Employee recognition is the cornerstone of every healthy company culture. It’s not only a key ingredient for enhancing employee performance but also takes the company a huge step ahead in creating a happy and successful workforce.
Most of the employees consider recognition as most important in boosting their productivity level. The feeling of being underappreciated and not valued is a huge demotivator and can be a decisive point in leaving the company:
“People may take a job for more money, but they often leave it for more recognition.” – Dr Bob Nelson, best-selling author
But when speaking of employee recognition, the first thing that everybody pictures is top-down recognition. Have you ever thought that peer-to-peer recognition can also be that much effective and crucial for company success?
With all the benefits that it offers peer recognition is no longer a “nice to have” but is vital for creating a positive company culture, for strengthening the bonds among employees and creating strong and aligned teams. So, let’s see what peer-to-peer recognition is and how beneficial this recognition model can be.
What is Peer-to-Peer Recognition?
Peer-to-peer is a recognition model that enables employees to publicly acknowledge and appreciate one another’s work.
It encourages and empowers team members to recognize each other giving opportunity to build strong relationships among peers, instil a sense of trust and belonging. What can be more motivational, inspiring, and heart-warming if not a simple “thank you” from your fellow team member?
Here are the top benefits that peer-to-peer recognition offers:
Enhances Employee Engagement
Higher levels of employee engagement are crucial for any thriving company.
Engaged employees are enthusiastic, motivated, committed to work, and willing to give their all to achieve organizational goals. They are proud to be part of the team and do whatever it takes to help the company succeed. So, these are the employees who come to work every day to make a change.
And how to enhance engagement? It’s a well-known fact that recognition is the strongest driver of employee engagement. So, a strategic employee recognition program, without doubt, increases its rate and builds an engaged workforce.
Boosts Performance and Increases Profitability
As I already said, recognition is a key ingredient for enhancing employee performance. It unlocks productivity, increases motivation and helps to see that their efforts are appreciated and noticed.
But why isn’t top-down recognition enough and how does peer recognition specifically affect business outcomes? Most HR professionals see a strong link between real-time dynamic peer feedback and enhanced performance. According to Gartner’s report peer feedback boosts employee performance by as much as 14%.
Of course, this is totally natural as employees spend most of the day with each other, have a sense of shared mission and know better about the daily challenges. So, as authentic as it is peer recognition has a direct influence on motivation and productivity.
Reduces Employee Turnover and Retains Top Talents
Employee turnover is a real challenge for most organizations. A high turnover rate is among the factors that prevents the company from operating at its full productivity.
In fact, according to SHRM’s report, 47% of HR professionals mentioned retention/turnover as the top workforce management challenge. But most of them agreed that their recognition program positively affects retention.
Lack of recognition has always been among the top reasons for job dissatisfaction. While appreciated employees develop warm emotional connections with the company which in its turn lowers the chances of turnover intentions.
So, by implementing a strategic peer recognition program like Lucky Carrot, companies improve turnover rates and retain their top talents.
Builds Strong Teams and Instils Sense of Trust
Another factor that makes this recognition model much more effective is that it builds strong connections across teams, enhances feelings of teamwork and fosters collaboration. It also improves the sense of belonging and enhances company culture.
By having the opportunity to recognize one another teammates show their support and appreciation. They are more connected and know very well about each other’s obstacles. In this case, recognition comes from a deep understanding of work making it much more meaningful. These meaningful recognitions instil a sense of trust and strengthen team morale.
Promotes Company Values and Creates Aligned Teams
Here let’s start with a statistic. According to SHRM’s report 70% of organizations with an employee recognition program tie recognition to their organizational values. This is what makes the Peer recognition model a great one.
These programs do not simply empower employees to appreciate one another but they enable them to send recognitions based on the core values the company wants to promote. This way employees’ behaviour becomes aligned with those values making them rather a habit.
By tying each recognition to a particular value peers see the connection between their action and the company’s values, and are more likely to repeat them time and again.
Create a culture of recognition with Lucky Carrot
Being authentic, timely, genuine and consistent peer recognition comes to complement top-down recognition. With the help of a public timeline, this model makes employees’ achievements visible, motivates and encourages them, ensures a positive employee experience and creates a culture of recognition.
