6 Factors to Consider When Choosing Employee Recognition Software

The positive impacts of recognition are undeniable. According to Gallup, organizations that recognize and praise employees see a boost in individual employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

Many companies have initiatives in place to recognize or reward employees. These initiatives are typically manual and focus on length-of-service, nominations, and spot awards. Traditional methods are time-consuming for Human Resources(HR), lack impact and reach, and do not translate well in remote working environments. Even more, they aren’t cost-effective or scalable. By far, the largest issue with these antiquated programs is that they do not offer any measurable insights on engagement. Based on these shortcomings, you may want to consider investing in a modern employee recognition software system.

Given the many software options, you might be wondering what choice best suits your company. Here are the top factors you should consider before choosing your next employee recognition program:

1. Consider Your Company Objectives and Goals

Is your primary goal to align your teams’ efforts to the organization’s goals and drive performance?

Are you hoping to reinforce the company mission, vision, and values to amplify your organization’s unique qualities?

These wishes can only be granted by actively engaging with your team, and giving each member positive feedback. People working in your organization have different skills and habits. You have to understand individual skill sets to meaningfully recognize each team member – this is key to an effective employee recognition program.

Your employee recognition software should emphasize and inspire behaviour that matches your company's core values, mission, and vision. It should further serve your employees' needs, so consider if the nature of their work encourages participation with the software.

Questions to ask:

• What devices or media do my employees have access to daily (For example, computers and smartphones)?
• Do most of my employees use an internet-connected device as part of their daily work?

2. Compatibility with Your Other Systems

Choosing an employee recognition software that integrates with some or all your existing software has several benefits. Firstly, it reduces the amount of time your HR or people team spend administering the system. Secondly, it can greatly drive adoption within your organization.

There are three broad categories of integrations that you want to look for:

User Provisioning: These types of integrations usually hook into your existing HR software, like Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) or BambooHR. Plus, they save time by automatically keeping your employee data synced between all your systems.

Single-Sign-On: These integrations make it easy for your employees to log into your employee recognition software. With Single-Sign-On, they don’t need to remember or create a brand-new username and password combination.

Productivity: A client favourite at Kudos®. These integrations enable your employees to send and receive recognition from their existing software (like Microsoft Teams, Outlook, orSlack) without logging into the employee recognition software. Productivity integrations have a big impact on adoption within many organizations.

Make a list of your various software solutions, and work with your vendor to identify which integrations are the best fit.

Questions to ask:

• What software does my organization use?
• Are integrations an important factor in our employee recognition strategy?

3. Recognition or Rewards?

Everyone loves a reward, but when your employees say they want more recognition at work– they don’t mean more rewards. They want meaningful, memorable recognition for their work.

Look fora solution that emphasizes quality recognition above rewards. This way, your chosen solution drives valued behaviours and is less prone to manipulation by its users.

In addition to software subscription fees, some software vendors profit on commission from the rewards your employees redeem in their software. This reduces the overall impact of your investment.

Questions to ask:

• Are rewards required or are they optional?
• Does the vendor mark-up rewards or make money by selling points?

4. Prioritize Security

Organizations have a responsibility to protect the personal information of their employees.Your software provider should have policies in place that show their commitment to enterprise-level security. Vendor security audits will be quick and smooth if you work with vendors that have a track record for meeting the demands of enterprise data security requirements.

Questions to ask:

• Is there someone dedicated to security and privacy oversight?
• What third parties are used in delivering the services. What oversight or monitoring is provided over these parties?
• What independent assurance do you provide over your security and privacy practices?

5. Choose a Scalable Employee Recognition Software

Will the software you choose accommodate the growth of your business? If you plan to expand your recognition program to divisions or business units in other countries or regions, choose a platform that can provide service to those areas and in those languages.

And remember to factor in the future costs of rewards as you expand the program through your organization.

6. It Should Be Fun

Your employees will be eager to interact with your new and exciting program, so your chosen vendor should provide detailed launch plans.

With millennials turning 40 this year, a large part of the workforce is ready to interact with social programs. To appeal to this generation of employees, choose a software with social recognition activities such as liking and commenting. Employee recognition can also support inclusion in your organization – if you roll out the program in the right way.

The Right Employee Recognition Software Is a Resource for Your Business

Relationships between teams and people in your organization can improve when you use the ideal employee recognition software. With the number of programs available, do your due diligence on each software option. It should have a straight forward process of recognition and the latest software features for improved efficiency.

Ensure that your software vendor is reliable. Partnering with a provider who has industry-leading knowledge of employee recognition programs will be a resource for you.