10 Employee Recognition Programs & How to Use Them To Boost Workplace Culture

Looking to energize your team and create a workplace where everyone feels appreciated?

Employee recognition is the secret ingredient to boosting morale and strengthening your culture.

In this article, we’ll share 10+ recognition programs that can make a real difference in how your team connects and performs.

Let’s explore simple but powerful HR software solutions for employee appreciation and taking your workplace to the next level.

What is Employee Recognition?

Employee recognition is a vital aspect of workplace dynamics. It has a direct impact on employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

There are several studies that show that organizations can benefit when they acknowledge the efforts of their employees.

For example, the Employee Recognition Trends Report by Quantum Workplace states that organizations with formal recognition programs experience 31% less voluntary turnover compared to those without such programs.

The same research indicates that, however, employees often feel like they are not getting enough credit for their work.

In fact, only 35% of employees surveyed stated that they receive recognition monthly or weekly. Even more to this, 1 in 2 employees highlighted that they would like more recognition for their work.

Those who get recognition less than monthly say that they want more. And we are talking about directors and managers too.

That means that people want to be recognized for their contributions at work and feel valuable members of their teams.

If you want to create your own employee recognition solution, you can benefit from our HR software developmenе servcies.

Now, let’s talk about the types of employee recognition.

Types of Employee Recognition (Top-Down, Peer-to-Peer, etc)

Recognition at the workplace is important.

However, we must say that the satisfaction level and the impact of the recognition will vary depending on the type of recognition.

Here are 8 types of employee recognition and their impact on company culture.

Peer to peer recognition

Peer-to-peer recognition happens when coworkers acknowledge each other’s efforts or contributions.

This type of employee recognition helps build trust and friendly relations within the team.

For example, when a colleague thanks you for your creative input in a presentation, this is peer-to-peer recognition.

Top down (superior) recognition

Superior recognition is when a manager or boss appreciates an employee’s hard work.

It shows that leadership values what their team does.

Attributed recognition

As the name implies, attributed recognition is headed directly on someone, making the praise feel more personal and genuine.

This way, employees know exactly who is appreciated for their effort.

Anonymous recognition

Even though not as valued, but still important, anonymous recognition happens when someone is recognized without knowing who gave the compliment.

It’s often used for general appreciation or in anonymous feedback programs.

Social recognition

Social recognition is shared publicly, often in front of a larger audience, like the whole company or on social media.

It’s great for celebrating big wins and boosting employee morale.

Private recognition

Private recognition is a more personal, one-on-one acknowledgment. It is ideal for those who prefer quiet appreciation.

It creates a meaningful connection between the giver and the recipient.

Behavioral recognition

Behavioral recognition is focused on positive behaviors that align with company values. For example, teamwork, loyalty, or integrity.

The goal of this type of recognition is to encourage those actions to continue.

Achievement recognition

Achievement recognition celebrates milestones or completed goals and highlights the results of hard work and dedication.

It’s often tied to specific accomplishments and combined with tangible rewards.

Benefits of Employee Recognition Programs

There are multiple benefits to using employee recognition programs.

Here is why employee recognition important

• It drives excellence.

Recognition is the foundation for a culture of excellence – the one that empowers individuals and makes them feel valuable. It builds relationships and gives a clear purpose aligned with goals. A culture of excellence allows leaders to drive towards goals like retention, culture, and employee happiness through connecting people and culture to a shared purpose.

• It forces engagement.

84% of those surveyed in the SHRM/Workhuman Employee Recognition Survey said social recognition had a measurable and positive impact on engagement. If you have not been utilizing recognition practices to fuel your team, you must be missing out.

• It reinforces company values.

Recognition puts the power of gratitude to work, aligning your people and culture to a shared purpose. Because recognition is designed with rewards that map back to each value, it embeds those values into employees’ daily thoughts and actions.

• It nurtures trust.

Strong organizational trust is a key indicator of profitability. In fact, employees who trust their leaders are nearly 2x more likely to be engaged and love their job.

• It delivers valuable data.

Recognition software is designed to give you crowdsourced data for deep insights into company culture. These data will help you spot your cultural rockstars and top performers.

• It improves employee happiness.

Recognition shows the company cares about an employee’s well-being and happiness. Employees feel happier since the company recognizes their value as not just employees but human beings.

• It increases retention rates.

Businesses want higher retention rates, and recognition is a big factor that can help with that. Higher retention rates mean success for the business, the management, and the HR team.

• It nurtures self-improvement.

