Using Social Media to Build a Culture of Recognition: Strategies for Employee Engagement

We all work to live (at least in part). Still, sometimes a paycheck isn’t enough. Employee recognition programs are crucial for the success of any organization, as they help foster a positive work culture and boost employee morale. These programs are designed to acknowledge and appreciate employees’ hard work, dedication, and contributions and can take various forms, such as awards, bonuses, promotions, or public recognition.

Social media platforms are among the most effective venues for recognizing employee efforts. Companies can use their social media accounts to instill a sense of pride and loyalty among their workforce, leading to increased job satisfaction, improved performance, and reduced turnover rates. Furthermore, employee recognition programs also help create supportive and collaborative work in an environment where employees feel valued and motivated to give their all.

Here are the six social media strategies for employee recognition and boosting employee engagement.

Six Strategies for Using Social Media to Improve Employee Engagement

1. Celebrate Achievements: Employers can use company social media platforms to celebrate employees’ professional milestones, employment anniversaries, and work achievements. They can do this by posting textual or image-based content that communicates employee success stories or highlights the accomplishments of an entire team or a specific individual.
2. Encourage Peer Recognition: Managers aren’t the only people who can shout out team members’ achievements: Social media platforms are also an excellent venue for peer-to-peer recognition. Employers can create a dedicated page for employees to recognize and appreciate their colleagues’ contributions publicly. This helps to build a culture of recognition and teamwork and may be more meaningful than “official” praise from leadership, as compliments from fellow staff may seem more authentic.
3. Share Company News: Use your social media platforms to share company news and updates relevant to your team’s daily experience. Staff members who feel “out of the loop” may grow to distrust management and question how much the leadership respects and/or values them. Company updates help keep employees informed about what’s happening within the organization and build a sense of belonging and loyalty.
4. Solicit Feedback: Employers can use social media platforms to solicit employee feedback. This can be done by creating polls, surveys, or simply asking for feedback through comments. It can be tricky to effectively pull off a strategy of this kind. Your team might suspect feedback channels are merely an underhanded avenue to root out “malcontents,” so you must design a transparent system that rewards honesty without punitive repercussions.
5. Showcase Company Culture: Does your office host the best New Year’s parties in town? Let the world know. Pictures and videos showing your company aren’t afraid to have fun and that your team is friendly, inclusive, and connected help to create a positive image of the company and can be an effective means of attracting and retaining talent.
6. Encourage Employee Advocacy: There might be a no better way to increase brand awareness and recruit top talent than for current employees to advertise the company and how happy they are to work there. Employers can encourage employees to become advocates for the company by sharing content related to the organization on their personal social media accounts or creating a dedicated section of company pages for this type of content.

The Bottom Line

No one likes feeling like they’re taken for granted. Letting your team members know you value their time and efforts is far more than just a performative pat on the back. Employees who feel respected and appreciated will likely put in better work performance, are more likely to remain with the company over the long term, and will serve as a living testament that your business does things “the right way.”   

Social media accounts provide a perfect opportunity to implement official employee recognition programs. These initiatives help foster teamwork and company loyalty, and they’re also an excellent way to attract new talent and build a pro-social, people-centered brand. Don’t be the employer with a reputation for being nothing more than “the place that signs my checks.” Establish an office culture where employees are happy to come to work.

Mike Szczesny is the owner and vice president of EDCO Awards & Specialties, a dedicated supplier of employee recognition awards, branded merchandise, and athletic awards. Szczesny takes pride in EDCO’s ability to help companies go the extra mile in expressing gratitude and appreciation to their employees. He resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.