The world as we know it is changing. Along with it, the way we communicate too. Unsurprisingly, the way we work is also changing rapidly. And the realm of Rewards and Recognition is no different.
In the modern landscape of workspaces, there is more to a job well done than financial compensation. While benefits are the first thing that pops into our minds when we think of non-financial perks, with millennials making up the majority of the workforce these days, social recognition can hardly be ignored anymore.
The simple reason why most reward systems seem inadequate these days is that they are still borrowing from age-old traditions, expecting a “one size fits all” approach to work for individuals who are distinctly different from each other. Though gold watches and plaques were trendy back in the day, they simply aren’t useful or even appreciated anymore. What instead does make a difference is a simple acknowledgement of your skills.
So What Is Social Recognition?
Simply put, it is an integral part of an employee reward and recognition process that uses specific tools to create a community at work where employees across levels can interact, communicate, share experiences and even appreciate what a good job their peers have done. You see, the joy of being appreciated by not just your manager, but peers too, is quite a sublime one.
By appealing to the more humane side of employees, a simple social recognition process can not just pique employee curiosity, but also stay passionate about their work. You see, there is no greater way to keep your best minds motivated than to positively reinforce not just their purpose at work, but their progress too. Building a culture of recognition fosters a well motivated workforce and hence enhance productivity of the business at large.
4 Reasons Why Your Organization Needs Social Recognition:
- Better employer-employee relationships: By creating a culture that is based on mutual respect, appreciation and gratitude, relationships between the employer and the employee moves beyond the usual tight-lipped smiles and polite nods.
- Custom made rewards to suit your budget: By helping an organization optimize reward costs, social recognition programs make sure that you’re not going overboard. Additionally, tie-ups can give scope of free rewards that can be economically beneficial for the organization.
- Enhances employee engagement: By simulating a social landscape that users are familiar with, albeit digital, employees not only feel less alienated, they also eventually get engaged in not just their own activities, but their peers’ too.
- Identifies hidden stars: It isn’t surprising to realise that some employees are not recognised as much as they should be. Social anxiety or even being an introvert are reasons enough. A social recognition tool will make sure that every team star is recognized and rewarded.
Social Recognition Is A Sign Of A Workplace That Puts People First:
A company is as good as its ethics. That’s what the new generation at work believes in. A robust social recognition program can enforce that rather effortlessly. By bridging gaps and aligning employees across teams allowing them to interact with and appreciate each other, strategies are getting better. By being able to collaborate, not only are solutions getting more creative, but they are also getting more sustainable.
This also helps introverts build relationships with colleagues that were otherwise impossible. By making every individual visible on the platform, public appreciation is no longer being handed a bouquet in front of the whole office amidst polite applause.
Gone are the days when managers could have a lackadaisical approach to feedback. With learning on the job becoming an absolute necessity, a good manager knows the importance of being engaged with his team. With technology making both observing and appreciating employees easier, social recognition processes also offer valuable feedback on the leadership in your company.
Setting up Employee Recognition program is a great way to build a winning culture in an organisation - so if you don’t have one, here's what you need to get started - Download the Rewards and Recognition Starter Kit here.
There is little that can motivate you to do your job well if you can’t identify its emotionally satisfying aspects. Social recognition tools like Gamified Leaderboard.
Continuous & Nomination Reward Programs, Peer to Peer Recognition and more that allow you to address exactly this. By enabling them to appreciate and reward each other, they are able to motivate each other into doing better.
As times have changed, it is important to recognise qualities and abilities of people that were not so significant before. Like resilience, fearlessness, empathy, a helping attitude etc. These are challenging times, filled with trepidation and just being able to switch on the computers every day, remain positive and give their all to the organisation is a feat in itself that organisations can do well to value.
5 Ways How Social Recognition Helps Motivate Your Employees:
- Everyone has bragging rights and social recognition enables your employees to flaunt their achievements without being overwhelming or obnoxious.
- Feedback and recognition go almost hand in hand. So weekly feedback also means weekly recognition. And that can just about motivate everyone to try their best to land an award or few.
- Thanks to our mobile lives, social media plays a pretty important role in social recognition as well. You see, likes and shares offer quite the instant gratification.
- Getting recognized on a digital platform encourages even the introverts who shy away from the limelight to perform better.
- Social recognition means greater collaboration between teams who would have otherwise never met each other.
What To Keep In Mind When Building A Social Recognition Framework:
- Establish business goals strictly. Unless you know exactly what you want, achieving it is going to be difficult.
- Only the most skilled employees can help you through all the stages starting with conceptualisation and ending with execution and implementation of the program.
- Make sure that you have the right rewards to offer. Not only should the rewards be appreciated by the employees, but they should also always adhere to company ethics and policies.
- It’s important to keep in mind that someone doesn’t get recognition and rewards just because they want it.
- It is important to create a system that allows you to observe, appreciate and take peer feedback into consideration in order to fairly reward an employee.
- Criticism should be kept separate.
- All-in-one management systems are more efficient than solitary social recognition systems.
- Communicate with your employees frequently and don’t hesitate to use several channels to inform them.
- The world is changing rapidly. So make sure that you revisit your system to ensure that it’s up-to-date.
Impact Of Social Recognition On HR:
A successful social recognition tool can be quite a boon for an organization’s HR strategies. You see, it is with the help of this simple tool that they can strengthen relationships between employees and managers by observing both. This successfully takes a step towards dismantling strict corporate hierarchies and giving rise to newer collaboration opportunities.
With every employee being a spokesperson for your company’s values and practices, social recognition helps you motivate your employees to be subtle advocates for your company.
By being transparent, easy to use and efficient, not only do employees get answers to important questions related to their learning and performance, they are able to review each other, giving rise to a system that they can trust.
Additionally, most organisations in the current scenario of the pandemic also offer special financial incentives to buy furniture to set up their work stations at home. This is yet another way to show that they care and value their employees’ contribution.
At Darwinbox we aim to build a culture of appreciation and recognition among your employees with our robust rewards and recognition platform.
Some Of Our Features Are Sure To Impact Your Business Positively
- Gamified Leaderboard
- Continuous & Nomination Reward Programs
- Peer to Peer Recognition
- Integrated Rewards Marketplace
- Event-based Rewards
- Visibility on Enterprise Social Network
With a user experience that is engaging and gamified, this peer-driven and integrated module ticks all the boxes - right from budgeting to rewarding to redemption, all in one place.
Motivation in the right way not only encourages an employee to perform better, but it also increases employee retention. Moreover, as good practices are often discussed, hiring future employees also become easier.
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