Appreciation with feedback leads to a culture of self-improvement in the company. Recognition regularly builds a relationship of trust between the manager and the employee, which leads to more self-improvement.

How to Use Employee Recognition Software?

An employee recognition platform is a type of human resource management systems that allows businesses to recognize, motivate, and even reward their staff.

Managers use employee recognition software to establish and administer recognition programs such as employee-of-the-month awards, long service awards, and spot bonuses, as well as reward employees with gift cards or bespoke rewards such as more yearly leave.

So, how can you make the best out of the employee recognition software?

First of all, you need to really use it.

What we mean by that is that managers and directors need to utilize employee recognition programs often. So, not only when they do something extraordinary, even if it seems insignificant to you.

What’s the point, you may ask?

Well, because when people feel valued, they are more likely to keep up with the good work, leading to better results.

According to the Nectar survey, 83.6% of surveyed employees say that recognition impacts their motivation.

Companies that recognize employees create better workplace environments.

In addition, a company with a recognition culture is more likely to have more engaged and loyal employees.

Employee recognition programs allow companies to personalize their recognitions.

For example, using NectarHR, you can recognize a specific employee right after they perform work that is worth appreciation.

This instant and personalized recognition is great as it shows people that their work has been noticed and they are doing a good job.

When you use recognition software for a precise action, it makes the employees repeat the same activity.

On the other hand, when your use of such software is not particular, it makes recognition ambiguous and dubious.

With employee recognition programs, you can make employee recognition private or public, depending on your goals.

When you appreciate your employees publicly, it is a win-win situation for a company.

Publicly acknowledging the workforce puts them in the limelight.

And this makes the rest of the workforce desire to enjoy the same. As a result, it makes the employees work harder and perform better.

Wondering what is the cost to build your own HR software? We’ve got the answers in our comprehensive guide.

What Are Common Challenges in Using Employee Recognition Programs

Employee recognition programs are key to boosting morale, engagement and reducing turnover.

However, many organizations struggle with implementing or managing these recognition programs.

Let’s explore some of the top challenges of employee recognition programs along with some solutions to overcome them.

Lack of Personalization

One of the most common problems with employee recognition is a lack of personalization.

Oftentimes, managers do not bother to ask their employees how they want to be recognized for their contributions and efforts.

Some people like handwritten notes, some value public recognition, and others just need a simple thank you to know they are appreciated.

When a program is a one-fits-all solution, it might be challenging to personalize recognition.

To address this challenge, a recognition program must allow for tailored features, for example, a range of options for recognition: public recognition, financial rewards or extra time off, etc.

Lack of Automation

Manually managing an employee recognition program can become very time-consuming and inefficient.

Without automation, tracking who’s been recognized, managing rewards and following up can be overwhelming.

Automation is a great way to save time and be more efficient.

Look for software that automates key processes like tracking recognition frequency, managing rewards and sending reminders to managers.

Automation reduces the administrative burden and makes sure no one is left out.

Overcomplicated Setups

Complexity in recognition programs can kill participation.

If employees and managers find it too hard to navigate or understand the program, they’ll lose interest altogether. This results in low engagement and an underutilized program.

Simplicity is key to successful employee recognition.

Make sure the program is easy to use and understand. Look for solutions that provide a simple process for nominating peers, giving feedback, and awarding recognition.

When a program is easy to use, employees and managers will engage and participate more.

Expensive Solutions

Many organizations have budget constraints that prevent them from offering big rewards or large-scale recognition programs.

Recognition programs do not have to cost an arm and a leg, just like the recognition options they offer.

There are many low-cost or no-cost ways to show appreciation. It can be public recognition, handwritten notes, or extra time off.

It is important to focus on the quality of recognition, not the cost.

Simple and genuine gestures can have a bigger impact than expensive rewards.

How to Make Employee Recognition Work for Remote Workers

According to data from Snappy Gifts, 64% of employees say that employee appreciation and recognition have become more important when working from home.

Those working from home have multiple benefits, however, they feel lack of recognition as without proper human interaction it becomes harder to evaluate the efforts properly.

So, what should you do to not feel this audience missed out?

Using recognition programs is a way out.

These tools help people adapt to new realities of work.

Modern employee recognition solutions can help us send a quick e-card, give digital points, or even nominate a hero coworker for a President’s Award.

The integrated recognition tools we mentioned in this article make it easier and more top-of-mind for us to express appreciation when responding to coworker emails.

We’re seeing real-time victories on social recognition walls.

