In order for employees to work efficiently, effectively, and happily, it’s important that employers and managers actively recognize the hard work that their teams put in.
But peer-to-peer recognition is just as important as the social recognition that managers utilize.
So, let’s take a closer look at what peer-to-peer recognition is all about and examine four ways it can be encouraged within your workplace.
What Does Peer-To-Peer Recognition Mean?
Employers and managers use social recognition to recognize the effort put in by employees without that recognition involving a monetary value. For instance, managers can say “thank you” and “well done” to workers who have successfully completed projects or send congratulatory emails to employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
Peer-to-peer recognition is pretty much the same. The big difference is that employees’ peers are the ones who give recognition.
So, peer-to-peer recognition is basically the process of employees publicly recognizing each other’s work, contributions, and skills.
Why Is Peer-To-Peer Recognition Important?
Recognition is a crucial factor in encouraging employees to deliver their best work. When that recognition comes from both managers and peers, workers are sure to keep delivering effective results.
When employees are recognized by the colleagues who work alongside them every day, they can feel happier, more motivated, and more satisfied in their work.
Giving recognition to a fellow teammate can also boost feelings of satisfaction and positivity.
Everyone wants to be congratulated for a job well done. Introducing a peer-to-peer recognition program can help employees recognize their colleagues more often and more easily.
How Do You Perform Peer-To-Peer Recognition?
While it is important to encourage your employees to recognize each other’s work and accomplishments, you can ensure your company adopts active peer-to-peer recognition by introducing a peer-to-peer recognition program.
It’s best to use employee recognition software that provides your workers a platform to send public recognition in real-time, which the recipients and colleagues can see.
The software should provide insights and data that enable you to improve your program continuously. It should also promote your company values by allowing your employees to tie each recognition to a specific value.
You can use software to create a culture of social recognition in addition to peer-to-peer recognition, whereby supervisors, managers, and employers also publicly recognize their teams’ achievements.
What are the 4 types of recognition?
Now, let’s look at the ways to encourage peer-to-peer recognition within your workplace.
While there are various ways of encouraging recognition, the following four types of recognition are the best to use.
1. Employee Recognition Software
As briefly mentioned, using employee recognition software is one of the best ways of creating a culture of peer-to-peer recognition.
It will help to streamline the recognition process. And it makes sense to have one central place where any employee, whether office-based or remote, can leave positive feedback about colleagues rather than having employees provide recognition over various apps and sites.
With a structured program and employee recognition software, companies can ensure recognition isn’t a complex process and better make sure that employees embrace a peer-to-peer recognition culture.
Look for software that uses prompts to help employees express themselves, provides quick feedback mechanisms, and enables you to create a sound structure for feedback.
2. Recognition Awards or Certificates
While both social recognition and peer-to-peer recognition in the workplace aren’t about rewarding employees with monetary rewards, it could be more than worthwhile spending a little money on recognition awards or certificates that can be provided to employees to give out to their high-performing colleagues either on a weekly or monthly basis or after certain milestones have been achieved.
While publicly recognizing a colleague with some kind words will do wonders for boosting an employee’s morale, motivation, and productivity, such things will be boosted even more when an employee receives a tangible item congratulating their hard work.
3. Endorsements
Another simple type of recognition that can be awarded to deserving employees is recognition on professional social media sites like LinkedIn.
Vouching for peers’ skills and attributes with endorsements on networks that can be useful in helping them to climb the career ladder can make those employees happier and more fulfilled in their professional lives.
4. Milestone Recognitions
Milestone recognition is a type of peer-to-peer recognition that, you’ve guessed it, enables colleagues to acknowledge each other when certain milestones have been achieved, such as sending customizable digital congratulatory cards upon the successful completion of a project’s critical development stage.
But things like digital cards should also be sent out to celebrate personal milestones, such as when peers get married, have a birthday, buy a new house, or complete a marathon.
When peers continually celebrate each other’s good news, it will foster a positive work environment and encourage more peer-to-peer recognition, leading to better morale, increased work satisfaction, and improved productivity.
