Employee Spotlight: Examples and the Role of Digital Platforms in Recognition

Working in human resources, people realize employees are the most valuable assets to a company. And to make them feel appreciated, the employee spotlight is a fantastic tool that fosters a positive workplace culture, increases employee retention, and nurtures value for work.

What Are Employee Spotlights?

Employee spotlights are a fantastic way to showcase your employees' tales through the content you post on your company's social media pages, career pages, and internal communication channels.

These posts might talk about your employee tenure with your business, accomplishments, professional anniversaries, triumphs, difficulties, and even personal interests and hobbies.

Workhuman reports that employees who are recognized are 44% more likely to be “thriving” in their life overall and are 73% less likely to “always” or “very often” feel burned out. This suggests that employee spotlights, as a form of recognition, can contribute to employee satisfaction and productivity.

Again, as per Quantum Workplace, only 35% of employees receive recognition monthly or weekly, and 1 in 2 would like more recognition. This highlights the importance of employee spotlights that provide recognition and appreciation for employees' work.

10 Creative Employee Spotlight Ideas

You have the flexibility to showcase employee spotlights in various formats, according to your schedule and preferences.

1. Video Highlights

Capture your employees in action through short videos showcasing their professional interactions, job excellence, or presentations. Share these videos on social media to recognize outstanding employees and build company camaraderie.

2. Employee Interviews

For large companies where employees may not know each other well, conduct short video interviews with different employees from various departments.

Ask questions like "What is the best part of your job?" and highlight their accomplishments. Share these interviews on Instagram or LinkedIn.

3. Employee Advocacy

Encourage employee advocacy on social media by providing prompts, digital assets, and hashtags. For example, when sending new hire swag, suggest they share a photo on LinkedIn using your employer branding hashtag.

4. Contests and Competitions

Foster a competitive spirit among employees by organizing races or internal competitions, centered around sports or other interests like cooking or volunteering. This not only boosts engagement but also brings people together around shared activities they enjoy.

5. Podcasts

Some people might not enjoy reading or watching video content. Instead, they might prefer to listen to something while commuting. Sharing your employee experiences over a podcast could be a great alternative for that purpose. Later, you can post the conversation's transcript in blog format.

6. Exclusive Blog posts

Infact, you can write exclusive blog posts and establish a list of relevant questions for your employees. You might even ask a manager or another coworker to write a brief piece about the individual being recognized.

7. Review Testimonials

Acknowledge employees mentioned in customer reviews by highlighting positive testimonials on social media. Share reviews from platforms like Yelp and Google to showcase employee performance and promote your company's standards to customers.

8. Digital spotlight platforms

Digital platforms like Vantage Circle replace the archaic concept of a once-a-year employee appreciation ritual. With Vantage Rewards, well-deserving VCian receive immediate appreciation for work well done by their managers and teammates.

Book a personalized demo with us for your unique employee spotlight needs!

9. Events

Spotlights don't have to be digital only. There are additional methods to highlight your staff and offer them a voice. For instance, hosting events like an internal "Lunch & Learn" can be interesting. You can ask exciting questions about work and personal interests to encourage interaction.

Funding an external conference to share insights and engage in discussions is a great idea too!

10. Q&A sessions

Hosting Q&A sessions is an excellent way to connect with your team and get to know them better. You can do these sessions during team meetings, town halls, or online events. Ask your colleagues interesting questions about their job, accomplishments, and personal interests.

These Q&A moments promote interaction, helping everyone learn from each other and better understand different viewpoints within the team. It's a simple but meaningful way to foster a sense of community and connection among your colleagues.

How Is Employee Spotlight Beneficial To Your Business?

A simple spotlight can work wonders in your workplace Let's unveil the magic as we dive into the extraordinary benefits of putting your employees in the limelight!

1. Elevates Your Brand

Employee spotlights add an interesting aspect to your employer brand story. Spotlights can turn someone casually interested in a job into an actively engaged application.

2. Real Stories, Real Impact

Spotlights serve as authentic marketing material during recruitment, client engagement, etc.

3. Cheers for Success

Employee spotlights make your colleagues notice and appreciate the hard work of your team members. Thus, they contribute to building a positive company culture of appreciation and mutual respect.

4. Fueling Excellence

They inspire employees to keep giving their best effort, improving productivity levels.

5. Stay in the Know

Especially with remote work, spotlights are a good way to keep everyone in the loop about what's happening in the company.

6. Building bridges

Employee spotlights go beyond recognizing contributions; they humanize the workplace. This fosters employee engagement, camaraderie, and a culture of support. Recognized employees feel valued, fostering positive relationships, effective collaboration, and a harmonious work environment.

In essence, spotlights build a sense of community and mutual respect within the company.

Thus we can see that employee spotlights offer numerous advantages, from boosting morale to strengthening company culture. However, when these spotlights are absent, certain challenges arise. Let's explore some of them as we proceed to the next section.

What might happen when employees are not in the spotlight?

Understanding the following consequences sheds light on the importance of recognizing and highlighting the efforts of all employees.

1. Reduced Candidate Interest

Without employee spotlights, potential candidates may be less likely to reach out, as they miss the chance to connect with the company's culture and people.

