Building a Culture of Peer Recognition at your Workplace

Peer-to-peer recognition has always been an essential part of an organization. It facilitates room to instill a good workplace culture.

It is crucial to include a program that supports peer recognition to improve employee engagement. This helps in building a positive work environment that employees feel attracted to.

When employees get recognized by their peers, they feel valued. It encourages them to do better in their job.

Moreover, it creates a sense of accomplishment which in turn improves their productivity and efficiency. This article will focus on the importance of recognition and few ways one can build the program.

What is Peer Recognition?

People who work in an environment where doing their best is recognized a better chance of feeling good about their work. - Marilyn Suttle

Peer recognition is the appreciation of colleagues in the same team or department for a job well done. It can be termed peer-to-peer recognition as well.

Recognition can consist of any form. Like a pat on the pack or a simple “thank you” note. Whatever it may be, it increases the morale of the employees to do better in their next task.

When asked what leaders could do more to improve engagement, 58% of respondents replied: “give recognition.” Employees always welcome recognition from their peers. This makes them happy, and a sense of gratitude forms among colleagues.

Positive feedback about an employees’ work will lead to a positive outcome. It helps them to improve themselves at the professional level.

So, it’s high time that companies focus on creating a culture that emphasizes timely recognition.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide To Employee Rewards and Recognition

How does Peer Recognition Work?

For peer recognition to be successful, it needs to be immediate, specific, and consistent.

These are key points to build a peer recognition culture in a company. A good peer recognition program tries to improve workplace relationships and employee morale.

Thus, a peer recognition program leads to a good work environment that boosts productivity.

Let us look at how you can practice good peer-to-peer recognition.

1. Timely and Immediate

Timing is crucial when it comes to peer recognition. It is only impactful when done at the right moment.

Imagine a scenario where an employee gets recognized weeks after the completion of a challenging task. How will it affect their attitude towards the workplace? It will build up a sense of negative energy, and they will be least motivated to work.

However, such situations can be averted. You can-

• Recognize the employee immediately after a significant achievement.

• Appreciate them for their hard work, which will boost their overall morale.

In return, it will create a sense of enthusiasm in them and improve their efficiency in their next project.

2. Be specific always

Receiving recognition is what a colleague likes from their peers. It improves their relationship and gives them a sense of satisfaction about their work. But why are they getting recognized?

Being specific about the praise and appreciation gives a greater insight into what they are doing right. To be precise, you can-

• Mention the reason for the appreciation

• Show them the report of the things which has made a difference

Recognition becomes much more meaningful when it is straightforward and helps a colleague become much more focused on other tasks.

3. Maintain Consistency

We all are pretty aware that ‘consistency is the key’ for anything we do. The same goes for peer recognition.

Peer-to-peer recognition does not end with one day of praise and appreciation. It should be on multiple occasions and consistent.

When you recognize your peers for the sake of it, you make the whole process shallow. A consistent peer recognition program helps improve company culture and keep recognition genuine.

Managers often struggle to keep up with recognizing every employee working under them.

Here, peer-to-peer recognition often helps fill up the gaps because-

• Peers have more insight on the contribution and dedication of a colleague

• They understand what factors can improve the productivity of an individual

This way, they can inform their managers about the work they have been doing and help them recognize their work.

Benefits of Peer to Peer Recognition:

In today’s high-performing and diverse workforce, employees seek recognition by their peers at their workplace.

A peer recognition program provides an excellent opportunity to create a company culture of open communication. Peer recognition helps a company become employee-centric, and it conveys a message that every person’s opinion has value.

Below is a list of essential benefits that you will get from a good peer recognition program:

1. A boost in Work Relationships

Professional well-being is an essential element to get along with your colleagues. Maintaining a working relationship helps you settle down among your peers.
Building a culture of appreciation has innumerable benefits like-

As a manager, you must encourage your employees to show the necessary appreciation. A unified workforce will help you achieve the long-term vision and goals without hassle.

2. Promotes Team Spirit

Companies work better with teams that make up an integral part of the workplace. Smooth flow of information, faster and better decision making makes it easier to accomplish a task.

