It’s estimated that within the next four years, around three in four medium to large organisations will have in place some form of reward and recognition technology.

However, only 25% of these are expected to leverage the full potential of the platform and reap the benefits of a fully-fledged recognition strategy.

So, what can be done, and what do HR heads need to focus on to improve the uptake, usage and effectiveness of their recognition platforms and programmes?

Here are two key areas of focus.

Programme Onboarding

The critical first step for any new people programme is the onboarding process. This is true in the hiring process in general. In fact, over half of HR professionals say employee engagement rises when onboarding processes are improved.

And it’s the very same for a new social recognition programme as well.

With the best platforms and will in the world, without the correct internal communications and a roll-out strategy in place, the uptake of your employee recognition programme is likely to be a trickle as opposed to a social flood.

So, take time to consider the launch of your programme as well as how the programme itself will run. What communications do you need to send to your employees? How far in advance of programme launch? What do you need to instruct your team leaders to ensure they lead too, and will they require additional training? Do you need to host a bigger training and awareness event to showcase the programme and how it works to everyone in your organisation?

Create a programme launch timeline and plot your internal communication and onboarding plan as well as your social recognition programme launch itself.

Relevant and Scalable Platform

Next is the recognition and rewards platform your business is using. No matter how good your onboarding and training, if the current system you’ve chosen doesn’t deliver everything you need it to deliver, then the whole programme is likely to fall short of the initial aims and targets created at the start.

So, what are some key elements to look out for when browsing the different systems available?

First, you need to ensure it does what you need it to do. Sounds simple, but there are layers to this. For example, if you have a smaller business and are simply looking for a dedicated platform whereby staff and management can share feedback and give recognition, then you won’t want to clutter the platform with too many features that subtract focus away from the primary purpose.

Second, make sure the platform chosen is flexible and mobile. Many employees will spend time outside of the workplace still thinking about and engaging in work, such as checking emails and project updates on the commute to work in the morning or responding to work Messenger or WhatsApp groups in their lunch breaks.

And these are all perfect opportunities for recognition to take place, so making recognition mobile for the evolving workplace is key.

Also, whilst recognition is encouraged on a peer-to-peer level, that doesn’t mean that managers won’t want an overview of what’s going on. A purpose-built recognition platform gives managers the rare opportunity to have real, recorded insight into the communications and work that their individual employees and teams are doing and will help leaders pick out those potential unsung heroes who quietly drive projects forward.

And finally, make sure it’s scalable. If you launch your recognition platform without rewards and other incentives, make sure the ability to bolt this onto your initial programme is a possibility.

Onboarding, programme communication and training take time, so cut the amount of hassle required further down the line by avoiding the need to switch to a different platform which can offer all the additional extras you may need in the future as your social recognition programme evolves.