What is Social Recognition?

Essentially, peer-to-peer employee recognition is a type of social recognition that occurs specifically among co-workers and colleagues. Social recognition encompasses a broader range of sources for acknowledging employee contributions.

With an employee recognition program, organizations can give positive feedback and empower employees to celebrate achievements in real time. Not all managers can see every single small achievement. But your peers see all the effort you put forth, despite how small it may be.

Social recognition is a great option for managers and leaders to witness smaller accomplishments that go toward achieving greater goals.

 

Pro Tip:

Accompany your social recognition platform with a monetary component and non-monetary rewards for a complete, and comprehensive recognition program that is designed for your entire company’s needs.

 

Why is Social Recognition Important? 

Social recognition feeds into the idea that humans are social creatures who value community. You may remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from high school, but it's still relevant today and can play an important role in understanding your employees' needs.

Published in 1943, Maslow wrote his first theoretical article about human motivation. He discusses five tiers of human needs for motivation: physiological, safety, belonging (social), esteem, and self-actualization.

Physiological and safety needs are considered basic needs that are represented by tangible and monetary items such as salaries, safe working conditions, health benefits, etc. Hopefully, these aspects of the workplace are a given.

 

 

RELATED: Diversity Culture: How to Bring Psychological Safety to the Workplace 

 

The top-tier needs, however, are less straightforward. The top-tier segments are where employee engagement and motivation initiatives come into play. By understanding higher tiers, HR professionals and organizational leaders can build an employee engagement model that meets all the needs Maslow addressed.

Social recognition helps employees create a positive and measurable infrastructure within a company culture. In short, it allows employees to celebrate success together as a community.

 

Benefits of Social Recognition Programs 

When done right, a social recognition program can be a great tool to dramatically impact your organization. It’s a simple and effective way to increase employee retention, boost employee morale, keep engagement high, and even amplify employee productivity.

Moreover, it can be a part of your strategy to build a company culture that prioritizes employee appreciation.

 

Meaningful Relationships

Social recognition helps strengthen the relationship between employees, colleagues, and leaders. It allows remote employees, deskless, and in-office workers to interact with each other.

Whether it’s a work anniversary or a shoutout for a job well done, you can empower employees to experience moments in a meaningful way, which can be very bonding.

Furthermore, social recognition platforms help break down silos by highlighting the achievements of different departments, which can be particularly useful within large companies.

Increased Employee Engagement

What's the key to an organization's success? Engaged employees.

It may sound overly simplified, but research has found that businesses with the highest scores on employee engagement showed 21% higher levels of profitability, a 10% increase in customer ratings, 24% less turnover.

This is because engaged employees are more likely to go above and beyond their job description to solve problems. They're more inclined to come up with innovative ideas, and they bring a positive attitude to the office.

With a social recognition platform, the entire company is encouraged to recognize each other, leading to teams who feel seen and appreciated.

 

Employee Retention

Everyone loves to be told they are doing well, but can social recognition really retain employees? Absolutely.

Engaged employees are not likely to leave an organization when they feel seen, heard, and appreciated. Social recognition allows companies to encourage leaders to show their appreciation more frequently and openly.

 

Connected Company Culture

Think of a social recognition platform as a professional social media outlet. Many programs include features from networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that allow for real-time, instant connection.

Whether it’s a "like," a post, or an e-card, this type of platform makes employees feel more involved, engaged, and active in their coworkers’ activities.

Additionally, social recognition can be integrated with other employee engagement initiatives. For example, employees can celebrate moments that matter by acknowledging work anniversaries and other milestones. This helps create a better sense of connection, resulting in a more positive work culture.