Dale Carnegie, Leadership Training Guru once said, “People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise, and rewards”.
It is after all true. Who doesn’t like to be praised or appreciated? Recognition is the best motivator. It motivates employees to do better, work harder and achieve milestones at work. Recognition can be in the form of a simple ‘pat on the back’ or a monetary benefit or a certificate but the impact is the same – Motivation to do better!
Employees feel valued when they are appreciated. It enhances employee happiness, increases productivity, promotes positive work culture, and leads to better relationships with superiors thereby leading to increased customer satisfaction. Employee rewards and recognition impact retention.
What is an Employee Recognition Software Platform?
Earlier, recognition programs were restricted to the fixed category of awards like Employee of the year, Best Team, and the Tenure Award. These programs were usually conducted annually. There was a limited option in terms of types of recognition as well.
Typically they were: trophies or certificates or both and cash rewards. These had to be manually procured to reward the individuals /team. But this approach had many shortcomings:
- Limited award categories
- One-time appreciation
- Manual intervention in planning and implementation
- No standardized reward system
- Procurement issues
- Lack of variety of reward options
- Logistical hassles
- No analytics and reporting
Today, technology has enabled us to leverage various Employee Recognition software platforms. These Rewards and Recognition software programs can be run within your organization with the least hassles.
They can be customized to an extent as per your requirements. All you need is the right technology support to set it up. Some of these programs can be integrated with HRIS and HCM software that you might already have.
Benefits of Employee recognition software platform
Recognition software platforms provide flexibility and options to exercise the type of recognition one would choose for the employees. These platforms are user-friendly and provide a wide range of rewards to choose from. Many of these platforms are mobile-friendly which makes it easier to recognize your employees on the go!
They help bring the entire organization closer and build a culture of appreciation. In addition to the reward system (reward points-based system), these software programs promote engagement through chats, online public/private recognition, events, and gathering ideas within the company. Standardized rewards, no procurement issues, no logistical hassle, a wide range of options for recognition, and an interactive engagement platform make the Employee Recognition software platform a must-have in an organization.
10 Best Employee Recognition platforms
If you are choosing employee recognition software, there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Start with compatibility with your existing software
Choose a platform that can be integrated into your existing system, effortlessly. You do not want to change your operating system to incorporate one software.
- Choose software that has high safety and security standards.
You would not want your existing data to fall into the ‘wrong hands’. Ensure your software has an ISO 27001 certification or an internationally accepted certification
Though the best software may cost money, look for something that suits your budget as well as your business needs
The process of employee recognition should be seamless and easy. A complicated system will just be cumbersome and will tend to make the user experience tedious.
Here’s a list of the best employee recognition platforms to choose from:
- Nectar
Nectar brings together recognition, rewards, and appreciation for its employees. Their entire premise is based on the premise that they ‘glue’ the employees together with the organization. Managers can streamline incentives which are suitable for centralized as well as remote workers. They have also partnered with Amazon Business recently for their reward program.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 50-2000.
- 360-degree rewards and recognition – peer-to-peer and manager-to-employee alike.
- Extensive rewards selection including Amazon products, gift cards, donation cards, etc.
- Connect Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other software to increase engagement and facilitate recognition. Also integrates with HRIS/HCM.
Pricing options:
- Standard: $2.75per user/month
- Plus: $4.00 per user/month
- No contracts or implementation fees
- Motivosity
If you are looking to reward your employees for meeting specific goals then Motivosity can be the right software platform for your organization. It is a goal-oriented platform that can aid in boosting confidence as well as employee engagement and retention.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 10-500
- Recognition is linked to specific goals and performance
- Provides Personal culture coach
- Remote team training
- Customized dashboards for tracking the success
- Empowering employees to seek feedback
Pricing Options: Price available on request
- Awardco
With Awardco, you can customize your reward program, while staying true to your business ethos and company culture.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 100+
- Incentives in the form of points earnings
- Rewards and awards can be chosen from an integrated reward platform
- Automation of milestones with rewards
Pricing Options: Price available on request
- Mo
With Mo, you can customize your rewards program to develop teams as well as appreciate and recognize the success of co-workers. One of the features of Mo is that it encourages employees to recognize their teammates’ efforts and work with posts on social feeds and build a more positive peer-to-peer culture.
Salient features:
- Best for large teams of 50+ employees
- Easy interface and user-friendly
- Recognize with or without rewards attached to it
- Great platform to collect ideas and inputs from employees
Pricing Options:
- The starter plan starts at $4 per user per month
- Level-up starts at $5 per month
- Custom pricing available
- Guusto
Guusto is more of a gift-based program. With Guusto, you can assign budgets, and send gift cards, while tracking the initiatives.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 200+
- Comes with a pay-forward feature
- The company can recoup expenses for unused gifts
- Large assortment of gifts to choose from.
