Easily share employee recognition moments with the team.
So what is employee recognition?
And more importantly, what can employee recognition do for your company culture and results?
Employee recognition is the term used to refer to the act of recognising actions or achievements of an employee, typically where they have had a positive impact for the employee’s organisation. There are many ways to highlight the great work being done across the organisation and there are no fixed rules when it comes to employee recognition.
There are three main types of employee recognition to consider when planning out your company's recognition program,Company-led employee recognition is usually reserved for extraordinary effort or significant milestones. Traditionally this would be things like employee of the year or quarter, recognising years of service or a significant contribution to the business.
Company-led employee recognition is often delivered face-to-face at a quarterly or annual event. Think the CEO calling the recipient up on stage to acknowledge them for their efforts, handing over a certificate and giving them a handshake. Most companies have a version of this and it is an important part of any employee recognition program.
While company-led employee recognition is important, it is reserved for a select few who achieve, and as such does not have a high level of impact or reach when compared to the other two types of employee recognition.
The next type of employee recognition is manager-led employee recognition. Manager-led recognition tends to happen more frequently than company-led employee recognition, and is typically given for actions and achievements that impact the team.
When you consider that people join companies but leave leaders, manager-led employee recognition is an important tool to not only build manager’s leadership skills but also deepen relationships between employees and managers.
Manager-led employee recognition has traditionally been given face-to-face, often in front of the employees’ team. Manager-lead employee recognition sets the expectation for other employees and has a broader reach and frequency than company-led employee recognition.
Peer-led employee recognition is the most impactful form of recognition. Not the most important but the most impactful in terms of reach and frequency. Peer-led employee recognition is often given within teams or company-wide, and allows employees to recognise other employees for their efforts and achievements. Traditionally this peer-led employee recognition may have been thank you cards pinned to a recognition wall, employees calling out outstanding effort at team meetings or simple emails to recognise and employees contribution.
With the socialisation of employee recognition, many of these functions have come together in an online program, providing not only company-wide visibility of employee recognition activity but the opportunity for employees and managers to interact with recognition moments, increasing both the impact and reach of each moment.
Socialisation of employee recognition, or social employee recognition, uses functions of social networking to communicate the employee recognition message more widely than if not a social program, and increase engagement and transparency.
In a social employee recognition program, recognition moments are posted to an online recognition wall or feed, where other employees can like and comment as you would on Facebook or Instagram. This poses some challenges for organisations as some employees are not comfortable with this level of visibility when it comes to employee recognition. If you are considering a social employee recognition program, makes sure there are controls around hiding recognition reasons and the option to remove posts from the wall so that you don’t inadvertently exclude those who are not comfortable with public recognition.
While social employee recognition is not a requirement for a good program, and may be out of your budget as it does require you to partner with an employee recognition provider, there are many benefits.
As workplaces are becoming increasingly flexible and mobile, online employee recognition programs offer a seamless experience for all employees, regardless of where they are located. Social employee recognition programs also allow those who are geographically dispersed to see and be involved in what is being celebrated and recognised, without attending team meetings face-to-face or being at the company morning tea.
Social employee recognition programs also highlight the everyday activities that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Modern managers have so much content coming at them at such velocity, that they don’t always see the small things employees do that make the organisation hum. However, when a small but important activity is highlighted employee to employee, it is then in the spotlight in a social program and the behaviour can be reinforced by the employees’ manager.
The other significant benefit of a social recognition program is the ability to automate some of the processes and integrate it into other tools you are already using with the business. With an online employee recognition program, you should be able to automate your employee data, reducing the duplication of effort when onboarding a new hire. You should be able to automate some of your milestone recognition, such as setting up service awards to celebrate employees who reach key milestones.
More frequently we are also seeing companies integrating their social employee recognition program with their communication channels. Whether it be Slack, Yammer, Chatter or Workplace by Facebook, companies are looking to increase engagement and interaction in their employee recognition program by having in integrated into their communication feeds.
So while you don’t have to go social with your employee recognition program, if you are planning your program or looking at how to improve it, consider how you are addressing company-led employee recognition, manager-led employee recognition and peer-led employee recognition. Whether it’s notes on a wall, claps from a team or handshakes on stage, each type of recognition is an important factor in driving employee productivity, loyalty and engagement.
If a social employee recognition program is something you are considering, our team would be more than happy to chat about how we help.