2. Recognition Gap

Employees without a spotlight may feel undervalued, leading to demotivation, and disengaged employees.

3. Communication Barriers

Communication suffers without employee spotlights, as unclear roles and achievements hinder effective collaboration among team members. It ultimately hampers the overall culture.

4. Attrition Risk

Clearly, the absence of employee spotlights makes employees more inclined to explore other opportunities. They tend to find places where their contributions will be recognized and valued.

Read our blog on: Employee Attrition: Meaning, Types, Reason, and How to Reduce

Steps To Create The Best Employee Spotlight Plan

Step 1. Decide whom you want to showcase in your employee spotlight.

Your employee spotlight post should ideally feature employees from all departments and levels (from interns to senior leadership). Give everyone equal opportunities to be noticed, unless you have a worker who does not want to be highlighted.

Step 2. Decide upon the channel of publishing and promoting your employee spotlight.

As discussed earlier, there is no particular format for an employee spotlight. You can put them up anyplace you think appropriate.

However, it will depend on how you intend to use the information and the target audience. Don't forget to spread the word inside your organization using the intranet or other internal communication tools like the newsletter.

With so many of us working remotely, newsletters are an excellent method to keep everyone informed about what's happening at work without scheduling a lengthy staff meeting.

Don't miss this: 5 Internal Company Newsletter Template Ideas and Examples

You can also get advice from your marketing team for ideas for an employee spotlight.

Step 3. Prepare the basic content requirements and the employee spotlight questions.

Employee spotlights should always include these basic details:

• Employee picture
• Employee name
• Employee job title
• Employee direct quote

Furthermore, creating an employee spotlight template or a standardized employee spotlight questionnaire is a good idea, ensuring that you ask all the relevant questions during the conversations.

You can include the following employee spotlight questions in the questionnaire to motivate your employees to engage. Ranging from serious to lighthearted topics, you can ask different questions and allow employees to share their impressions and experiences with the company.

The following questions give employees plenty of chances to reveal information about themselves that others may not be aware of:

1. Employee Spotlight Questions on Professional Background:

• What inspired you to pursue your current career?
• How did you get started in your industry?
• Can you share a career achievement you're proud of?
• How has your professional journey shaped your current role?
• What skills or experiences do you bring to your team?

2. Employee Spotlight Questions on Personal Background:

• Where did you grow up, and how has it influenced you?
• Can you share a fun fact or something interesting about yourself?
• What values or principles guide you in your personal life?
• How do you balance work and personal life?
• Share a significant milestone from your personal journey.

3. Employee Spotlight Questions on Interests & Passions:

• What hobbies or activities do you enjoy outside of work?
• Are there any books, movies, or music that you're currently into?
• Do you have a favorite travel destination or dream vacation spot?
• How do your personal interests influence your approach to work?
• Is there a cause or charity you're passionate about?

4. Employee Spotlight Questions on Team Contributions:

• Can you share a collaborative project you've been a part of?
• How do you contribute to the team's success?
• What aspect of teamwork do you find most rewarding?
• Any tips for effective collaboration within a team?
• How do you celebrate team achievements?

5. Employee Spotlight Questions on Favorite Memories:

• What's your favorite memory from your time with the company?
• Can you recall a memorable team event or outing?
• Share a moment when your team made you feel appreciated.
• Do you have a favorite project or assignment you've worked on?
• What's a funny or memorable workplace story you can share?

6. Employee Spotlight Questions on Work Habits & Preferences:

• How do you stay organized and manage your workload?
• Are you an early bird or a night owl when it comes to work?
• What's your preferred working environment or workspace setup?
• How do you approach problem-solving in your role?
• Any tips for maintaining productivity and focus at work?

7. Employee Spotlight Questions on Thoughts on the Future:

• Where do you see yourself professionally in the next five years?
• What trends or changes do you anticipate in your industry?
• How do you stay updated on industry developments?
• Any goals or aspirations you're currently working towards?
• How do you envision contributing to the future success of the company?

8. Employee Spotlight Questions on Getting to Know You:

• If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be?
• What's a skill you're looking to develop or improve?
• How do you recharge or relax after a busy day at work?
• What's something you wish people knew about you?
• If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?

Step 4. Take timely feedback.

Once you've finished the initial rounds of employee spotlights,invest ample amount of time in taking necessary feedback from your team and audience. Find out what people thought was good, bad, and missing from the conversation. They may even make suggestions as to who should be featured next. As a result, you can improve and optimize your following batch of employee spotlights.

Let’s look at how award-winning organizations use social media posts to promote their corporate cultures and employee experiences.

Examples Of Employee Spotlight Programs By Companies Using Different Social Media Platforms

1. Employee spotlight using Youtube by Lusha

2. Employee spotlight tweet by Twitch

Source: Twitch

3. Employee spotlight LinkedIn post by Calendly

Source: Calendly

4. Employee spotlight in Newsletter by PanurgyOEM

Source: PanurgyOEM

5. Kin Community used their Instagram Account

Source: Kin Community

6. Employee Spotlight by Clausematch on Twitter

Source: Clausematch

7. Internal employee spotlight by Vantage Circle

This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a digital marketer at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest to research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com