Social recognition is a powerful tool for raising employee engagement, and shouldn't be forgotten when creating your Employee Rewards and Recognition Program.
When creating an Employee Rewards and Recognition Program, most businesses tend to focus on how they'll structure it, what prizes they'll offer and how much they'll invest. An essential element that often gets forgotten, however, is social recognition. It's not just enough to offer a prize in exchange for completing an action or promoting a desired behaviour - companies also have to recognise the employee in question by letting others know about their achievements.
Here's why social recognition is a must have in any rewards program.
Setting an example
You'll garner much better results for your rewards program if all your employees understand exactly what they need to do to win a prize. And while you might have made it clear what actions or behaviours you want to promote, your team may not necessarily know what that means in practice. If you regularly let people know the specific actions your employees are taking to win rewards, this will help set an example to others, showing what can happen if they too complete these actions.
And it's not just a case of setting examples for other employees. If your program involves managers nominating people for rewards, advertising when other leaders nominate is extremely helpful. It will help to normalise employee nominations for other managers who maybe aren't familiar with the program or who aren't yet convinced. It will also help show managers what kinds of actions win rewards, so they know what to look out for amongst their own team members.
Recognition from the whole organisation
When an organisation is large, sometimes employees can feel like it's only their line managers or the people directly around them who see the good work they do. High-level management and executives can feel very far away.
Employees who receive social recognition are also likely to discuss their rewards with others, raising interest in the program.
When you start discussing who's won rewards and why on your company intranet or social media platforms, it gives the whole organisation a chance to see what excellent work your employees are doing. Often, these higher managers will comment on the post to congratulate the employee in question, helping them feel like the whole business and not just the people they see everyday both know who they are and appreciate them.
Great PR for your rewards program
All good rewards programs have comprehensive communications strategies in place to ensure employee interest in the scheme remains high. By taking part in social recognition, you are helping to regularly communicate with your organisation about the rewards, meaning it remains fresh in people's minds.
Employees who receive social recognition are also likely to discuss their rewards with others, which will also help to spread the word about your program. Further, they may discuss it with people outside your organisation, either in person or on social media, which will garner great PR for you in your wider community.
Employee Rewards and Recognition Programs with Power2Motivate
From social recognition to rewards, at Power2Motivate, we understand every aspect of what motivates and engages your employees. We offer a number of different rewards and incentives programs to help boost morale, productivity and revenue at your organisation. Our custom-built rewards platforms can incorporate a social news section, so you have the perfect channel to show your employees how much you care about their great work.
For more information on any of our programs, reach out to the team today or request a demo.