Executive summary
There is much evidence to suggest that making people feel valued, and that their contribution is important and recognized, is the best basis for a committed and motivated workforce that will go the extra mile. In order to attract and retain the best employees, companies must aim to create an environment where employees feel appreciated for their contributions. Recognizing their efforts and presenting them with monetary and non-monetary rewards help companies to create a right workforce for organization that can be partner in success. Recognition of their efforts and boosting their morale results in increased productivity and decreased attrition rate. The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of reward and recognition and how effective is the process in one of the Malaysian manufacturing unit of Bemis Asia pacific which is a subsidiary of Bemis co. Inc. Bemis Co. Inc. is a multinational company in North and South America. It was founded by twenty-five year old Judson Moss Bemis in 1858 in St. Louis, Missouri. It is a major supplier of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials used by leading food, consumer products, medical and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The information was gathered through interview of employee working in Bemis Sdn Bhd. From the collection of data it was found that the company believes that recognition should be an on-going process and there is not a need for employee recognition program. Hence there is issue with reward system and there is no formal recognition program. Therefore study is concluded with some recommendations and there are some references used in the study.

INTRODUCTION
Background of Bemis co. Inc.
Bemis Co. Inc. is a multinational company in North and South America. It was founded by twenty-five year old Judson Moss Bemis in 1858 in St. Louis, Missouri. With only $2000 of his own savings and six sewing machines, two printing presses, and some wooden type donated by a cousin, Bemis grew his small business into the largest bag manufacturing company in the United States. In 1867 Judson’s older brother Stephen Allen Bemis, arrived in St. Louis from California to work at Bemis and brown. The brothers found their partnership to be such a success, that in 1873 the company’s name became Bemis Bro. & Company, while the name changed to Bemis Company, Inc. in 1965. Bemis have gone from producing cotton and burlap bags for millers along the Mississippi River to creating technologically-advanced flexible packaging and pressure sensitive solutions for a variety of modern markets.
The Company’s business activities are organized around its three reportable business segments, U.S. Packaging, Global Packaging and Pressure Sensitive Materials. At present, it is a major supplier of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials used by leading food, consumer products, medical and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The Global Packaging segment includes all packaging-related manufacturing operations located outside of the United States as well as global medical device and pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing operations. The Company is included in the S&P 500 index of stocks and reported pro forma 2009 net sales of $4.8 billion; It is Headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin; and operates 78 facilities in 12 different countries it reported 2010 net sales of $4.84 billion with 2011 net sales of $5.3 billion. It employs over 20,000 individuals around the world. The Company’s flexible packaging business has a strong technical base in polymer chemistry, coating and laminating, film extrusion, printing and converting. Over two-thirds of Bemis packaging is used by different industries worldwide. Ever since it’s founding, Bemis has played an influential role in the packaging industry. It serves customers worldwide. It produces packaging for products virtually found in every aisle of the grocery store.
Bemis’ strategic advantage is its strong technical expertise in polymer chemistry and material science. Bemis’ packaging solutions meet customers’ needs for protection of product, safety, freshness, sustainability and shelf appeal. Bemis has won the Packaging World Leadership award for 2010. The program was established by Packaging World to honor excellence and leadership among packaging machinery, material and service suppliers. Packaging professionals cast over 6,000 votes and Bemis was chosen as the leading company in the flexible packaging division. It was named one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune in 2011. Moreover, by Forbes in 2010 it was named one of America’s 100 Most Trustworthy Companies, and also was named to Newsweek’s list of Greenest Big Companies in the U.S. Bemis has won 15 DuPont Packaging Awards since 1987, more than any other company. Countries where Bemis sell to are Malaysia Brunei, Singapore, Philippines Thailand, Japan, India Korea, Australia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, China Vietnam, and Indonesia. Bemis contributes over $3.25 million annually to charitable organizations and programs in our communities around the world.
Mission of Bemis co. Inc.:-
Bemis is and will remain:
• A valued supplier of quality products to their customers;
• An employer providing a challenging and satisfying occupational experience for their employees;
• A rewarding investment for their shareholders; and
• A responsible citizen of the communities where we are located.