The resulting likes and comments on teammate successes make recognition a more inclusive experience for everyone.

However, some team members may still not be aware of all the tools available at their fingertips to recognize and appreciate coworkers.

Make sure all employees know where these tools are, how to use them, and are empowered to give and receive recognition.

And model what that looks like by regularly using them ourselves.

10 Examples of Successful Employee Recognition Programs

How many employee recognition programs are there?

Even though the exact number is not clear, we have surfed the web and can tell you that there are hundreds of employee recognition programs out there.

However, not all of them are worth your attention.

So, we have investigated some of the best options on the market to help you choose the most successful recognition program for your organization.

This is not a rating from the best to the worst one but rather a list of some of the most highly reviewed employee recognition programs available.

The programs we list here have been chosen according to Gartner reviews and G2 ratings.

So, let’s check them out.

Vantage Circle

The first company on our list of employee recognition programs is Vantage Circle.

Vantage Circle is a behavioral-powered employee engagement platform that provides a suite of products targeted at employee recognition (Vantage Rewards), employee wellness (Vantage Fit), and anonymous employee feedback (Vantage Pulse).

With these advanced tools, the company helps organizations foster employee appreciation, encourage productive and healthy workspace, and encourage employees to provide valuable feedback.

Speaking of employee recognition specifically, their Vantage Rewards product enables immediate employee acknowledgment and provides a wide range of redemption incentives to keep staff motivated.

In its turn, the Vantage Fit program provides corporate wellness challenges and reward schedules aimed at creating a motivated, healthy, and results-focused team.

To foster informed decision-making, Vantage Pulse has tools that companies can use to run anonymous employee surveys.

With this tool in hand, companies can analyze trends, uncover factors of employee turnover, predict behaviors, and ultimately increase employee retention.

Their last solution, Vantage Perks, provides corporate offers, discounts, and cashback bonanzas on 1000+ global brands, including electronics, hotels & holidays, wellness, and other categories.

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Workhuman Social Recognition

Workhuman was founded in 1999, and it specializes in creating human-centered workplaces that foster collaboration, support, and recognition.

The company is a reliable human resources business partner that assists in developing human connections globally, leading to positive business outcomes.

Workhuman Cloud is their recent development. This is a secure employee recognition platform focused on fostering human connections through recognition, performance, inclusion, and belonging, amongst other factors.

It provides proactive insights and iQ dashboards to help HR specialists better understand developing issues and make decisions accordingly.

Workhuman AI Assistant is the first of its kind recognition-specific language model. The tool makes it easy to surface profound insights on skills, performance, culture, and DEI.

Based on this data, the AI assistant recommends actions to solve the issues.

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Assembly

Assembly is an advanced employee recognition program that enhances team productivity and enhancement using AI-powered tools and integrations.

Assembly offers peer-to-peer recognition and goal tracking to foster a hybrid employee experience with contests, feedback, announcements, and more.

You can set up personalized rewards to elevate job satisfaction.

With Dora AI, you can track all the data you need to make informed decisions regarding employee engagement.

Assembly integrates seamlessly with platforms like BambooHR, WorkDay, Paychex, and Slack, among others.

Kudos

Kudos is an employee recognition program that is on a mission to help businesses encourage their employees to reach their full potential.

The platform leverages the power of analytics, peer-to-peer recognition, values reinforcement, and open communication to drive engagement and elevate work culture.

The Kudos platform claims its solution is able to level up employee engagement, reduce turnover, and boost productivity and performance through effective employee recognition.

With automated celebrations for employee milestones, Kudos makes it easy for everyone in your organization to celebrate meaningful events like work anniversaries or birthdays.

Analytics and survey capabilities provide companies with valuable insights into the work culture and productivity, helping them to shift their recognition strategies based on actual data rather than guesswork and gut feeling.

Achievers

Achievers is an employee recognition program that is focused on helping businesses foster employee participation and culture.

At Achievers, they use scientific methodologies to influence behavior changes, promoting sustainable and data-informed outcomes for businesses across the globe.

With integrated insights, Achievers develops innovative solutions that provide timely prompts to entire organizations.

They also offer an industry-standard customer success and support team to assist throughout every step of the process.

Recently, they have developed Inclusion Coach, a brand new AI-powered solution that checks for gender, race, age, sexuality, and ability biases to promote more inclusive language within your recognition flow.

