The Science of Social Recognition

By Carlton One Engagment

The key to motivation in the modern workplace is social recognition. How can your employee rewards program take advantage of this phenomenon?

If the transition to the digital age has taught us anything, it's that humans are intensely social animals. We search out validation from peers and share that recognition of our skills and achievements across an array of channels.

Whether on social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn or within our workplace, celebrating the success of others and, in turn, having our own successes celebrated is a huge part of the modern office environment. With over 2.3 billion people active on social media, according to Smart Insights, our personal milestones can have undeniable reach.

What if you could incorporate that positive energy into your employee reward and recognition program? Imagine a system that allowed you to broadcast employee achievement to the people who’ll appreciate it most. 

Why social recognition matters

Studies conducted into the benefits of publicly acknowledging the achievements of your workforce show that it doesn't just offer warm feelings; it can legitimately improve their performance. 

A survey conducted by Gallup found that employees who receive regular recognition not only displayed increased productivity, but also boosted their engagement with colleagues, had better safety records on the job and were more likely to stay with their organization.

The nature of the modern workplace means it's not unusual for people to be based in multiple locations rather than in a centralized office. Having a social recognition program in place where all members of the organization can instantly see, endorse and comment on the achievements of their peers can rapidly improve engagement and job satisfaction. In a world where 'likes' on social media are at a premium, translating a similar system to employee recognition is a natural fit. 
Each positive post can scatter its goodwill across the network as a whole.

Learning from Social Media

A study from the University of California looked closer into how a person's positive and negative posts on social media affect others in their network. It yielded some surprising results. The research suggests that ‘emotions themselves might ripple through social networks to generate large-scale synchrony that gives rise to clusters of happy and unhappy individuals.’ Essentially, this means that each positive post can scatter its goodwill across the network as a whole.

From an employee rewards program point of view, consider how public acknowledgement of one individual's success might impact the organization, encouraging others to emulate that success and reap the same positive reinforcement.

Choosing an employee rewards platform that has features such as a rewards news stream, as well as a virtual badge and trophy case for displaying past achievements, is a great way to update employees on other people’s work and single individuals out for their achievements. 

Allowing your workforce to receive recognition and celebrate with colleagues can have far-reaching impacts across your organization. Talk to the Incentive & Engagement Solution Providers today for help creating a successful employee incentive program at your business.