Trending for 2025: The Rise of Employee Peer Reward.

At Rippl, believe in empowering every person to thrive – from office regulars to frontline heroes. But in an increasingly challenging climate, employers need to remain innovative in how they connect, value and meaningfully reward their people. Traditional, tick-box approaches no longer cut it as employees now more than ever seek a comprehensive experience from their organisation that makes them feel they truly matter.

So, as we enter 2025, what’s on the horizon for reward strategies? Well, the power of employee peer reward is already on the rise – and with good reason.

What is employee peer reward?

Traditionally, recognition and reward has remained exclusive to the agendas of senior managers and team leaders within a business – and as a result, is often only delivered following employee monthly 1:1s and annual performance reviews, or in some cases, rarely happens at all. In fact, 6.5 million UK employees are now actively searching for their next role as a result of feeling undervalued, highlighting this to be a significant and ongoing blind spot in many People strategies.

Employee peer reward however, brings the power of tangible appreciation to all levels of the business, so peers and colleagues are encouraged to recognise one another’s efforts and celebrate the great things happening in businesses every day from every angle. And in an increasingly disconnected workplace, we’re seeing more employers implementing this new dimension into their total reward strategy.

Why is employee peer reward on the rise?

In a rapidly evolving landscape, the rise of employee peer reward represents a key dimension of reward strategies that need to improve by modernising traditional approaches.

The need for multi-level connection.

As more businesses adopt hybrid or remote working policies, alongside industries with predominantly operational or frontline workforces, employers risk growing disconnect between HR teams and their teams. By layering peer rewards on top of baseline reward practices, this drives multi-level engagement across a diverse breadth of workforce set-ups, enabling teams to feel valued, connected and more likely to stay.

Breaking top-down barriers.

With EDI on many employers’ agenda, belonging and inclusion are key focuses for many in 2025. Championing employee peer rewards will play a crucial role in this, enabling enhanced visibility of the wins big and small taking place every day – which, often, are witnessed more so by peers, rather than direct managers – and introducing the opportunity to have these rewarded. More employees feel valued, seen and heard by everyone in their workplace community, building belonging and inclusion for all in the workforce.

Better visibility and belonging.

With EDI remaining firmly on many employers’ agenda, belonging and inclusion are key focuses for many in 2025. Championing employee peer rewards will play a crucial role in this, enabling enhanced visibility of the wins big and small taking place every day – which, often, are witnessed more so by peers, rather than direct managers – and introducing the opportunity to have these rewarded. More employees feel valued, seen and heard by everyone in their workplace community, building belonging and inclusion for all in the workforce.

Increased stability in times of change.

As employers plan their next steps in 2025 in the face of rising business costs, including National Insurance and Minimum Wage hikes, this will likely result in uncertainty across many workforces, with many experiencing hiring freezes and overstretched teams. A multi-level culture of recognition and reward has never been more important in valuing and empowering existing talent. Whilst businesses navigate a changing climate, their reward strategy must change with it in order to champion a strong and stable employee experience.

What are some examples of employee peer reward?

So, what does peer reward look like in a business’ day to day? Every business is brilliantly unique, so its approach to multi-level rewards should be no different. However, here are some ideas to get started with delivering peer rewards in your business.

Peer-to-peer recognitions.

Recognition shouldn’t remain exclusive to managers and senior leaders. There is plenty of opportunity for colleagues to give deserved shout-outs to their peers – from a simple ‘thank you’ to a values-led recognition, to a ‘well done’ for wins big and small. Peer recognition enables employees to be valued for the holistic contributions and support they bring outside of their role performance alone.

Award nominations and rewards.

A more formal approach to peer recognition, dedicated award nomination campaigns with associated rewards enable colleagues to highlight the outstanding achievements from one another and promotes visibility of employees’ wins to wider management and senior leadership teams. Plus, with clear reward up for grabs for winners, this is a clear way for employees to directly influence their peers’ rewards.

Monthly reward cards allocations.

Depending on your organisation’s reward strategy, another exciting way to allocate employee peer rewards is through frequent allocations of reward cards – recognition cards with pre-determined monetary amounts attached. We call these ‘prepaid cards’ in Rippl. These cards enable any colleague to can gift a peer with a nominated value whenever the time is right. Managers can set expiry dates to encourage colleagues to use the cards and real-time reporting means you can see the engagement levels.

Monthly monetary or points distribution.

An approach we’re seeing becoming increasingly popular is providing each and every colleague with a small monetary amount in their ‘gifting wallet’ to reward a peer at their leisure (For example, £5 per employee, per month). If your organisation already uses a digital reward platform, leveraging this open approach provides a fair and transparent approach to employee reward.

DISCOVER MORE

Looking to reimagine your reward strategy for 2025?

At Rippl, we pride ourselves on delivering no-fuss, big-value employee recognition and reward programmes for leading brands across the globe. If you’re looking to implement a strategy with a difference for 2025, book a slot directly with Sam to tour Rippl in 30 minutes.

Book a Demo Discover Reward