Pricing Options:
- Free version for single users, who pay for rewards
- The essential plan starts from $2.25 per member/per month
- The premium plan starts from $3.50 per member/per month
- Kudos
Apart from being a recognition platform, Kudos also performs analytics to harness and reinforce values that are at the core of the organization. Kudos believes in building a work culture that improves productivity, and boosts performance while reducing staff turnover.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 500+
- Public as well as private feedback options
- Point-based and flexible Employee Rewarding
- Digital Gift cards
- Reporting and analytics
- Video option for recognition
- Kudos TV feature helps stream recognition events
Pricing Options: Pricing available on request
- Reward Gateway
This is a cloud-based employee recognition platform that showcases achievements through a real-time feed. It also has an employee discount module that can help teams to send online vouchers.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 200+
- Instant employee recognition
- Value-Based Employee recognition
- Third-party Integrations
- Customized E-cards
- Events celebrations
- Analytics and Reporting
Pricing Options: Pricing available on request
- Kazoo
It creates a designated connected workplace to help increase productivity while keeping employees motivated and engaged. Employees can give and receive feedback while claiming points and can be used remotely. It is now a part of WorkTango.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 100-250
- Point-based rewarding
- Remote recognition
- Reporting and analytics
- Events Celebration
- Social recognition
- Peer-to-Peer recognition
- Recognition tracking
Pricing Options:
- Growth (100-250 employees): Starting at $5 per employee/month
- Standard (250-1000 employees): Starting at $4.25 per employee/month
- Enterprise (1000+ employees): Customizable pricing solutions
- WeGift
As a part of the recognition, you can send bulk gifts to teams, and virtual gifts, and it lets organizations have their own reward portal.
Salient features:
- Best for teams of 25-100
- Virtual gifts from a large assortment of gifts catalog
- Thank you notes can be sent in real-time
- Campaign-based gifting to track ROI
Pricing Options: Pricing available on request
- BlueBoard
This is more of an experience-based reward system. Unlike gifting rewards, Bluebird rewards are curated based on experience. A specialized team finds experiences and lists them on the app. The rewarded employee gets to choose an experience of choice, while all the logistical details are taken care of by BlueBoard.
Salient features:
- Third-Party integrations
- Analytics and Reporting
- 360-degree Employee recognition
- Peer-to-peer recognition
- Team management
- Custom employee reward
- Recognition tracking
Pricing Options: Pricing available on request
Wrap up
Employee Recognition software program is a smarter way of running a Rewards and Recognition program in any organization. There are solutions for all sizes of setups – small-sized, middle-sized as well as huge companies. These platforms are user-friendly and offer a large assortment of rewards and recognition ideas. With the least amount of manual effort, these platforms make the Rewards and Recognition program fun, fulfilling, and motivating. A good employee recognition software program helps retain talent.
Author of “People Glue”, Ian Hutchinson, rightfully said, “Your number one customers are your people. Look after your employees first and then customers.”
FAQs on Employee Recognition
What are the types of recognition?
Many feel that monetary reward is the only form of recognition but it is not. Monetary reward is one way of recognition. Non-Monetary rewards like Public recognition, a pat on the back, an appreciation note, Gift vouchers, Promotion, and added responsibilities are also equally effective types of recognition. Recognition is anything that boosts employees’ morale and makes them feel that they are valued employees. A good Reward and Recognition software platform will offer you a wide range of options to recognize your employees for various achievements.
How do I give genuine recognition to my employees?
Every employee is different. Recognize your employee in a way that motivates him further to do a great job. Some employees may prefer monetary recognition while some might be ecstatic when appreciated publicly. Identify the form of recognition that suits him the best by evaluating his likings. Have a healthy mix of all types of recognition in the kitty to ensure you customize it as per their achievements.
What are the best recognition strategies?
Best recognition strategies are:
– Follow the thumb rule: Good work should never go unrecognized
– Have a healthy mix of monetary and non-monetary rewards at your disposal.
– Be ready with spot awards for your champions at work
– Don’t shy away from appreciating your key performers publicly
– Make Rewards and Recognition an integral part of your work culture
– Invest in a Recognition software program for an ongoing, real-time recognition program that nurtures good performance.
What are 3 simple secrets in motivating employees?
3 Simple secrets in motivating employees are:
1. Motivating employees is an ongoing process and not a one-time event – Employees cannot be motivated by one event or one outing or one appreciation. It is a continuous process just as performance is. If you witness good performance or hard work or milestone being achieved – shout out! Don’t wait for the annual appreciation program.
2. Know what your employees want and what can the organisation offer to motivate them- Keep a healthy mix of monetary and non-monetary rewards at your disposal. Feel free to gather intel on what keeps your employees motivated. Performance and rewards should go hand in hand.
3. Value your employee, respect individuality and recognize talent regularly- ‘Respect for individual’ is the first and the best reward that you offer to any employee. When an employee feels seen and heard, he/she feels valued in the organization. It motivates him/her to engage with the organization and contribute his best.
What are the 3 most creative employee recognition?
3 most creative employee recognition are:
1. A surprise thank-you town hall after achieving a milestone – Imagine assembling in the bay for a town hall but instead of the regular agenda, everyone (especially Leadership) is showering ‘Thank You’ for your contribution. It gives a great feeling of accomplishment when appreciated publicly.
2. Announcing a day off after completing a project milestone – You may have a wide range of recognitions in the pipeline, but sometimes the simplest one does the trick. After spending days and months working sleeplessly on a project milestone, a surprise day-off announcement for the team/ team members can do wonders for their morale. Needless to say, it gives them much-needed rest.
3. An impromptu one-day Outing/ Picnic to celebrate success with the employees – Picnics and outings are a great way to bond and connect with employees. But announcing them impromptu to celebrate success makes work more fun and enjoyable. Employees feel valued and encourage a fun culture.
