Reinforce Your Culture: Four Ways to Cultivate Employee Recognition

We’ve gone from The Great Resignation to The Great Reflection. Employees are having a rethink about why they work, how they work and ultimately if it’s worth it for them. Throw in The Great Fatigue and the risk is escalating levels of burnout are pushing people to the conclusion that it’s not.

With people, companies get what they give, so your business success depends on how authentically you value and recognise your employees for what they do and who they are. Or as our co-founder Stephen R. Covey pointed out, whether or not you treat your employees exactly as you’d want them to treat your customers.

What is the difference between reward and recognition?

As social beings, our human desire for positive affirmation is so powerful that we often perceive neutral feedback as negative. 

When we feel recognised, we trigger our “reward chemical” known as dopamine, which plays a major role in our brains’ motivation and reward system. Dopamine is also integral to regulating our mood, appetite, sleep, memory and ability to learn, and as such employee recognition benefits wellbeing, psychological functioning and productivity.

That’s the science of reward. Recognition is the human element of it.

Whereas rewards are transactional, tangible gifts offered in exchange for something given or accomplished- if you hit this goal, you will receive this prize- recognition is far less formulaic and in that way far more meaningful.

Why does employee recognition matter?

Employee recognition is the act of showing appreciation for employees’ contributions to the organisation, and is critical to the strength of your culture and business outcomes. From loyalty to productivity, employee recognition impacts everything about how an employee feels about themselves, how connected they are to their co-workers and invested they are in their work.

According to a Great Place To Work 2023 study, when each employee stands an equal chance at getting a gold star for their efforts, they are 2.2 times more likely to offer their discretionary effort and go above and beyond their regular duties. However, in a separate survey they found that 54% of 2,000 employees answered negatively when asked if their employer appreciated their hard work and extra effort. 

With overwork and burnout on the rise despite flexibility being more commonplace, can you afford to not be intentional about the emotional fulfilment and recognition of your people? 

Four ways to cultivate employee recognition:

So, how valued people feel is directly related to both engagement and results, but how can leaders practically and consistently create a culture of recognition within their organisation?

Recognise fairly and inclusively

How often do you think “who on my team has potential?”. Now consider the power of “How does every person on my team have potential?”. This is the mindset shift which allows for authentic, effective and inclusive employee recognition.

Every single person in your team and organisation has a part to play, an influence and an impact. Yet, it is common for leaders to reserve recognition for star performers. This then leads to perceptions of favouritism, which are kryptonite for team morale. 

Truly inclusive leaders understand the value of seeking the unique strength of each individual and ensuring their effort is seen in the course of daily work, baking visibility and validation into the organisational culture. In addition to department and team meetings, these spaces can include dedicated instant messaging groups, intranet features, or human resource feedback channels.

Leaders can also raise a team member’s visibility by telling others in the organisation about the great work they’re doing, positioning their team members as experts, and suggesting others consult them with questions. “That creates networks and connections, boosts visibility, and sends that signal that they’re seen, and their contributions are valued,” says Daniel Martin, senior solution architect and inclusion expert.

Connect everyone to their wider impact

Employee recognitions has a lot less impact when team members don’t care about their own impact. One of your most important roles as a leader is to connect each team member to the bigger picture. To communicate a vision so clearly that people are able to both see and understand the impact of their everyday contribution on results, and are motivated to own them. The meaning and sense of purpose will help them not only earn nuanced recognition, but believe it when they do.

In this way, creating a culture of recognition is much like creating a culture of accountability. When teams come together for weekly 20 minute meetings to report on their goal commitments as part of The 4 Disciplines of Execution^® process, they analyse progress but also highlight successes. Recognition becomes specific, timely and extra meaningful.

Create more moments of everyday gratitude

Creating a culture of recognition goes beyond employee recognition programmes and platforms, which can be construed as gimmicks or bribes. It’s about creating genuine, organic moments where your workforce feels seen and essential to the team.

Simply, it’s about saying “thanks”. and really meaning it. According to a 2023 report by Gallup and Workhuman, 72% employees who have great recognition experiences at work say performance for little things is commonly recognised at their organisation.

If you notice someone stayed late to complete a project, then tell them you noticed and that you appreciate their commitment and sacrifice. Don’t take it for granted.

If you notice that someone’s quick thinking and problem-solving skills prevented a disaster, tell them that you noticed and you’re grateful for their acuity. Show them what their actions meant for the organisation.

If a team member lands an impressive new account or is instrumental in a win with a client, buy them a coffee and tell them what you noticed and how it contributed to the success.

If a team member shows an aptitude for leadership, taking on unofficial roles like mentorship, tell them you’ve noticed and open up a conversation about what that means for them, whether that’s a promotion, ownership over a new project or management development opportunities. 

Encourage abundant peer-to-peer recognition

A culture of recognition is an abundant culture, one where people live Think Win/Win® and understand there is enough credit and benefit to go around for everyone. This mindset creates collaborative, fair, supportive relationships between peers who have each other’s back and raise each other up. Peer-to-peer recognition is a powerful thing, creating a sense of validation amongst those who have more real time insight into our work ethic.

In fact a study from the University of Madrid found the effect of peer recognition was almost twice as significant as supervisor recognition. This demonstrates that employees are more motivated to achieve the support of their colleagues than earn their manager’s favour.

That doesn’t detract from your responsibility as a leader, of course. Inclusive generosity of spirit has a ripple effect. If you want your people to start leading out with abundance, seeing you making a point to spotlight your direct reports’ efforts when you get praise for the team’s work is a good place to start.

Finally, don’t devalue recognition by overdoing it

When done sincerely and sustainably, employee recognition creates both the outward visibility and inward self-belief that builds individuals and teams up further and faster. Employee recognition is a tool that can nourish your people through even the most unprecedented uncertainty and towards purpose-driven high performance. 

Having said that, there is such a thing as too much recognition. It is a trap people fall into with good intent, but similar to the boy who cried wolf, being the leader who over praises for simply completing a task can cause recognition for stand-out moments to lose credibility. Worse, it could even start to come across as pacifying or patronising, an action to make up for a lack of more purposeful coaching or direction.

However, when you adopt employee recognition best practices which are frequent yet considered, specific and genuine, you lay the groundwork of a culture people want to be a part of.

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