“Less than 6% of the world’s population speaks English well enough to conduct business...” Content Marketing Institute
With statistics like the above influencing the state of the modern business world, organizations need to learn how to recognize and reward an increasingly diverse workforce. To keep employees motivated and engaged, we must think globally but act locally when it comes to reward and recognition.
According to Employee Benefits there are four main factors to consider when designing a global employee recognition solution:
- "The recognition awards staff prefer to receive vary across the globe.
- Employers must determine what types of rewards are appropriate for their diverse workforces.
- Employers should also consider what language to deliver their scheme in.
- Logistics such as delivery of incentives and import duties should be measured to determine cost-effectiveness.”
What do these look like in practice?
Customize to optimize
Diversity is everywhere. To meet diverse needs, organizations need to appeal to employees across cultures, regions, and generations. Employees have different language needs, variances in how they approach work, and multiple cultural factors. Understanding the nuances across your team is the key to creating the right customized design and getting the most from your social recognition solution.
Create a mobile workforce
Due to the varied languages used in business, organizations must decide how to brand their recognition solution in different locations. However, for consistency you may decide to stick with one language across the board. With the right social recognition technology, you have the flexibility to decide the language solution that’s right for you. Keep in mind that global workforces have shown to improve innovation and creativity whereby people experience new things and begin to see the world differently.
“A person who has immersed themselves in another culture has the openness and cognitive flexibility to make your organization more creative.” Fast Company
Cost effective sharing with mobile technology
With mobile technology, employees can receive recognition from anywhere in the world in real time. With Maestro you can share real-time recognition happening anywhere in the world using news feeds, peer comments, and feedback, and run reports to see who has been recognized and why, allowing you to find the pockets of best practice. This data can also be compared against employee engagement levels, and bottom line results to help to grow your business.
Lastly, Be conscious of cross-cultural measurement
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of such different approaches to rewards and recognition, it is important to be conscious that you may not be measuring like with like. Compare similar approaches where possible to gain the most insight into what works for your teams.
Final thoughts
Your social recognition solution can help you to create a unified approach, but with highly configurable technology, you can create reward and recognition programs to meet the wide needs of your employees wherever they are in the world.