A guide to keeping

your company successful

Create a culture
of recognition in
the workplace
How modern employees
want to be appreciated,
and how managers
can make their teams
feel valued.
Modern managers have many tasks, but one that
sometimes gets sidelined is giving meaningful,
effective employee recognition and frequent
positive feedback. Your team works hard to bring
their skills, smarts, and solutions to the table—and
they want to know that their efforts have not gone
unnoticed.

That’s why we’ve created this complete guide to

creating a culture of recognition in the workplace,
to help you make a habit of it in your day-to-day with
your team, and within your organization.
Plus, we offer plenty of tips and ideas to improve
your recognition strategy.

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WHAT’S IN THIS GUIDE

Why is recognition 4
important at work?

The business impact 8

of employee recognition

5 steps to create a culture 12

of recognition

Promoting peer-to-peer 19
recognition

Get to know Good Vibes 22

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Why is recognition
important at work?
Receiving recognition instills a sense of pride and
purpose in people, and helps fulfill our most basic
human need to feel valued. Modern employees bring
their whole selves to work and apply themselves not
only with their technical skills, but also their passion
and creativity. Simply put, work matters to people,
and they want to feel that they matter to their team
and their company, too.

Since transitioning to a remote work approach,

companies have been losing the human connection
we were once all so accustomed to. This means
that now more than ever, it’s important to regularly
recognize and communicate that all work that’s
done within your organization brings value and is
worthy of appreciation (not just after a big win!).

57% of employees feel impacted by

working remotely, feeling that their
work achievements are less noticed by
higher-ups since shifting to remote work.
From Officevibe data

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 The need for recognition, in
numbers.
It’s no secret that there’s a strong correlation
between employee recognition and healthy
workplace cultures. In fact, the truth is in the
numbers. Our Officevibe Pulse Survey data shows a
strong correlation between whether employees say
their organization celebrates accomplishments and
learnings and feeling that their organization trusts
them to contribute to its mission. Here’s what else
our data shows:

66% 72% 25%

of employees of employees of employees says
are satisfied with get praise less their organization
the frequency at than once a week. doesn’t celebrate
which they receive accomplishments
recognition. or learnings.

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If recognition is only given a few times a year at
most, it can make employees feel as though they
are not appreciated and need to work harder to
be recognized. In order to have a positive impact,
recognition should be given at least a few times per
month. The benefits of recognition affect both the
employee, and the organization itself.

This is especially true when the feedback is truly

personalized. Go above and beyond things like
reward programs and praise walls and recognize
employees in an authentic, human way.

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Start building the habit
of recognition

To reap the benefits of a real culture of recognition,

you need to move beyond just applauding wins.
Embracing the learnings that come from mistakes
also needs to become the norm. A company
culture that commends hard
work regardless of outcomes
drives a sense of psychological
safety and personal investment
from every staff member. This
empowers people to be more
innovative and think outside the
box—a competitive advantage
for any team.

Creating this kind of environment on your team

starts with building personal habits as a manager to
make recognition and learning a part of everyone’s
day-to-day. Be intentional about acknowledging
your employees’ hard work until it becomes a reflex,
and share your own failures and learnings with your
team. The more that you lead by example, the more
that your team members will follow suit.

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The business impact
of employee recognition
In the purpose-driven modern workforce, having
our contributions acknowledged is as important
as ever. Receiving regular recognition at work
impacts everything from people’s commitment to
and investment in their role, their relationship with
their manager and with their peers, and even their
perception of organizational structures and values.
How do we know?

When we look at our Employee Pulse Survey data,

the strongest correlation between any 2 of our 26
Engagement Sub-Metrics is between Recognition
Frequency and Happiness at Work. People want to
feel appreciated for their efforts, and the frequency
at which they receive this recognition is directly tied
to their levels of happiness and motivation.

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However, according to Gallup, 81% of senior leaders
say recognition is not a major strategic priority
for their organization. By not making recognition
a priority, many organizations are missing out on
achieving the benefits of the impact that regular
recognition has on employees:

56% less likely to be seeking new job opportunities

3x as likely to feel loyal to their organization

4x as likely to be engaged

5x as likely to see a path to grow within

their organization

4x as likely to recommend their organization as a

great place to work

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We also see a strong correlation
between employees’ satisfaction
with recognition frequency and:
• Feeling that their work is fulfilling.

