Keeping track of performance and identifying top performers within the organization is part of every manager’s role. This can be challenging at times and isn’t always readily accomplished. Using recognition software can help in this regard because it can point in the direction of anyone who is performing at high levels. This comes from peer to peer recognition, social recognition, and giving employees rewards for a job well done. When you want to reward employees for their contributions to the organization, doing so promptly and with grace is important. It’s a great way to motivate and encourage them to continue performing at high levels. Employee recognition software is the key to unlocking your staff’s potential. In this article, we’ll explore how to use it to help employees grow throughout their careers.
What Is Recognition Software?
To fully recognize your employees, you need to have some sort of platform that facilitates them. Recognition software is dedicated software platforms, typically cloud-based, that can act as a hub for employees and managers to actively recognize each other. Software like this has a lot of amazing built-in features that help everyone on the team recognize each other’s accomplishments. From check-in software so managers can have quick, energetic interactions with their employees to discuss growth/goals to a facsimile of a social network where everyone can recognize each other for a job well done, recognition software has it all. Although there are many different organizations that offer such software, one of the industry leaders is a company called Workhuman, who specialize in employee recognition and engagement platforms, making them the go-to for your recognition platform needs.
How It Encourages Employee Loyalty
A little bit of loyalty goes a long way. When employees feel like they’re appreciated, they’re going to be more loyal to the company. Organizations can build loyalty to their company by offering competitive wages, hiring referrals, and clearly defining what loyalty to the company means contextually. Recognition helps build loyalty because it gives employees hope, something to strive for, clear goals, and opportunities to learn and grow. Employees who are able to take advantage of such things are more loyal and perform better than employees who are unhappy with their organization. All it takes is a little bit of encouragement and consistency to create a happy, positive environment for all.
How It Improves Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is pivotal to retaining, reputation, and recruiting at any company. That’s part of the reason why it’s the focus of so many recent articles, videos, and webinars lately. Building a sense of community within the workplace is the most direct route to increased productivity and engagement. So how do you use your employee recognition platform to do it? Here are a few suggestions:
- Timely and specific acknowledgement of individual accomplishments
- Frequent feedback and recognition for work performed
- Regular check-ins using digital tools
- Celebrating anniversaries
- Recognizing milestones with an email, note, or specialized message
- Offering rewards programs
There are plenty of other ways to implement and use employee recognition effectively, but getting it rolling at your organization is the first step to drastically improving the overall atmosphere and making everyone’s lives better.
Implementing It At Your Organization
Once you’ve committed to an employee recognition platform, it’s time to implement it at your organization. Communication is key here. Employees and managers need to be instructed in how to recognize their peers, subordinates, and coworkers appropriately. There are quite a few ways to implement a recognition program at your organization. You could start by deciding what kind of program your employees would benefit from the most. Then consider adding a reward component to it to encourage more widespread use of the system. Make it easy to use. Give your employees the opportunity to give each other some quick feedback and an award without making it so difficult to login or remember a password. Establish a use case for your recognition program and define its parameters appropriately. Finally, you’ll want to make it accessible to everyone. That way it’s easier for the entire organization to benefit from the program.
How To Use It For Rewards
Rewarding your employees is just as critical as recognizing them. So what types of rewards are appropriate for your team? It honestly just depends on your organization, its values, and what your employees want. You might offer something small and useful, like a gift card, vacation day, a lunch, or some type of apparel. Some companies have been experimenting with incentivizing time off, which is something worth considering at your organization. Whatever you decide to offer, make it worthwhile. A pizza party, plaque, “wacky” gift, or letting them wear jeans for the day isn’t going to cut it in the modern age. Using your employee recognition platform to set up and distribute rewards is remarkably simple as well, making it an excellent way to help improve morale at your company today.