Here’s what this AI tool provides:

• Real-time analysis flagging biased language in recognition messages
• AI-generated explanations of biases that were found
• Continuous feedback offering alternative phrasing for inclusive language

Advantage Club

Advantage Club is an AI-powered engagement and rewards platform.

It combines rewards, recognitions, flexible benefits, wellness, onboarding, perks and communities in a single solution.

Advantage Club provides end-to-end solutions to facilitate employee engagement through exclusive privileges and rewards by brand partners, allowing them to reach out to targeted customer segments.

Tools and solutions offered:

• Advantage recognition to digitize and automate your R&R policy and reward employees for their efforts with reporting.
• Advantage incentive automation used to streamline contest creation, define rule engines and automate incentive calculation.
• Advantage marketplace allows to celebrate moments that matter with curated gift cards, products and branded merchandise.
• Advantage wellness drives social wellbeing through milestone-based group step challenges with leaderboards.
• Advantage communities reconnect like-minded employees together.
• Advantage pulse allows for tracking employee sentiments through surveys, polls, quizzes and mood-o-meter to gain feedback.

NectarHR

NectarHR is an employee recognition and rewards platform that enables everyone to send meaningful recognition rooted in core values.

Nectar has a wide rewards catalog where employees and managers alike can choose rewards from. There, you can find anything from company-branded swag, Amazon products, gift cards, or custom reward types.

Features:

• Integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams, making it easy to send recognition directly from the tools your team already uses.
• Effortlessly create and schedule engaging internal emails and messages using a user-friendly platform.
• Broadcast messages across multiple channels to ensure everyone stays informed and connected.
• Detailed analytics help you monitor the success of your communications and improve employee engagement strategies.
• Partners with SHRM to help teams around the world feel appreciated, valued, and connected.
• Daily recognition features to celebrate individual and team accomplishments every day.

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AwardCo

Awardco is a global awards and employee recognition program that boosts productivity, reduces spending, and builds culture.

This is an all-in-one platform that covers recognition programs, service awards, and automated incentives.

Features:

• Partnered with Deloitte to handle tax compliance, so you can focus on celebrating your employees.
• Offer flexible perks that match your team’s unique needs and lifestyles, making benefits more personal.
• Use ready-made holiday tips and tools to celebrate milestones and special moments without any hassle.
• See how recognition programs help improve culture, behavior, and employee retention with the built-in ROI calculator.

Bonusly

Bonusly is an employee recognition program that is used to improve performance, motivate team, empower managers and streamline HR operations.

This recognition program makes it easier to celebrate employee milestones, reward them, connect teams, and boost performance.

Bonusly offers tailored and flexible solutions for organizations regardless of their stage in the employee recognition and performance journey.

Features:

• Automated milestone celebrations that recognize important moments like onboarding, birthdays, and work anniversaries to ensure no special day is missed.
• Peer-to-peer recognition for sending recognition to each other.
• Easy-to-use tools for tracking priorities that facilitate performance conversations.
• Live recognition streams to display real-time updates of employee achievements and recognitions to keep progress visible and celebrated.
• 1:1 check-ins and goal tracking

• Behavior-based recognition
• Comprehensive admin tools to automate tasks like milestone tracking, company announcements, and recognition recaps to simplify workflows.
• Multi-channel communication, including emails, announcements, and team dashboards.
• Recognition reporting and insights that allow the tracking and analysis of recognition trends with performance recaps.

Guusto

Guusto is a simple, flexible employee recognition program that helps companies celebrate their team, from the head office to frontline workers.

Guusto makes it easy to send rewards through web, mobile, TV displays, or even print, with no tech required to redeem them.

Features:

• Built to engage employees from head office to frontline teams, focusing on real impact, not just another points program.
• Get started in minutes with a free single-user account that lets you send rewards right away.
• Send rewards through web, mobile app, TV displays, or even print options — perfect for reaching every worker, no tech required.
• Pay only for recognition givers, and get refunds for unclaimed rewards.
• With every gift sent, Guusto provides 1 day of clean water, adding a meaningful touch to your recognition efforts.

Conclusion

Employee recognition programs are essential tools that boost motivation and create a culture people want to stay in and contribute to.

There are many options available now. However, there is still room for brand-new HR solutions.

The market still needs modern, AI-powered tools that allow for personalization and catering to the needs of various generations of employees.

Your solution can be the one. And SpdLoad is here to help you build a modern tool that will be used by thousands of companies around the world to recognize employees.

We provide various HR and recruiting software development services.

Let’s get in touch and talk about how we can help you build your employee recognition program.