Peer-to-peer recognition is as important for staff morale as much as a supervisor’s compliments and acknowledgments are. We all want to be appreciated. A fellow employee pointing out your hard work or the simple acts that help the office move forward through the day is especially pleasing.
Appreciation is natural; showing appreciation is a habit. Some people are very good at it. A simple thank you goes a long way. A visual example of appreciation goes that extra mile.
Here is a program that Trojan used for employee peer-to-peer recognition.
The Brag Tag Board
Basics: Staff will use Brag Tags to thank, compliment, or recognize other staff.
Who: All Staff, each department, and each level in the company
How: Fill out a Brag Tag to thank, compliment, praise, or recognize someone for their work. Give specifics on what the employee did to receive the Brag Tag. Pin up on the Brag Board cork board.
To make sure this is successfully implemented:
- Be specific when writing up a Brag Tag.
- Everyone in the company can give Brag Tags to anyone else.
- Make sure to fill these out timely after the action you want to thank or praise.
- Give peer recognition weight – encourage peer-to-peer recognition and acknowledge it.
- Employees follow the Manager’s lead – we must commit to using this system.
Trojan includes the name of those praising during the month in a drawing for a small gift card. This encourages employees to give each other praise. You are creating a habit of peers recognizing peers – changing behavior. The incentive for giving praise is reinforcing the new habit.
Put your brag board where everyone can see it. That includes your patients! Imagine walking into an office with an appreciative atmosphere where the team shows appreciation daily for the usual tasks and the little extras that help an office run smoothly. NOTE: Stay HIPAA compliant. Be sure to exclude any PHI or PII on the Brag Tags. If the praise is given in a timely manner, they’ll know what you mean by “Kay, thank you for helping make my nervous hygiene patient feel comfortable.”
As a team, decide if this program stays in the office or can be shared on your social media. What simple reward can you give to the lucky raffle winner? Gift cards are great, but what about an early weekend? Leaving 30-60 minutes early on a Friday would be a nice treat. Or a long weekend, an extra hour for a Monday Morning Snooze.
Employee appreciation is more important than ever. An office should have a program where the practice shows employee appreciation. Including a simple program for employees to share their appreciation for their peers is a great addition. Make it personal to your team. Make it fun and easy. Encourage participation. Say “Thank you” to those who participate. Keep the board full, and when it empties at the end of each month, employees will feel the need to fill it again.