staff,” said Jefferson Lab Chief Human Resources Officer Rhonda Barbosa.
In the year following launch of the revamped program, the Rewards and Recognition Program saw an overall six-fold increase in employee participation.