The Pros and Cons of Peer to Peer Recognition
Peer to peer recognition is often referred to as “a genuine expression of appreciation exchanged between fellow employees working in the same organisation”.
As a matter of fact, there exist quite a few employee recognition programmes that have appropriated the exclusive responsibility to both reward and recognise their team members, especially when they perform exceptionally well.
Unfortunately, it is not all that easy to manage large teams along with the myriad different responsibilities associated with them. This is where a peer to peer recognition comes into the picture since most forms of peer recognition are a great way of introducing increasingly more positive communication into the working environment.
The kind of peer to peer recognition programs that work do require some element of effort though. The Harvard Business review had a lot of positive things to say about the experience and the enrichment of the workplace as a whole.
There are certain benefits of such peer to peer programs that make it crucial to the success of the whole team. Let us take a look at a few of them:
Applause makes it all worthwhile
Being appreciated is one of our most basic needs. This aspect of our emotional well-being and development is sometimes sadly neglected at the work place. Sometimes, even the most outstanding of employees have to work all the year around to hear any praise in their annual performance appraisal reviews. However, a well-balanced and creatively thought out peer recognition programme will give employees a great platform to recognise ‘one of their own’ in their own way.
The value of social media
The archetypical ‘one on one’ manager/employee rapport and appreciation may have a lot going for it, however it is being quickly outpaced by social media. A “shout out” on the company’s Facebook page, for instance) or Twitter account can go a long way in making the employee feel both accomplished as well as appreciated.
While it is certainly true that there are umpteen advantages of such a peer recognition programme, but there are some cons nevertheless, which should be considered before it is implemented in any organisation.
Envy and jealousy
It is a generally accepted fact that whenever one individual working for a team is repeatedly rewarded (regardless of how great their achievements may be, for the organisation as a whole) the odds are that it might lead to incite feelings of jealously and rancour in the minds of their fellow team mates. And, there is a high probability that this may lead to the other team mates trying to degrade their performance rather than stepping up their own.
Basically, any peer recognition programme depends upon the goodwill of the people who would be responsible for implementing it. While it is certainly a great initiative for keeping many people happy, it can also turn out to be a source of friction amongst less performing employees.
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