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Social recognition plays a crucial role in ensuring your employees feel valued as your greatest asset. When they’re happy and engaged, your organization is set up for success. However, if they’re dissatisfied and unmotivated, that will be reflected in your bottom line.
It’s also one of the most cost-effective ways to keep employee morale high, as research from Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI) shows that social recognition is just as effective as monetary recognition for boosting engagement, retention, and productivity.
Getting the most out of social recognition isn’t easy, though. You need to move beyond years-of-service awards and start recognizing positive behavior in real time. If you’d like to truly understand social recognition and the tools you need to make it a core part of your organization’s culture, read on.
What is social recognition?
Social recognition, or peer-to-peer recognition, is any form of appreciation that doesn’t involve a monetary component, from a simple “thank you” in the hallway to a callout at the weekly staff meeting. Practicing social recognition allows workers of all levels to feel valued for their contributions to your organization.
Peer-to-peer recognition is vital in fostering a positive work environment, whether employees are in the office or remote. Simple gestures like an email highlighting accomplishment or a “great job” during a team meeting can go a long way in showing appreciation.
When employees acknowledge each other’s contributions, it builds stronger team connections and boosts morale, creating a culture where everyone feels valued.
What are the effects of social recognition?
When implemented effectively, social recognition programs can dramatically transform an organization. First, it significantly boosts employee engagement by helping team members feel appreciated for their contributions, which leads to a more motivated and committed workforce.
In fact, social recognition can boost engagement by as much as 55% fueling higher productivity and enthusiasm across teams. Additionally, social recognition plays a vital role in reducing turnover; as research shows that companies practicing social recognition experience up to a 40% improvement in retention.
Beyond engagement and retention, social recognition enhances overall performance, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration by encouraging employees to support and inspire one another in their work.
Why is social recognition important?
Social recognition can completely transform your company and boost key metrics such as employee engagement, retention, and the performance of employees and your organization as a whole.
Social recognition increases employee engagement
The passion and dedication of engaged employees has an impact across your organization. Companies that rate their culture of recognition highly are more than twice as likely to see improved employee engagement.
That’s because peer-to-peer recognition boosts motivation by reinforcing a sense of value and belonging among employees, encouraging them to contribute more effectively. When employees feel acknowledged by their peers, they are more likely to strive for better performance, leading to improved business outcomes and stronger team collaboration.
Research from Harvard Business Review also shows that employees whose managers excel at recognizing their efforts are more than 40% more engaged than those with less supportive managers. These employees report higher confidence, feel more informed, and are significantly less likely to leave their jobs, making recognition a key factor in both engagement and retention.
Social recognition increases employee retention
Retaining talented employees is a key part of every organization’s success, and social recognition makes it much more likely you’ll do so. In fact, AWI’s 2023 Engagement and Retention report highlights that recognition is the top driver of employee connection, with nearly half of employees stating they feel more connected to their coworkers when they are meaningfully recognized.
The frequency of peer-to-peer recognition plays a crucial role in strengthening these bonds. For instance, 53% of employees who receive recognition on a weekly basis report feeling a strong connection with their peers. This is compared to only 30% of those recognized monthly, and just 18% of those recognized quarterly.
The clear link between peer recognition and connection directly influences retention: Employees who feel connected to their teams are more likely to stay engaged and committed to the organization.
When employees feel appreciated and acknowledged in a public setting, they are more likely to stay with the organization due to the positive reinforcement it provides. In fact, SurveyMonkey data shows that 68% of employees believe that public recognition can influence their chances of receiving a promotion or raise.
The business impact of social recognition
Social recognition has a significant impact on your company’s bottom line. Companies that provide social recognition are four times more likely to improve stock prices, twice as likely to improve NPS scores, and twice as likely to see improved employee performance. So, if you’re looking for a low-cost way to make a serious impact, you’ve found it.
To add, more benefits of social recognition that can impact business outcomes include:
- Boosting employee performance: 90% of employees who receive recognition report that they work harder as a result.
- Increased job satisfaction and profits: Implementing a program that recognizes employees’ strengths led to increased job satisfaction and a profit boost of 14% to 29%.