For a team to perform better, the team members should practice peer-to-peer recognition among themselves. But it would help if you made them aware of the recognition system. To do that, you can-

This will create a sense of accountability and encourage the employees to work harder.

Furthermore, to get better results, there will be collaboration and unity. It will raise the bar and build good team spirit. When there is a high level of team spirit, it increases the success rate and boosts morale in the long run.

3. Improves Confidence and Self-Esteem

Building confidence in your employees is crucial. It is required to do a job without any error. However, if they are not confident in their career, it can create chaos.

Such shortcomings can affect the organization’s bottom line in the long run.
But you can change that with the help of peer recognition.

When employees get recognition for a particular job, it signifies that they are doing it correctly. Doing so will help in-

Moreover, the employees feel valued, which increases their self-esteem and sense of belonging. Thus, helping them in improving their productivity in the workplace.

4. Employees having an Equal Voice

Peer recognition does not stop with managers only. It should allow the employees to appreciate their managers as well. It will create a culture that fosters equality in the workplace.

When there is equality in the workplace, it-

This enables everyone to accomplish a common goal. Moreover, employees feel satisfied with their work which reduces the turnover rate of an organization.

5. Enhances Work Performance

Improving the work performance of the employees can do wonders for the organization. It can boost revenue, increase productivity, and improve engagement levels.

As a manager, you need to find ways that can help you with the cause. One of the easiest ways to elevate work performance is by facilitating a peer recognition program.

When employees get recognized for their hard work and efficiency, it-

Meaningful recognition encourages employees to do better in their job. They become aware of the fact that they will be acknowledged for their performance. In return, it boosts their ability to perform and makes them more productive in the long run.

Read more: 11 Tips to Improve Work Performance

Here are a few ways through which one can show peer recognition

• Peers can hand out friendly notes appreciating each other’s work, which become valuable and meaningful.

• Peers can award a trophy to their colleague who has performed exceptionally and did an outstanding job. This trophy can do rotation among other peers every week with a different award title.

• A peer can send a “Thank You” mail to one of his colleagues who had helped him out during one of their projects.

• Departments can send out appreciation messages to other departments for the effort they put into their work.

• When someone does a good job, peers can show few minutes of appreciation for the immense work a colleague did. Teams must keep up the peer recognition program running and create a positive work culture in an organization.

Recommended Resource: 50 Recognition Ideas to Boost Employee Recogntion in 2021

How to Run the Program?

You might now have a good idea about how vital peer recognition is in the human resources department. But the main thing here is to apply the knowledge in facilitating peer-to-peer recognition programs. There are many ways one can implement the program.

One way to run a peer recognition program is through virtual recognition software. To run a successful peer recognition program, you need to have the right platform and approach.

Along with appreciation, you can give them redeemable points, which they can use to convert into gift cards.

This helps in employee engagement and drives the peer recognition culture in a company.

An online platform helps an organization in-

As a manager, remember to keep the process employee-centric and straightforward. Doing so will increase engagement levels. Furthermore, employees will invest their time and practice recognition that will foster good workplace relationships.

And to help companies out, Vantage Circle provides you with an easy-to-use interface. It offers certain perks and benefits for organizations. A few of the benefits of using this platform are-

• All the users have mobile flexibility and access the platform from anywhere.

• The employees can appreciate their colleagues with different badges and awards

• The platform allows employees to wish each other during special occasions

• A simplified social feed makes it hassle-free for the users to navigate through the platform.

If you are still wondering what to do, then check the platform here.

Summing it Up!

We all know that employees are an integral part of an organization. In any high-performing company, peer recognition forms an essential factor. It also helps build strong bonds in the workplace, which is vital for teamwork success.

Peer recognition has a positive impact on employee morale and helps them focus on their work. It has much more impact and becomes meaningful when employees get appreciated by their peers for their effort.

The bottom line here is that leaders and HR professionals need to place a robust recognition and rewards program. It will improve employer branding in social media and increase the reputation among the target audience.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com