5 Benefits of employee-to-employee recognition

Most businesses understand the importance of employee recognition, but some forms of recognition are more impactful than others when it comes to driving lasting change. So why is employee-to-employee reward and recognition so powerful? Used intentionally, it can improve your culture, increase employee loyalty and build company-wide connections – all of which fuel productivity, growth and innovation!

Here’s how:

1. One act of recognition creates three times the goodness

When an employee is recognised, they are 3x more likely to recognise someone else, creating a ripple or domino effect of good being shared across your business. People who feel recognised and appreciated are more likely to recognise the good work of others. This is a fact of human nature (what social scientists call 'positive reciprocity'). Recognition makes you feel good, both when you receive recognition and when you acknowledge someone else. 

"As more people get on board with making recognition a habit, the ripple effect spreads throughout the organisation until it becomes ingrained in your work culture." 

2. Being recognised builds company-wide confidence

Having progress and contribution publicly recognised and rewarded helps boost inner confidence as well as team-wide trust. Public recognition is especially effective in building trust and confidence across the organisation because it connects the action being recognised back to the business. The best recognition is when you show appreciation for a success that helped improve the employee or customer experience and can be tied to your company’s values, purpose or objectives. So when employees are using recognition and this recognition is displayed for others to see, everyone can understand how the company's mission is being lived and feel confident that their peers are working towards the same goal.

Learn more about Employee Recognition for your business »

3. It gives everyone a productivity boost

77% of employees say they would work harder if they felt better recognised. The simple solution to this is to recognise more, but the type of recognition still matters as employees don't always notice recognition when it happens. Reward Gateway has found that 80% of senior leaders believe recognition happens regularly, but only 17% of employees feel they work in a recognition rich environment. In order for employees to feel the recognition, it needs to be meaningful and specific. Instead of a simple 'Thank you,' try saying 'Thank you for helping me with ____, it really helped me to achieve ____ and I appreciate how you always ____.' Employees will not only understand what they are being recognised for, but also the impact their work had on a project.

"We know what gets recognised gets repeated, so keep recognising progress as it happens and you’ll see it skyrocket as a result!" 

4. Every employee becomes responsible for your culture

Instead of relying on a top-down, manager-only approach, encouraging employees to recognise coworkers makes individuals accountable for sharing the wins and telling the stories that eventually become legend. eCards are a great, simple way for colleagues to say 'thank you,' 'congratulations,' 'well done' and much more. It allows you to make your recognition  culture-driven.

5. Social recognition promotes transparency, connection and collaboration

One glance at your recognition tools trends gives you visibility of key contributors, whether (or which) teams are collaborating and sharing success together, who’s getting left behind, and opportunities to strengthen culture. At Reward Gateway, leaders and employees alike frequently visit our 'Wow Wall' – a social recognition feed that displays all eCards sent at RG – to see wins happening across the business. Through comments, reactions and likes, employees are able to engage with other employees' moments of recognition.

This not only amplifies the moment of recognition to drive a greater feeling of appreciation, but also helps boost connections across teams and departments and allows everyone to see the great work that is happening across the business.