Bemis Asia Pacific
Bemis Asia pacific was established in 1998. It is a subsidiary company for Bemis Company. It serves in for Asian countries. Its manufacturing plant in Malaysia currently holds manpower of 160 employees in its 80,000 square feet plant, located in Selangor, Malaysia. Its future Expansion plan is (500000 sqf land) - 2014. Bemis Sdn Bhd is one of the reputed companies. From its establishment of more than 16 years, it has maintained a good reputation in the packaging industry for its consistent quality. Its Manufacturing Capabilities include Controlled Environment Manufacturing Area (CMEA), Visual Inspection System, Printing wide range of substrates, Laminating, Pre-made Pouches, and Trays. It is certified with -ISO9001 – 2008. Market for their products include processed fresh meat, liquids, snacks, cheese, coffee, candy, personal and hygiene care, disposable diapers , medical devices etc. Its package development and customization abilities, coupled with rapid turnaround times has helped manufacturers in bringing new products to market in record time-without sacrificing quality or performance. Bemis in its packaging services has been known for the high quality materials, thus providing best quality at competitive prices. While some flexible packaging manufacturers have reformulated to the cheapest raw materials available, but this company continue to use high-quality materials in their products to ensure that the packaging performs consistently throughout the distribution and lifecycle of the product. Polymer resins and films, paper, inks, adhesives, aluminum, and chemicals constitute the basic major raw materials. Raw materials are purchased from a variety of global industry sources and the Company doesn’t depend upon any one supplier for its raw materials. Unlike other flexible packaging manufacturers who offer standard models of flexible packaging materials Bemis offers customized applications & solutions in packaging. With so many flexible packaging options available, selecting the right type of packaging to meet your products’ specific requirements can be a challenge. Bemis has a distinct competency in form of engineers who analyses products and work with clients to create the ideal packaging structure based on products. Nevertheless Bemis can could said to have the technology and expertise to protect and enhance client’s product packaging needs.
Bemis Asia Pacific – VISION
• To be the Provider of Choice for RISK FREE Innovative Packaging Solutions to the Industries that they serve”
Purpose of study
Companies today have begun to use Employee reward system as a tool to increase employee performance. The purpose is to study what and how effective is the process of reward and recognition within Bemis Asia Pacific’s Malaysian unit.
Rewards and recognition
To retain efficient and experienced workforce in an organization is very crucial in overall performance of an organization. There is much evidence to suggest that making people feel valued, and that their contribution is important and recognized, is the best basis for a committed and motivated workforce that will go the extra mile. Motivated employees can help make an organization competitively more value added and profitable. Efficient employees are retained with the organizations by motivation, thus reducing extra costs of hiring. The highly motivated employees can serve as the competitive advantage. When employees understand that their achievements and efforts are recognized and rewarded they will perform better. In attempt to motivate, employers can use rewards and recognition to motivate employees. Thus Rewards and recognition could act as the best motivating factor which results in increased productivity of the company.
The basic purpose of recognition and reward program is to define a system to pay and communicate it to the employees so that they can link their reward to their performance which ultimately leads to employee’s job satisfaction. According to Colin Pitts et al. (1995) reward is the benefit that arise from performing a task, rendering a service or discharging a responsibility. The rewards include the financial rewards, pay and benefits, promotions and incentives that satisfy employees to some extent. Recognition must be consistent, given in a regular basis, and most important, part of the organization.
Oosthuizen (2001) stated that it is among the function of managers to motivate the employees successfully and influence their behavior to achieve greater organizational efficiency. All employees are eligible for rewards, Teams and groups, as well as individuals, can be rewarded. Lawler (2003) argued that there are two factors which determine how much a reward is attractive, first one is the amount of reward which is given and the second one is the weightage an individual gives to a certain reward. There are two kinds of rewards including: intrinsic rewards and extrinsic rewards. The satisfaction or accomplishments an employee gets from the job itself are intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are rewards an employee gets from the employer such as praise, money, a promotion, or benefits, etc.
