1. Digitize the recognition program to suit a hybrid workforce and reduce administrative tasks.
2. Ensure a user-friendly experience with seamless integration into existing tools.
3. Introduce gamification elements like badges and leaderboards to boost engagement.
4. Offer monetary rewards to increase employee participation.
5. Provide a variety of recognition types to maintain excitement and involvement.
6. Promote peer-to-peer recognition to foster collaboration and openness.
7. Create visibility by sharing achievements on internal and social platforms.
Most organizations know the potential impact of effective recognition programs; however, they feel challenged in achieving the desired results. Here are the seven best hacks for your employee recognition program to take it to the next level and deliver the expected benefits.
The effectiveness of an employee recognition program is measured typically by tracking the following metrics:
A good employee recognition program should have a positive impact on one or more of the above metrics.
Here are the 7 top hacks to drive your employee recognition program to the next level and get the expected benefits:
1. Go Digital
2. Focus on User Experience
3. Gamify It
4. Add Monetary Benefits
5. Create Variety
6. Leverage Peer Recognition
7. Create a Buzz
The first and foremost way to get an employee recognition program off the block is to digitize it completely.
Digitization of the employee recognition program can make the program suitable for a distributed and hybrid workforce and reduce the administrative overheads of running the program.
The digital recognition platform can also help improve the end-user experience, considering the growing proportion of millennials and Gen Zs in the workforce who have a greater affinity for digital products and services.
It is not enough to have a digital employee recognition platform; it is also essential to ensure that it is user-friendly and provides a great experience to the end users.
One important aspect of the user experience is enabling employees to access the platform from anywhere – desktop or mobile devices.
Integrating with other organizations’ platforms such as HRMS, Intranet, MS Teams, and Slack can enable employees to log into the platform seamlessly through a single sign-on.
Having an engaging yet intuitive user interface is another aspect that drives the usage and impact of the platform.
Adding different game elements such as rewards points, badges, e-certificates, leaderboards, wall of fame, etc. can help make the program more exciting and engaging for the employees.
Gamification can help increase usage and, eventually, the program’s effect.
Once again, millennials with solid exposure to gaming culture will likely patronize a program that uses gamification.
Higher participation is likely to drive better results from the program.
Monetary benefits can help in driving up the level of participation of the employees in the program.
A points-based rewards system that allows employees to redeem gift cards, cash, or other monetary benefits is definitely a must-have for any effective recognition program.
Organizations should calibrate these monetary benefits based on the workforce profile, available budgets, and industry trends.
It is always a good idea to benchmark these rewards with programs of other companies’ programs.
An effective employee recognition program should have enough variety in the categories of rewards and recognition.
This keeps the employees excited and involved in the program and ensures the desired level of participation.
The variety can be achieved through recognition of employee performance over different timeframes – immediate/ instant, monthly, quarterly, and annual.
Recognition should also target different aspects of employee performance— collaboration, innovation, innovation, development, etc.
Involving co-workers in the recognition process instead of just the supervisors and management can significantly boost the traction and impact of these programs.
Peer-to-peer recognition can be a potential game changer for employee recognition programs.
Peer recognition can help in creating a more collaborative and open work culture.
It comes at virtually no additional cost to the company but can add significant value to the program regarding participation and impact.
Gamification and monetary benefits alone might not be enough to keep employees interested and involved in the recognition program.
Creating social visibility around the program is equally important, if not more.
For a generation of employees who spend a considerable amount of time on social media, their achievements and recognition must get noticed by their co-workers and even by their friends and connections.
Hence, publishing employee recognition on internal platforms such as the Intranet, MS Teams, Slack, etc., and even on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook can significantly enhance the program’s effectiveness.
As an organization, considering these 7 best hacks for your employee recognition program and implementing them can really help you derive greater returns from your program.
Lead author: Sagar Chaudhuri, the Co-Founder and CEO of HiFives. He is an HR Tech Evangelist with over 25 years of corporate and entrepreneurship experience. In the past, Sagar has worked in leadership roles with companies such as Genpact, Infosys, and ICICI Bank. He has an engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. Connect on LinkedIn
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