What about monetary recognition?
While employees do value financial incentives, social recognition can be even more impactful. In fact, research shows that nonfinancial forms of appreciation, such as social recognition, account for 55% of employee engagement.
According to McKinsey & Company, when employees feel unappreciated, they tend to disengage and are more likely to seek new opportunities. Although financial incentives like bonuses can be generous, they often come across as impersonal and transactional, lacking the deeper emotional impact needed to create a lasting connection.
Instead, organizations should prioritize personalized recognition experiences where employees can acknowledge each other through points-based recognition, or show appreciation through simple gestures such as notes, emails, and gifting.
How to practice social recognition
If you’re new to social recognition or haven’t implemented a strategy for it, there are several best practices you should follow.
1) Provide social recognition frequently
Social recognition should be performed on a regular basis. Organizations that provide recognition to employees multiple times per month are 41% more likely to see increased employee retention. And 28% of employees want to be recognized as frequently as every week or even every day. When employees are appreciated frequently, they always feel valued and know where they stand.
2) Provide recognition in real time
Providing recognition in real time makes it easy to link it to specific positive behaviors — and what gets recognized gets repeated. A staggering 92% of employees state that when they’re recognized for a specific action, they’re more likely to take it again in the future. This is especially valuable when those behaviors exemplify company values so you can build the culture you want to see.
3) Include everyone
Your social recognition program must be inclusive so that everyone, from entry-level employees to leadership, can participate. Beyond implementing a recognition platform that everyone can use easily, you should also make it easy to publicize recognition to encourage participation. You may do so via a company-wide newsfeed, social media, or an email that highlights accomplished employees. Some platforms even let you showcase the names and photos of the sender and recipient of each individual recognition for an additional spotlight.
4) Make it engaging
Look for a platform that lets employees customize their recognitions with fun GIFs or photos and where they can like or comment on recognitions as well. And letting them “boost” recognitions they find especially meaningful by providing additional reward points is a great way to make showing appreciation engaging as well.
You can even implement exciting year round campaigns that promote and encourage social recognition.
5) Encourage leaders to set an example
It’s important that leadership is intentional about providing social recognition and encouraging others to follow. After all, the majority of employees — 58% — believe more recognition would improve their relationship with their manager. To ensure your leaders serve as the backbone of your social recognition program, train them on its value and best practices.
Tools for social recognition
To successfully integrate social recognition into your workplace culture, having the right tools is crucial. A well-structured platform encourages employee engagement by allowing for easy and fun recognition across teams.
With features like e-cards and recognition boards, employees can personalize their recognition and publicly showcase accomplishments, making recognition visible and meaningful. These tools help foster a culture of appreciation while reinforcing positive behavior in a way that feels authentic and motivating.
Achievers, a peer-to-peer recognition platform, offers these features while seamlessly fitting into employees’ daily workflows. The platform ensures recognition is accessible from any device and provides real-time reporting, offering clear insights into program effectiveness and budget management. This allows organizations to continuously optimize their recognition efforts to drive better engagement and retention outcomes.
Help your team practice social recognition today
Looking for the best R&R platform on the market? You’ve found it in the award-winning Achievers Recognize. Its robust mobile capabilities and exceptional user experience make providing social recognition simple and fun.
Achievers Recognize also supports monetary recognition through a point-based rewards system. It was recently honored as a top R&R provider by the Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Awards, highlighting its innovative approach to employee engagement and recognition solutions.
What makes Achievers a leader amongst R&R platforms? We have the highest active usage and adoption rate, as Achievers users are four times more likely to recognize their colleagues multiple times per month compared to users of other platforms. Additionally, Achievers customers are 2.5 times more likely to experience increased employee retention, and users are twice as likely to report being highly productive.
It’s no surprise that brands like McDonalds, Discover, and General Motors (GM) rely on Achievers every day to promote social recognition and create a culture their employees love. GM’s program saw an incredible 97% activation rate, where every employee received at least one monthly recognition on average.
Follow in GM’s footsteps and realize the benefits of social recognition with Achievers Recognize – schedule a free demo today!
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