Employee recognition has long been recognized as a key factor in employee satisfaction, engagement, and longevity. Employers spend 46 Billion dollars a year on recognition. But roughly 20% of employees are still disengaged from their jobs.
Disengagement is another way of saying that they don’t feel connected to their jobs, their employers, or their colleagues. But, effective recognition changes that. And the most effective type of recognition is peer recognition. That’s because peer recognition creates connection, increases positivity, and expands happiness levels across the organization.
Let’s discuss why.
Peer Recognition Increases Connection as Individuals are Recognized
Peer recognition builds a connection between the receiver and the giver. When an employee receives recognition from a peer, they feel like they are a bigger part of the team. They feel heard. Their contribution feels seen.
Berne Brown, a Professor at the University of Houston, has studied human connection for decades. She says that;
“I defined connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; When they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”
But, when individuals are not recognized, or worse, when they feel unappreciated for a time they spent extra effort, connection can be destroyed. Employees feel resentful when their sacrifice isn’t appreciated.
Employees who are regularly recognized at work stay longer. 53% of employees reported to Glassdoor that they would stay longer if they were recognized at work. Recognition improves morale and peer recognition is especially effective.
Recognition Programs Increase Optimism
Recognition is effective because the receiving employee feels endorphins, connection, and greater positive feelings toward their team. Managers can give employees this boost of optimism, but so can peers.
Peer recognition provides valuable benefits for team members. The giving employee also reaps benefits. When employees express appreciation for their teammates, they train their brain to recognize positives in the workplace.
“Cultivating positive brains makes us more motivated, efficient, resilient, creative, and productive, which drives performance upward;” explains Shawn Achor, researcher, and author.
In this way, peer recognition becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. As employees recognize each other, both parties feel greater satisfaction and see greater positivity at work. This, in turn, produces great performance and increased engagement.
Managers can set the tone for increased optimism by recognizing employees daily with clear and specific recognition. This creates a culture of appreciation where employees feel valued.
Peer Recognition Expands What Recognition Programs Are Able To Accomplish
Even in an ideal world, most manager-led recognition programs are limited. That’s because manager to employee ratio are greater than 1:1. Managers cannot see or be aware of every time an employee performs optimally or gives an extra effort.
Peer recognition bridges that gap. Even if peer recognition didn’t provide the added benefits of creating a team culture and increasing optimism, it would be worthwhile. That’s because it multiplies the overreach and influence of formal recognition programs, often a hundred or a thousandfold.
Instead of employees getting recognized at an annual event or a monthly meeting, peer recognition gives instant feedback. It’s timely, one of the three key components to effective recognition.
It’s also usually more specific. A peer gives thanks for a specific action, event, or advice given to them. Specific feedback is more effective in influencing behavior than general “good jobs.”
Employee Happiness Drives Productivity At Work
Perhaps one of the greatest reasons recognition improves engagement and performance is because it drives happiness. And, happiness produces greater productivity.
Shawn Anchor said that; “It turns out that our brains are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative or even neutral, but when they are positive.”
People are happiest when they feel optimistic, a trait that can be cultivated through gratitude and appreciation. When employees are happier, they are more creative, solve problems better, and work harder.
This may seem counterintuitive to the old mindset that employees should be driven to work hard by managers. But, “studies conclusively show that the quickest way to high achievement is not a single-minded concentration on work and that the best way to motivate employees is not to bark orders and foster a stressed and fearful workforce” (Anchor).
Instead, employers have to give up control for greater performance. Employees with greater control over their own workspace, work tasks, and work hours (article that covers flex hours, starts and stops, and remote) are happier and perform better. Couple that with a genuine appreciation for employees, even when they fail, and the results are outstanding.
Conclusion
In addition to peer recognition, managers can influence employee happiness by providing greater autonomy at work. When employees have the autonomy to make decisions about their job functions, they feel greater control. And autonomy through flexible schedules or remote work allows employees to have greater work/life balance, which also increases happiness.
The next article will explore how managers can balance the conflict between creating individual connections and the increased happiness employees report via remote work.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.