How robots are being used to boost team morale at work

Veronica Belmont, product manager for Growbot, says the driving force behind its creation was motivating employees in real time so that immediate feedback boosts their performance. “Praise is a huge motivator for employees, often ranked higher than financial rewards,” she says. “When you feel like you’re being recognised it has an incredibly positive effect on how you feel about your job, and that trickles down into other areas of your life.”

Digital advertising brand Spongecell uses Growbot and an HR business partner there Kristin Ryan describes the addition of Growbot as a “no-brainer”. She says: “The bot created a behavioural change. Shout-outs seem to happen more naturally now, especially on teams who were historically more bashful.”

Your weekly recap will show how much your team was bigging you up, who got most pats on the back, which emojis are deployed most often in tribute (the clapping hands emoji of course) and which plaudit was most appreciated. It doesn’t just summarise all the adoration coming your way but also the accolades you’ve dished out to others, because giving compliments is almost as good (and sometimes better) than receiving them.

Ryan says it’s the public nature of Growbot’s praise which is the key to improving mood: “Praise from a human colleague does feel more authentic than a bot but it is capable of sending a similar message. The benefit of the bot is that it helps to create visibility across the company so that everyone can see when someone is being recognised.”

It’s about moving appreciation from a private email saying “I loved your idea in today’s meeting” to a public announcement in your Slack channel that everyone can celebrate. Positivity is infectious, so why keep it hidden away in inboxes when you could be shouting from the laptops?