Extrinsic rewards are divided into two groups: Financial and Non-financial rewards. Employee can get financial rewards directly or indirectly. Rewards such as wages, bonuses and profit sharing are the financial rewards which an employee can get directly. Indirectly financial rewards can be pension plans, paid vacations, paid sick leaves (De Cenzo/Robbins et al, 1996). Research has revealed that non-financial awards may be more rewarding than financial awards to many employees (De Cenzo/Robbins et al., 1996).While taking Malaysia into consideration, a survey was conducted in Malaysian Organizations found that most of the employees prefer to have a cash reward. (Rafikul, 2004).
Employees always don’t want good salary and a benefit package; they also want value and appreciation for their work. Money doesn't always create passion, quality or innovation.an individual needs money, but he craves for recognition Results from a survey by the council of communication management (Nelson, 1994) confirm that when it comes to employee performance, majority of employees consider recognition for job well done the top motivator. Recognition is profitable, the four types of reasons are there for organization to have recognition program: higher profits, lowered turnover, higher productivity and higher customer satisfaction (Elton & Gostick, 2001). Recognition must be timely, frequent and specific. There are two kinds of recognitions: informal recognitions and formal recognitions. Bowen et al. (2000) underlines some examples of informal recognition which are as follows:
• Time off with pay,
• Lunch “on the house”,
• Cards and letters for all occasions (Birthdays, Thank You Notes)
• Certificates for outstanding service, ideas, top productivity (giving the extra mile)
Formal Recognitions are concentrated from an organizational achievement perspective,
Where employees are recognized when they achieve organizational objectives, when
They meet performance goals, solving departmental organizational problems (Bowen et al., 2000).
Bowen states that compared with informal recognition, the formal recognition
Programs lean to:
• Look out over longer time horizons
• Incorporate benchmarks, e.g., years of services or achievements, profit objectives, etc.
• Be performed-based
• Focus on the value of the organization, e.g., employee commitment, market appreciation, investor loyalty, etc.
• Be connected with the organization’s compensation programs
• Involve both reward and risk
• Planned, rather than spontaneous When recognition program are in place, employee feel valued, therefore they become more dedicated to help organization to meet their goals. Various reasons for implementing a recognition program are Create a positive work environment, Supporting a culture change, Creating a culture of recognition, Motivating high performance, Encourage loyalty, increasing employee morale, Supporting the organization mission and vision, , Reinforcing desired behaviors, and many more. Other reasons for adapting a recognition program included: reducing costs, increasing competitiveness, retaining key employees, revenues and profitability, improving quality, safety and customer service, and lowering stress, absenteeism, and turnover (Daniel & Metcalf, 2005).
The three simple guidelines for giving effective recognition are:
1. Identify an opportunity to give recognition.
2. Describe the behavior as immediately and specifically as possible.
3. Describe the impact on you and the organization (Achieve Global, 2003).

Methodology
As the current study is looking at the process of reward and recognition system in the Bemis Asia pacific, qualitative approach was used in order to get reliable data. Information was gathered from one of the employee of company’s Malaysian unit, through a an interview. Questions were asked mainly related to reward and recognition system. The data was then analyzed to obtain the meaningful information for study.
Reward and recognition system in Bemis Asia pacific
Basically, the reward system in Bemis is comprised into 2 types: - extrinsic and intrinsic rewards
1. Extrinsic reward: - In the form of salary, incentive pay and benefits, reward for undertaking work in employment. Salaries are derived from the position/ working experience and usually based from the discretion of the management team, to determine the salary package and scheme of each employee in Bemis. The employees in this company are categories into 2- Production group and Administrative group. Hence, there are significant differences pertaining the salary scheme.
This type of reward is meant to recognizing the value of employee’s roles and contribution in performing their work. Extrinsic rewards are provided in the form of non-cash and cash basis. Non-cash basis can be in the form of health care provision, company cars or paid holidays. Cash basis can be in form of over-time work hour’s provision, meal allowances and etc.