• Having a sense of accomplishment in their

day-to-day.

• Feeling that the feedback they receive helps

them grow and develop.

• How they rate their peers’ contribution to

achieving goals and objectives.

• Their general feelings about working with their

direct manager.

• Feeling that their organization trusts them

to contribute to its mission.

• How they feel their organization makes use

of their strengths.

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How does your team
feel about recognition?
Our data shows that 34% of employees are unhappy
with how frequently they’re recognized at work.

Giving more recognition—and making it

meaningful—is one of the most low-cost, high-
impact things that managers can do to increase
employee engagement. In the next section, we
talk about how.

Track employee engagement with metrics like

Recognition, Personal Growth, and Satisfaction
on your team using Officevibe Pulse Surveys.

To learn more visit officevibe.com

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5 steps to create a
culture of recognition
Prioritizing positive reinforcement goes for both
your 1-on-1s with employees and addressing your
team as a group. You want people to feel that their
individual contributions are valued, and to see how
this is amplified when they work together. These 5
steps will help you take your employee recognition
practices to the next level.

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1. Learn employees’ preferences
People have different preferences when it comes
to recognition. Some might enjoy receiving public
praise while others find a private exchange more
personal. One employee might feel validated when
they get lots of recognition while another may
prefer that you save it for big moments. Getting to
know your employees and how they like to receive
recognition is the first step in making it meaningful.

Tip
The best way to find out is simply to ask.

During your 1-on-1s with employees, make a point

of asking them about their recognition preferences.

Ask questions like:

• What’s the best way for me to show you that I

appreciate your work?

• How do you like to celebrate when you achieve a goal?

• Who do you like to receive recognition from the most?

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2. Be sincere and specific
Rather than doling out compliments for the sake of
it, take the time to figure out what you appreciate
before you speak. Were you impressed by your
employee’s skills? Their quick thinking? Their
courage? Their adaptability? Whatever the case,
pinpoint it and name it clearly. Authenticity and
specificity make recognition more powerful.

Tip
Consider what’s important to employees.

When recognizing employees, it’s equally important

to consider what you know about your employee,
their goals, and their values. Be specific about what
impressed you, but connect it with what you know is
important to them.

Here’s an example:

“Great job presenting your new strategic direction to

Sophia and Charlie the other day. You really did your
research preparing it and it showed in your answers to
their questions. I know sharing your work in this way
makes you nervous, and you were totally relaxed and
confident in the meeting.”

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3. Make it timely
It’s never too soon to give recognition to your
employees or your team, and there is always room
to give informal recognition in your day-to-day.
Celebrate when goals are met or big projects
are completed, but don’t forget to acknowledge
everyone’s great work as they’re working towards
these milestones as well. Letting people know that
you see their efforts in real-time shows that you’re
paying attention, and that you’re not just focused on
results.

Tip

Make time when you’re in the thick of it.

It’s easy for everyone to stick to their tasks when

your team is working towards a big deadline or
crunching to hit a target. But these are the moments
when bringing everyone together and sharing your
appreciation can be the most motivating. Find 5
minutes to let your team know that their hard work
and dedication are taking you in the right direction.

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4. Highlight the impact
Employees want to feel connected with their
organization’s purpose, and the best way to do this
is by highlighting the impact their work has. Whether
it’s reflected through business metrics, a delighted
client, or supported teammates, showing how
someone’s efforts contribute to greater objectives
makes them feel like an asset. When you’re
delivering recognition, always be sure to state why
what they’ve done was important.

Tip
Support yourself with back-up.

Whether it’s numbers based on

team goals, a client testimonial,
or the kind words of a colleague,
having something to support
your recognition can give it extra significance. Take
a moment to find something tangible to better show
people the outcomes of their efforts.

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5. Centre your team around
shared values
When team members are all connected by
shared core values, it offers a kind of North Star
for everything from communication norms to
collaboration practices and prioritizing initiatives.
This not only contributes to healthy team dynamics
and performance, it also serves as a reference point
for recognition. If everyone is aligned on what’s
important to the team, they can easily point to
these values when recognizing the good work and
behaviour of other team members.

Tip
Create a set of team principles.

