Is peer-to-peer recognition the secret to unlocking better engagement at work?

You might be wondering to yourself, “what’s the value of peer-to-peer-recognition and why do I need it at my organization?” Yes, having more people at the recognition “party” increases the chance of more recognition moments, but surely recognition from managers is more meaningful and should be enough? The simple answer is no. 

According to SHRM, peer-to-peer recognition is 36% more likely to have a positive impact on financial results than manager-only recognition. 

Although recognition from a manager contributes to employees feeling recognized for their hard work, recognition from peers can be just as meaningful and contributes to connecting employees with their organization and teammates. 

Let’s dive into how peer-to-peer recognition, specifically social eCards, help improve employee engagement.

What is peer-to-peer recognition?

Peer-to-peer recognition is the foundation to establishing a culture of continuous recognition. When employees feel like they’re a part of something bigger and are appreciated by both their peers and managers, it helps build trust and a collaborative environment with more engaged and productive employees. 

With a peer-to-peer recognition program in place you can:

When peer-to-peer recognition is frequent, visible and meaningful, it becomes part of an employee’s everyday habits and becomes a part of your company’s culture. What’s more, this increased visibility will help improve connections and demonstrate how recognition gives business insights. 

How eCards improve employee relationships 

My “go to” peer-to-peer recognition tool has got to be eCards, which bring together the power of pairing real-time recognition with real-time communications to help build strong and solid employee relationships. 

They’re convenient, customizable and provide an opportunity to not just connect your workforce to each other, but to your purpose, mission and values. They also contribute to creating a thank you culture which is built on trust and open and honest communication – all key elements of an engaged workforce. 

Peer-to-peer eCards are an easy stepping stone to building a culture of recognition because they’re easy-to-use, approachable and accessible across all channels to all teams in an organization. Peer-to-peer recognition is a great place to start to get your employees involved. 

The power of social recognition

Employees can send a meaningful eCard to any person, at any time, demonstrating the power of eCards. The best example of this is a social recognition wall. 

By mimicking a social media channel, peers are encouraged to add a reaction or comment and contribute to the conversation. 

Of course, there’s an option to send the eCard privately as well, but empowering continuous social communication and recognition is the goal. When recognition is social and visible, everyone in the company – from the CEO to frontline employees – are able to join in on the conversation and feel more connected to the business and each other.

The options are truly endless when it comes to the reasons for sending eCards and recognizing employees, which is why they’re a favorite recognition tool for me. If you can think of it, you can send an eCard for it. We’ve compiled a list of the ways we’ve seen people use eCards, but use your imagination to think of even more! 

What does peer-to-peer recognition look like?

Don’t just take our word for it. Let's take a look at how some Reward Gateway clients use their eCards:

Example of Suncorp eCard


Example of Recycle 2 Support eCard


Example of Krispy Kreme eCard

To go along with the many reasons you can send an eCard, you can also completely customize the way they look so they match your branding and incorporate your values to ensure they’re instantly recognizable to your employees. 

There you have it – the secrets to unlocking peer-to-peer recognition in the workplace to improve employee engagement and the employee experience with social, customizable eCards. So for my last question I ask you, which peer are you planning to recognize first?