What Is Social Recognition? Definition, Benefits, and Platforms

Did you know that social recognition can improve employee productivity by over 60%? And cloud-based tools let you recognize employees without investing in complex technical development. In this article, we look at what social recognition is and some popular platforms you can deploy to enable it in the workplace: Workhuman, Kudos, and Workstars.

Recognition is the cornerstone of engagement in any workplace. However, companies often resort to ad hoc recognition models, acknowledging isolated achievements or career milestones. These acknowledgments usually occur via one-on-one conversations, without participation from the employee’s peer network. This can lead to three common issues: 

1. Since only the manager is responsible for the recognition, there is a possibility of bias and favoritism. 
2. The organization could overlook an employee’s true potential as only a single stakeholder takes care of recognition.
3. The organization loses out on the chance to build a robust human-centric culture where every employee is equally recognized and empowered.

This is why the concept of social recognition has become so popular. Instead of handing out a gift card for a job well done or sending company-wide mailers on work anniversaries, managers can use social recognition to appreciate employees regularly.

Let’s look at how social recognition can benefit an organization and three social recognition platforms that make it simple. 

Learn More: 3 Steps to Kickstart a Peer-to-Peer Employee Recognition ProgramOpens a new window

What Is Social Recognition and Why Is It a Must-have? 

Social recognition can be defined as an employee reward and recognition methodology. Specific tools are used to provide a “communal forum” where workers of every level can come together, share their experiences, and assign rewards to or recognize their peers for their accomplishments.

This can be in the form of financial compensation, workplace benefits (extra paid time-offs, F&B benefits, etc.), and even a digital badge or shout-out. In fact, small and medium-sized businesses can benefit from the flexibility of the reward format of social recognition tools. 

Social recognition offers valuable advantages to organizations: 

• It strengthens employer-employee relationships by creating a culture of gratitude. 
• It optimizes reward costs as per available budgets. Some platforms even offer free rewards.
• It mimics an employee’s personal social network in a professional setting, making them feel more involved, engaged, and genuinely curious about their peers’ activities.
• It also helps identify employees who may not be recognized often enough.

The modern worker demands modern rewardsOpens a new window , so social recognition platforms could prove beneficial to reinforcing professional bonds, in both large and small companies. 

Learn More: Disconnected Employees? There’s an App for That!Opens a new window

3 Social Recognition Tools to Help You Get Started 

Every organization has different team structures, recognition needs, and reward models. Some large companies often choose to build their social recognition platform in-house, acutely tuned for individualized requirements. However, when this isn’t possible – say for smaller organizations – here are three tools to help you get started with social recognition:

1. WorkhumanOpens a new window : A cloud-based tool that does a lot more than recognition

Workhuman is built on the principle of “crowdsourced gratitude.” It lets you calibrate employee achievements based on the business impact of those achievements, guided by a built-in Recognition Advisor. You can also select a micro-network within which to recognize an employee in case the achievement isn’t relevant to the entire company.

Workhuman includes detailed reporting and analytics that directly link rewards to employee productivity and performance. It comes with a pulse survey tool called Moodtracker to ensure that your rewards are getting the right outcomes. 

Workhuman is used by leading employers such as Cisco and LinkedIn. But its bevy of features and its ability to track and optimize rewards makes it an excellent fit for any company.

2. KudosOpens a new window : A simple, easy-to-use peer-to-peer recognition product

Kudos leverages social recognition as a driver of motivation. It allows you to reward employees across four different levels, ranging from 5 to 50 points. There are also several badges to choose from, celebrating certifications, work anniversaries, innovation, and exceptional business impact. As a useful add-on, Kudos automatically sends customizable emails on career and personal milestone days – and posts to the team wall as well. 

Kudos’ USP is its video-based social recognition capability. You can upload a video recording your appreciation for an employee’s achievement and post it on the wall.

Kudos comes in three flexible plans to meet the needs of companies of any size, as well as special pricing for non-profit organizations. 

3. WorkstarsOpens a new window : A recognition tool that looks exactly like a social media platform

Workstars boasts of a smart and clean user interface, ideal for engaging your employees. There is a real-time digital rewards catalog, personalized employee profiles, and a wall where activity can be viewed and shared. Further, recognition is customizable and is calculated based on the employee profile, their designation, the desired reward, and the allocated budget.

Workstars can be integrated with Slack, Teams, Salesforce, and a host of other productivity tools so you can appreciate employees “in the moment.” There’s also a dedicated dashboard that takes care of manager engagementOpens a new window . Finally, Workstars is available at three price points across four company sizes, starting as low as £1.5 per user per month. 

Learn More: 4 Low-Cost Employee Recognition Apps for SMBsOpens a new window

It’s Time Embrace Personalized Rewards 

The benefits of social recognition are undeniable. Research suggests that it can improve individual performance by up to two timesOpens a new window , while positively impacting both manager and employee engagementOpens a new window . Productivity also rises by over 60% on average. 

Also, social recognition can be more cost-optimized than traditional recognition models. Instead of relying on just compensation or benefits, you turn the sense of community and camaraderie in the workplace into a “reward.”

This lets employees feel more engaged, interested, and likely to stay on in their current role, reducing retention rates. After LinkedIn introduced social recognition in its workplace, retention improved by a massive 96%Opens a new window for employees who received 4+ rewards. 

By leveraging cloud-based, zero-development social recognition platforms, SMBs can achieve similar benefits at their workplace, ensuring that their people are happy, productive, and equitably recognized. 

Do you use social recognition tools to recognize employee achievements? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , LinkedInOpens a new window , or TwitterOpens a new window . We are always listening!