Let’s talk social recognition. If your company employs a fair amount of Millennials, which it probably does (they’re everywhere these days – take a look at the stats!), chances are you’ve realised that the impact of social media is no longer something you can ignore. It’s wholly ingrained in the way the spiffy new workforces communicates and when you embrace it as part of your work culture it holds a frankly delicious line-up of benefits.
Here are five reasons why your employee engagement programme should have a social component if you want it to be effective:
1. It draws on neuroscience
Recognition and engagement go hand in hand. As humans we are pre-programmed to respond positively to recognition. It leads directly to happiness and a sense of belonging. This is not just an opinion, it’s a fact rooted in neuroscience. Employees react to stimuli in their work environment according to age-old coding in their amygdala and frontal cortex, which corresponds to five threat and reward domains. When you use social recognition tools to show gratitude on a platform where it can be observed by an employee’s peers, you tap into the reward domains that lets your workforce feel connected and safe with the members of their group, and certain of their importance in relation to others. This is good stuff.
2. It breeds better leaders
Good managers come in many shapes and sizes, but their actions and behaviours have certain things in common. They keep their team focused on a shared vision by channeling positivity, stabilise and connect their group, give back to their team by empowering and enabling them as individuals, and develop their own skills continuously while remaining humble and authentic in their actions. This is the kind of behaviour you encourage by means of social recognition.
When you institute a culture of recognition, it has a direct impact on the development of the leaders within your business. When managers are required to provide employees with positive, constructive feedback on a regular basis it increases their management skills. They are more attentive and they keep an eye on individual employees rather than just focussing on productivity in general. These are the hallmarks of great leadership that will only continue to develop as recognition and reward becomes entrenched in your company culture.
3. It’s great for the ol’ bottom line
When you create meaningful relationships within your enterprise, it has such a positive knock-on effect that it can directly influence your bottomline. The Harvard Business Review mentions that focussing on employees’ strengths makes good business sense, and those guys don’t play around. So if profitability is what you’re concerned about, social recognition should be a no-brainer.
4. It makes your business look cool
The best way to attract top talent is to make your company a great place to work. It’s as simple as that. The modern-day working environment is no longer just an office space that has to be kept neat and tidy and somewhat attractive. These days it’s all about vibe, and prospective employees can suss that out fairly simply when they look up your business online or speak to current employees. Knowing that employees are receiving recognition for good work at your place of business immediately makes it look cool. After all, who doesn’t want to work at a place where your efforts are recognised? Don’t believe us? These guys are doing it and they’re winning awards!
5. Clients like it too!
You know what else is great about peer to peer recognition? It makes for happy employees, and happy employees give great client service. They are fully in it to win it and your clients can tell. They may not know the ins and outs of your employee recognition programs, but they’re reaping the benefits regardless. Great client service leads to repeat business and positive word of mouth marketing and that is something you cannot buy – it has to be earned. It’s this type of wonderful side benefit that makes you wonder why more companies don’t encourage employees with a tailored social recognition program, doesn’t it?
So, in summation, social recognition is a lot like that irritating kid in high school who got straight A’s, captained the first team netball squad, never had any acne issues, and looked absolutely flawless in the same uniform that made everyone else look like badly-stuffed sausages – it’s just good at everything.
When you’re ready to boost employee engagement, breed better leaders, improve your bottom line, become a talent magnet and make your customers happy all in one fell swoop, get in touch. We’ve got a pretty nifty SaaS-based social recognition platform you may want to check out, and we’ll let you take it for a spin for free.