2. Intrinsic reward
In Bemis, intrinsic reward are being utilized as a form of appreciating the value of the work performed by the employees, the quality of the work and as a way to recognize the sense of commitment displayed by the employees. On the other hand, development-oriented rewards that tend to be more individually directed may be offered to recognize employee aspirations to receive learning and development opportunities, and to gain acknowledgement of outstanding work and build feelings of accomplishment – wherever possible consolidated tangibly through career advancement. Example of the intrinsic reward is Employee of the Months award, Zero- Accidents Occurrence for department, Long Service Award and etc.
Issue with the reward system
1. The compensation doesn’t match with the level of commitment and contribution by employees- salary packages are viewed as lower than standard market rate.
2. The KPI metrics constantly changes overtime, with less consideration in improving the reward system
3. Employee’s motivation and morale are at risk, if no vast or major re-structuring of reward system
Recognition system in Bemis
Although some employees are self-motivated at Bemis therefore, recognition does not have the same effect on all employees. But for committed employees, recognition must be given to keep them motivated, appreciated and committed. Recognition systems in Bemis are designed to functioning as ways to appreciate the employees and suppliers, and to promote quality type of work. The main elements to be instilled through recognition are the sense of belongings and commitments in delivery the work from each employees and suppliers. Example of recognition is as follow:
1. Customers:
• Baxter Supplier of the Year -2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
• Baxter Appreciation Award 2001
• Baxter Recognition Award 2003
2. Industry
• Industry Excellence Award 2002
• Export Excellence Award 2002
Conclusion and recommendations
Over all, the managers at Bemis Company are doing an average job of using recognition and trying to stay active in their employee's career objectives. However it is noticed from the data that the company doesn’t have an improved reward system and currently there is no recognition program in place. No doubt that company presently stays competitive with higher productivity and profitability, but employees are not highly motivated, their morale are at risk. Moreover, there is also lower job satisfaction among employees. The culture of the company believes that recognition should be an on-going process and there is not a need for employee recognition program or annual performance appraisals. Although times, values, and employee needs are changing, employees may not be always self-driven.
In order to retain talent and stay competitive in future as well, there is need for some formal recognition program. Company should decide what kind of recognition to use, what tools to use to measure its effectiveness, and what the budget should be. Recognition program is also beneficial when job satisfaction is low, It will keep the employee feeling valued having continual passion for the job they are doing. It will also help in maintaining a healthy relationship between employees and company. The company should improve the reward levels which in turn lead high satisfaction and the employees who are satisfied will stay with the company. When the workplace is pleasant and satisfying, individuals come to work regularly. They should make reward system more attractive for achievement-oriented individuals since they like environments in which their performance is rewarded. Further an effective reward system should be used which would motivate individuals to learn those changes which are rewarded. When the company has money to spend, they should increase the cost of rewards. Well Overall; the power of recognition can sustain productivity, increase retention, create stronger more directed commitment, and allow managers to communicate values in powerful, lasting way (Elton & Gostick, 2004).
REFFERENCES
RColin, Pitts (1995) Motivating your Organization: Achieving Business Success through Reward and Recognition, McGraw-Hill Book Company Europe, England. ISBN: 0-07-707967-1eferences
Oosthuizen, T. F .J. (2001). Motivation influencing worker performance in a technical division of Telkom SA. Acta Commercii, 1, 19-30.
De Cenzo, David A. and Robbins, Stephen P. (1996) Human Resource Management, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore. ISBN: 0-471-12420-6
Rafikul Islam, Ahmad Zaki Hj. Ismail (2004), ‘Ranking of Employee’s Reward and Recognition Approaches: A Malaysian Perspective, Journal of International Business and Entrepreneurship Development’ ISSN 1549-9324, August/Vol 2, No.2.
Elton, C., & Gostick, A. (2002). The 24-Carrot Manager. Layton: Gibbs Smith Publisher.
AchieveGlobal(2003). Giving Recognition. Achieve Global Facilitator Guide. Tampa, Florida, USA: AchieveGlobal Corporate Headquarters.
Daniel, T., & Metcalf, G. (2005). Employee Recognition: Selling, Implementing and Communicating the Program. American Society for Training and Development HR
White Papers.
Lawler, E. E. (2003). Treat people right. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. McGraw-Hill Irwin.