This is something we tried on our own team, and it

completely shifted our working dynamics (in a good
way!), not to mention our performance. Some tips to
help you out in this exercise:

• Create the principles as a team. When everyone

is a part of creating the principles, they feel more
personally accountable to them.

• Practice using these principles in recognition. For

example, if honesty is a principle, you might say

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 “I admired how transparent you were about your
thoughts at our town hall today.”

• Come up with catchy one-liners for each principle

to make them easier to reference in your day-to-day.
For example, we now often bring up our principle of
“calling out the elephant in the room” both as we do
it and when we offer recognition to one another for
having done it.

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Promoting peer-to-peer
recognition
Your team wants your appreciation, but receiving
recognition from peers is just as important.
Teammates collaborate and strive towards common
goals, and oftentimes they have more visibility on
each other’s day-to-day than their manager does.
This is why peer-to peer or social recognition is so
meaningful; it’s coming from an equal who might
have a deeper understanding of what goes into
the work. We looked to our Officevibe Survey and
Feedback data to uncover some tangible takeaways
for managers to promote peer recognition on their
teams.

88% of employees say their organization

encourages peer-to-peer recognition.
Officevibe Pulse Survey Data

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Peer-to-peer recognition rituals from employees

When asked if their organization encourages

employees to give recognition to peers, 88% of
employees said yes. This is great news, but we
wanted to learn more. So, we analyzed over 50K
anonymized employee feedback messages about
what organizations do well or could do better to
promote peer-to-peer recognition. Now, we’re
passing these employee insights on to you with
simple rituals you can establish on your team to help
boost recognition among peers.

Make a recurring meeting a recognition opportunity

Whether it’s a daily, weekly, or monthly meeting,

employees recommend that managers make time
for peer recognition during these recurring team
moments. Reserve some time to close out one of
your regular meetings by having each employee
offer kudos to one or more of their peers. We
suggest picking a meeting where you’re discussing
work that’s been done, like a review or a retro, so
that context is fresh in everyone’s minds.

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Create a dedicated space for peer recognition

Employees want a dedicated space for peer

recognition, and they want their manager to
encourage people to leave messages and lead by
example by leaving their own. While you might not
have an IRL whiteboard to write on, you can create
a virtual one or start a new Slack/Teams/Yammer
channel for peer recognition. We suggest including
things like company values, team principles and
goals, and current projects to orient everyone
around what binds the team.

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Get to know Good Vibes
Now that you know that recognition can help organizations
reinforce their values and understand how they translate into
people’s behaviors at work, it’s time to think about how to
create a culture of recognition within your organization. This
starts with the right approach, and even the right tools.

At Officevibe, we created Good Vibes as a way to highlight

positive efforts and give your employees a simple, human
way to recognize each other. Considering that employees
are receptive to receiving recognition in different ways, that
peer-to-peer recognition should feel authentic and come from
the heart, and that participation should be voluntary in order
to feel genuine, it’s important to offer recognition in a way that
suits everyone.

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Here’s how Good Vibes does
just that:
Visibility where it counts
Not everyone wants a public shoutout. Good
Vibes prioritizes visibility between colleagues
and managers instead of noisy praise walls
or competitive rewards programs that don’t
celebrate human values and feel unauthentic.

Fun and easy

Good Vibes gives that little spark needed to
connect us to our social instincts and spread joy
with clever cues and engaging messages. Simply
pick a card, tag a peer, and let them know how
great they are.

Goes with the flow

Get Good Vibes notifications in Slack or Microsoft
Teams. Give props after your Pulse Survey
prompt. We work where you work to keep
things simple.

As we touched on previously, one of the biggest

downfalls of remote work is that workers feel that
their accomplishments are far less visible than they
were when working at the office. Having a tool like
Good Vibes can help maintain the quality of the
relationships we were accustomed to having
in person.

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When good deeds and kind words are seen by
peers and managers, it can even help managers
identify how team members feel about each other
and celebrate their shared wins to encourage
teamwork and engagement. It’s also a great way
to uncover achievements that may have otherwise
gone unnoticed and build a better picture of
employee performance.

92% of team members are more likely to repeat

actions they are recognized for.
From Officevibe data

Send a Good Vibe today

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A new approach
to employee experience
Officevibe is the incredibly friendly people-first
employee experience platform — your fresh,
new way to engage, recognize, align, and enable
world-class leaders and teams.

Get started free