Peers are the most useful reinforcers available to your organization - even more than front-line supervisors.  Peer reinforcement is also the most underutilized.

Only those in the same or similar position in the workplace:

1. are in the best place to deliver positive and immediate feedback (reinforcement)
2. are looked on as a trusted source of feedback for behavior by their peers

The only problem is that most employees have never been educated on the impact they can have in bringing desired corporate values/behaviors to life, and even worse, management does not reinforce or encourage these actions.  Peer reinforcement needs to be defined within job descriptions, and layered/enabled within the overall enterprise recognition framework.

Improper Execution

Management often has opted for team reinforcement over a true peer-to-peer initiative, and have not received the measurable success in performance improvement desired.  I've written about team recognition in a previous post.

When your organization empowers peers to be a driver of reinforcement for each other, process and performance improvements occur much faster - and most importantly - last longer.

Note:  For more information about training managers to reinforce peer-to-peer, contact us or learn about our recognition training compendium.