Employee recognition has become part of the core HR strategy of most organizations. To get the desired benefits, organizations need to select and implement the best employee recognition system. Here are a few points that organizations should while selecting employee recognition software.
There are many employee recognition platforms available in the market today. However, choosing the best one for an organization is no easy task.
It requires a solid understanding of the business objectives of the program, employee expectations, and a comparative view of different employee recognition platforms.
The best employee employee recognition platform is dependent on the specific needs of the organization.
However, the 10 points below might help in the decision-making process.
1. Ease of Configuration/ Customization
2. Incorporates Advanced Features and Best Practices
4. Integration with HRMS
5. Integration with Other Platforms
6. Built-in Intelligence
7. Real-time Reporting and Analytics
8. Social Media Integration
9. Speed of Implementation
10. Post-implementation Support
The employee recognition platform should allow the organization to configure various types of rewards and recognition.
These could include Spot Awards, Peer-to-Peer Recognition, Team Awards, Quarterly and Annual Awards, Service Awards, etc..
Also, each award would have relevant workflows and monetary values as defined by the rewards and recognition policy.
The platforms would be configurable to enable company branding, definition of business units, and budget management.
Additionally, it should be possible to make changes in the configuration even post-implementation to incorporate changes in the policy.
A good employee recognition system should have features such as gamification, wall of fame, leaderboards, and on-platform redemption options.
Language localization might also be a good feature to consider, especially if the program spans multiple geographies.
Also, jury evaluation of awards might be useful if the organization is planning to have quarterly and annual awards.
Hence, such a platform can create additional impact over time as the organization explores and implements the additional features.
The selected employee recognition platform should be integrated with the existing systems such as the HRMS or the HRIS.
So, employees should be able to log in using Single Sign-On (SSO) without using separate user credentials.
The platform should also be able to update employee data from the HRMS automatically, without any manual intervention.
Hence, it will ensure that the employee data in the platform is up-to-date to avoid incorrect workflows.
The platform should easily integrate with other platforms such as Google Workspace, Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Yammer, and Workplace.
So, it can ensure easy and convenient access to the recognition platform for employees.
It should also support integration with other platforms such as Intranet, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Project Management Systems (PMS), Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRM), etc..
Hence, it would enable rewards and recognition to get triggered automatically from these systems or publish recognition updates to these systems.
One of the key ways to make an employee recognition system truly effective is to ensure timely appreciation.
As such, an intelligent notification system is a great feature for a good recognition platform.
Hence, it should alert managers and co-workers when a significant achievement happens and nudge them to recognize the concerned employee.
Through these intelligent alerts and nudges, the system can ensure timely recognition and maximize the overall effectiveness of the program.
A good recognition system should provide real-time data and analytics to help HR and management monitor the program continuously.
The data can also be used to gain insights and take necessary actions to make the system more effective.
It should be possible to configure thresholds for different metrics that can trigger alerts to HR.
These timely alerts can the HR to make changes to the program on the fly.
Given the growing impact of social media, social media integration is a must-have feature for any good recognition platform.
Employees should be able to share rewards and recognition they have received on their social media profiles.
Even the HR should be able to share these employee recognition updates on their company’s Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
Such social media sharing can provide social reinforcement and acknowledgment for the employees, enhancing their level of motivation.
For the organization, it can be a good way to build a positive employer brand.
Once the recognition platform is selected by the organization, it should be possible to implement it quickly.
A robust implementation process ensures that the business requirements are captured, mapped, and configured in the system quickly and accurately.
This can be done through checklists, templates, and project plans.
The availability of pre-configured industry solutions and APIs for integration with other systems can also accelerate the implementation.
The in-depth domain expertise of the implementation team is also important to consider.
Customer support after implementation of the recognition software is critical to the success of the program.
This needs to be at different levels. Employees should be able to get support for any issues over live chat, email, or phone during business hours.
Also, they should get access to FAQs, interact with bots, or log tickets for issues they are facing.
The HR should get support through account managers for urgent or escalated issues, important queries, and change requests.
The account manager should connect them with experts who could provide new ideas and best practices for the program.
Looking for these 10 key points in an employee recognition platform can help organizations to effective employee recognition programs that can drive long-term benefits through enhanced employee productivity and retention.
Lead author: Sagar Chaudhuri, the Co-Founder and CEO of HiFives. He is an HR Tech Evangelist with over 25 years of experience in the corporate world and entrepreneurship. In the past, Sagar has worked with companies such as Genpact, Infosys, and ICICI Bank, in leadership roles. He has an engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. Connect on LinkedIn
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