Last year, we switched our internal team over to our new recognition platform, Applaudit^TM. We’d had the previous platform in place for some time with good success, but our IT team had been hard at work developing this state-of-the-industry product, and we make great guinea pigs! As an incentive, recognition, and engagement provider, our team is definitely on board and has given the platform a good workout over the last months. Here’s what we learned:

We’re So Social!

We have some teammates who are Instagram or Facebook devotees and some who wouldn’t go social for anything, but everyone gets involved on the social feed. When recognition hits the home page or when news about a new hire or an anniversary goes out, a large percentage of our team is right there, liking or commenting, adding their applause for the achievement. It’s really taken off as a way to recognize our teammates on a peer-to-peer, day-to-day basis.

And since a number of our colleagues are on the road or working off site at any given time, it helps them feel like part of the group to be in the conversation.

We’re Loving Those Team Accomplishments

I worked on a travel program last spring, along with 17 of my Next Level colleagues. It was definitely a team effort. With Applaudit, we’re able to celebrate the achievement of a group of people who worked together towards a common goal. And we can add points, to reward each member of the group. It gives us a lot of perspective on the contributions everyone makes.

We can also make nominations here for our quarterly and annual awards. It makes it easy for the committee reviewing the submissions to manage them and to announce the awards company-wide.

Reporting Tells the Story

For those of us who are administrators, we can keep a pretty good eye on what’s going on, who’s being recognized and for what reason. It’s great to see that 60% of our managers have recognized someone this week. I can also get a view into how my own team is doing. My Marketing teammates are recognized for Service and Collaboration above any other values. That tells me that they’re really delivering for their internal clients here at Next Level.

My Point Balance is Always Zero

Our Rewards Mall has everything you can think of. With over 40,000 merchandise and gift cards, plus round-the-globe travel and event ticket options, there’s quite literally something for everyone. With a points program in place, it makes it possible to meaningfully recognize and reward in-the-moment and on-the-fly. My daughter recently told me she was out of money in her iTunes account and I was able to replenish it with an eGift card minutes later. Other incentive program winners book family vacations for spring break with their accumulated points. And we know from industry research that providing choice allows a company to connect its goals to the personal aspirations of everyone in the program. That’s a pretty solid way to cement your brand and to align a truly positive recognition and reward experience to your workplace. Just don’t forget to say “thank you!” when giving out those points!

Our Applaudit platform has deepened the engagement here at Next Level. It can do that for your company, too. It’s easy to implement, intuitive to administer, and is backed by our over 40 years of performance motivation experience. Let’s talk about launching Applaudit for your program. Give us a call or shoot us an email at [email protected].