3 Steps to Kickstart a Peer-to-Peer Employee Recognition Program
Rewards and recognition are key to keeping employees inspired, engaged and become invested in your organization’s success. Unfortunately, all too often, recognition is limited to managers acknowledging a subordinate’s efforts. While manager recognition is also essential to your program, it is a one-off transaction. Peer-to-peer recognition, on the other hand, is a more authentic approach to recognizing an employee’s achievement. It not only motivates employees, but it also builds a culture of support, collaboration, and achievement. According to an SHRM survey, peer-to-peer recognition is 35.7% more likely to have a positive impact on financial results than manager-only recognition.
Organizations are now deploying peer-to-peer recognition programs to meet a variety of goals, including improving retention, reinforcing company values, and boosting employee engagement. When employees have the trust and appreciation of their peers, they are more likely to make greater efforts to be collaborative with their fellow team members. Peer-to-peer programs help establish a virtuous cycle – once you get recognized, you don’t want to stop; the habit of giving and receiving recognition helps build a high-performance culture.
3 Steps to Kickstart a Peer-to-Peer Employee Recognition Program:
1] Clearly define and communicate the goals of the program:
Establishing a clear vision of what you hope to achieve with the program is step one. It will help everyone involved with the program to understand your end-objectives. Are your looking to improve employee engagement, strengthen your culture, or create a collaborative work environment?
Whatever the goals, they must align to the broader business objectives, and outline usage conventions, so employees know what aspects of their peers’ achievements they can recognize.
2] Encourage participation:
A peer recognition program won’t be successful if it just feels like another chore for employees. Participation in the program should be easy and fun. A digital recognition software can help you drive participation by involving employees who work remotely, enabling real-time recognition, and make the program more accessible through mobile applications. Real-time, digital recognition also holds great appeal for millennials, who already spend a great deal of time on social media platforms and love instant feedback.
Read the full article https://hrt.media/plgxl