How Social Recognition Software Encourages Team Interaction

Did you know that employees close to their colleagues experience higher levels of job satisfaction and are less likely to leave? An environment that fosters team interactions, meaningful workplace relationships, and an employee recognition platform has a much easier time attracting and retaining talent because more employees want to be a part of that employee experience.

And while employers and leadership are among the most important people to award recognition, peer recognition programs and team interaction between coworkers are becoming more important by the day. This is because employees expect to get credit from companies with a strong workplace culture, but don't always expect to see it in their team interactions. As a result, those connections and acknowledgments feel more meaningful. A peer recognition platform is a good way to implement recognition culture into your company values while you reward employees.

Keep reading to learn more about social recognition, the research that supports it, and how social recognition software features encourage more team interactions.

What Is Employee Recognition Software and How Can It Be Used?

First and foremost, social recognition refers to publicly acknowledging someone for who they are or what they do/have done. Employee rewards and recognition software, or social recognition software, provides the platform and tools necessary to foster a company culture that encourages team interactions and praise.

Using the many tools and features in your software, your team can use the platform in a variety of meaningful ways by acknowledging and interacting about: 

• Workplace success
• Important milestones
• Birthdays and anniversaries

Why is it important? Because team interactions are no longer just nice to have. They're crucial to the success of your business. 

Team members feel more connected to the company when they are recognized and appreciated. Recent research found that employees closer to their coworkers experience higher levels of job satisfaction. They work harder, feel more motivated, and stay longer with the company.

Common Features of Employee Recognition Software

Now that you know the importance of an employee recognition platform, here are the features that make meaningful team interactions possible. 

Peer-to-Peer Recognition Programs

Most businesses know of the importance of employers and leaders giving recognition to team members, but did you know that more people are looking for praise from peers? One study uncovered that at least 41% of workers want more interactions and recognition from their peers.

Social recognition software encourages employees to engage in more team interactions and connections by making it easier and award recognition. Moreover, the software offers tools for bonus incentives that encourage peer recognition engagement.

More value is added to the recognition, because employees see most manager-to-peer recognition as part of their job. In contrast, people see peer-to-peer recognition programs as more authentic and unexpected. 

Customizable Recognition Program to Fit Business Goals and Needs

No business is the same, just as no employee is the same. Customizable features allow you to align your business goals and needs with the appropriate elements in your platform—i.e., monetary recognition, non-monetary recognition, manager recognition, customizable awards to incentivize behaviors, points, redemptions, etc. 

A variety of recognition employee rewards relevant to your business and team enriches their experience and encourages more interactions and engagement. As goals and needs change, social recognition software allows you to scale your reward options or manage most valuable versus least valuable. 

Again, while customizing your platform, remember that all of your employees are different (in different stages of their lives, have other hobbies and interests, have different preferences, etc.). The best way to navigate rewards is to focus on what will bring the most value to your team and foster an environment that encourages them to interact and give recognition. 

Recognize Employees Based on Core Values

Your company's core values aren't just something you define in the beginning and forget. It's an integral part of your company and its foundation and, therefore, should be an essential part of your business. How your team interacts and gives/receives recognition is no different because your values determine the culture in your workplace. 

This starts with clean and definitive communication on what your core values are. Then, communicate how your employees can use them to guide their everyday tasks and decisions. To ensure employees take your core values seriously, social recognition software gives you the unique opportunity to reward team members based on their success in staying true to them. 

This will not only show everyone what encompassing these values looks like by highlighting those who achieve it every day, but it also gives employees an extra incentive to continue integrating core values into their work life to receive more recognition. 

Automate Important Employee Events

Employees are human. If you want them to feel more connected to your business and its people, recognize them for more than the tasks they complete (or the money they bring into the company). Whether it's a birthday, anniversary, or milestone (preferably a combination of all), taking additional steps to show employees they are seen and valued at the company can go a long way in keeping them there. 

By automating important employee events into your customizable platform, you alert team members of events they may not be aware of and encourage more interactions surrounding those events. This way, leaders will recognize employee birthdays and milestones, and peers can also make that employee feel special. 

After all, working on your birthday can be a downer for many team members. However, if others in the company go out of their way to make you feel special on your day, working on your birthday doesn't seem so bad anymore. Some may even look forward to it!

Don’t just take our word for it. Here are some statistics that back the benefits of celebrating important employee events:

1. Some studies show that 12% more job searches are conducted just before an employee's birthday, with those feeling appreciated on their birthday being the least likely to quit. 
2. Employee appreciation during important events in their life improves their work motivation, leading to the company being 23% more profitable and seeing 18% higher sales.
3. When employees feel happy at work, productivity increases by 13% or more (extra attention during crucial milestones and events increases employee satisfaction). 

Variety of Employee Rewards to Redeem

Did you know that, more often than not, employees receive rewards or gifts they don't like? According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 80% of respondents in their report admitted to receiving rewards or gifts from their company that they didn't want. Despite their dislike, those employees admitted to faking their appreciation, making it harder for employers/leaders to know that those gifts aren't likable among team members. 

From gift cards to experiential rewards to customizable rewards such as bonus days off or lunch with the CEO, an employee recognition platform offers your team a variety of employee rewards to redeem. This ensures you're not just giving away meaningless incentives that your employees throw away and never really benefit from receiving. Instead, you'll notice more people interacting with each other to receive these incentives, getting excited ahead of time for the additional gifts they get for birthdays, anniversaries, and more. 

How Our Bucketlist Rewards Platform Can Help With Team Interaction

There's nothing more powerful than having the tools like employee recognition platforms available for your team to reward each other for a job well done and acknowledge each other during important events. Employee recognition software options make it easy to level up your employee engagement strategy.

Our Bucketlist Rewards platform helps encourage these meaningful team interactions in a variety of valuable ways that enhance company culture:

• An easy-to-use recognition and rewards platform allows for more frequent and public recognition.
• Peer-to-peer recognition programs are critical to building employee bonds and strengthens when teams celebrate small and large wins. When employees understand that their efforts contribute to a higher cause, they feel a deeper connection to colleagues, leadership, and the company vision.
• Being able to see the great work others are doing brings employees across the organization closer, regardless of department.
• Building a Culture of Recognition where giving recognition—professionally and personally—is habitual and second nature empowers employees to build more genuine connections and feel a sense of belonging to their team.
• You can use an example of employees recognizing a colleague for a personal milestone or hobby. After all, work is only one facet of our lives; bringing recognition programs to a more personal level really helps people feel valued and accepted. 

Build a Stronger Team with Employee Engagement

In an environment where shortages are at an all-time 16-year high, the most successful companies have a competitive advantage in employee recruitment and retention. Our Bucketlist Rewards platform gives you that advantage, no matter how many employees you have. Request a demo for more insight and resources on what social recognition software can do for you.