Beyond ‘Thank You’: How Recognizing Small Wins Transforms Culture and Engagement

BY Katie Chambers | November 18, 2025

“Has anyone ever been visited by the Sunday scaries?” asked Brie Harvey head of market research for Achievers Workforce Institute. You’re not alone. Many workers feel burned out, overworked, and underappreciated. Fortunately, employers have an opportunity to transform their culture through impactful employee rewards strategy, Harvey shared during a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s Boston conference.  

Despite employers spending nearly $200 billion annually on rewards and recognition, less than half of employees feel valued at work. Harvey shared insights from the Achievers’ 2025 State of Recognition Report, exploring the evolving landscape of employee rewards, and uncovered the most common reasons why many well-intended investments in traditional rewards programs fall flat and fail to drive cultural and behavioral outcomes.

Harvey’s team conducts primary research around workforce trends and how organizations can build people centric high performing cultures. Employees in today’s market tend to move jobs often, Harvey says, joking that her own impending 10-year work anniversary is “the modern equivalent of 30.” Keeping employees engaged and valued is key to keeping them. “When employees feel appreciated for their unique contributions, it’s transformative, not just for the business, but for the overall quality of people’s lives,” Harvey said. 

Achievers Workforce Institute’s study found that employees who feel valued are nine times more likely to feel a sense of belonging, six times more likely to envision a long-term future with their company, and three times more likely to be engaged.

Recognizing employees is the simplest way to improve employee engagement. While four out of 10 HR leaders claim that recognition has impacted strategic outcomes, Harvey says, 77% of employees still don’t feel meaningfully appreciated, even those who work at an organization with formal recognition programs. 

Harvey and her team have developed a checklist of qualities of the most impactful recognition programs: 

  1. High recognition quality + quantity
  2. Measure business impact strategically
  3. Provide personalized rewards at scale
  4. Strong executive buy-in and participation 
  5. Continuous education and promotion
  6. Leader and manager empowerment 
  7. Designate program champions
  8. Widespread access

“When things fall flat, which sometimes they do, we can pretty much always trace it back to missed opportunities from this list,” Harvey said.

High Recognition Quality and Quantity

Harvey emphasizes the importance in leaders understanding the difference between praise and recognition. “Praise is a vague pat on the back that doesn’t leave people with an understanding of what they did that was good and literally no one wants more praise…not even Gen Z! Recognition, on the other hand, should contain detailed information about exactly what a person did and why that behavior matters to the bigger picture,” Harvey said. “When employees say they want more feedback, most of the time, they mean they want more clarity about whether the work they’re doing is correct and matters on some level.”

Brie Harvey, head of market research for Achievers Workforce Institute, Achievers, led the thought leadership spotlight on effective recognition 

Having a sense of progress fuels motivation and feelings of pride, joy, and confidence. “Recognition shouldn’t be reserved for big milestones and outcomes. It should be about noticing meaningful effort and celebrating the small wins that lead to big outcomes,” she said. “Specificity is key.” 

In terms of quantity, “nothing in life works without consistent effort over time,” Harvey said, recognition included. Achievers found that recognition must be received at least monthly to be impactful. To reach optimal frequency, Harvey suggests encouraging peer-to-peer recognition, promoting meaningful non-monetary recognition, and fostering a rewards agnostic culture. “Leaders and managers can’t do it alone. Organizations have to enlist the help of frontline employees to call out the good work they see being done around them.” 

And the numbers don’t lie: Employees who receive monthly peer recognition are twice as likely to feel a sense of belonging, and engagement increases by 43% when employees receive just one non-monetary recognition per month, says Harvey. While pay raises are important, 75% of employees say they would pick feeling valued over a bump in compensation.

Meaningful Rewards Lead to Positive Business and Personal Impact  

Achievers’ own rewards program is a prime example of meaningful rewards, says Harvey. In addition to frequent recognition, the company provides points for new hire referrals, completing wellness challenges, and participating in training and development, then allows employees to spend their points, often worth thousands of dollars when accrued, in a digital catalogue featuring a myriad of products.

Employees are empowered to choose whatever reward is uniquely meaningful to them. For example, Harvey once used her points to cover the cost of her hair and makeup, dress alterations, jewelry, additional attire, and photographer at her wedding. She shares that another worker used the program to adopt a French Bulldog. In other words, a reward should feel like a reward to you. 

Achievers’ research shows that employees with expansive rewards options are 70% more likely to recommend their employer as a great place to work, 75% more likely to feel productive, and 120% more likely to feel a strong sense of belonging at their organization. The rewards are the “delivery mechanism,” Harvey says, for a culture of appreciation. 

Along the way, it’s important to keep tabs and measure the impact of your rewards program to gauge its effectiveness and adjust as needed. “How you measure success should evolve along with your business needs and priorities,” Harvey said. Once a rewards program is ingrained in your culture,  she says, you can start to home in on how it’s impacting business outcomes.

Harvey highlights two tips for measuring the impact of recognition: isolating variables to move beyond simple correlations and focusing on metrics that matter to stakeholders beyond HR.

These factors are crucial to attaining stakeholder support and future budget for rewards. “Mislabeling the tool of recognition as a nice-to-have vitamin instead of a performance-enhancing steroid is enormously costly to not just the bottom line, but overall employee well-being,” Harvey said. 

To demonstrate the potential highly personal impact of rewards on employee well-being, Harvey shares that she also used her own company rewards points to fund her final vacation and time spent with her late husband, who passed away from glioblastoma. “Shortly after my husband’s first surgery, he insisted on trying to find me the perfect bike upgrade so we could pack in as many adventures as we could for as long as we could. I used my points to get a bike, and we were able to log hundreds of miles all over California before our time together had to come to an end,” Harvey said. “Every time I see this bike, I think about not just my husband’s resilience, but how grateful I am to work at a place where I feel so valued and meaningfully rewarded.” 

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Achievers, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight. 

Katie Chambers is a freelance writer and award-winning communications executive with a lifelong commitment to supporting artists and advocating for inclusion. Her work has been seen in HuffPost, Top Think, and several printed essay collections, and she has appeared on Cheddar News, iWomanTV, On New Jersey, and CBS New York.

(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)

Related Stories

Embedding Company Values Into the Daily Work Experience

“My life mantra is lift as I climb,” Geneva Brown said during an executive panel discussion at From Day One’s Philadelphia conference. Brown, the chief sustainability and inclusion officer at the Cigna Group, says that culture begins with small, deliberate steps, such as setting aside a calendar block for employee calls, leaving a reminder note to follow up, or maintaining an unwavering commitment to creating safe spaces. Brown and a panel of other leaders shared thoughts on the topic “Culture That’s Real: Translating Company Values Into Everyday Reality,” to discuss the everyday mechanics of company culture, including how organizations listen to employees, turn feedback into action, and adopt new technologies without losing sight of the human skills that matter. “You may not have solutions to every issue, but that ability to pause and listen is critically important,” Brown said. Her team reserves an hour each day for outreach and keeps a running checklist to ensure team members feel heard. Martel Neville, VP of HR at Comcast, echoed that sentiment. “Let's just remember the golden rule, which is, treat others as you want to be treated,” he added. Neville outlined a mix of quarterly and annual surveys used at Comcast, as well as mandatory team huddles to review feedback and track escalations. These team huddles are how leaders figure out how to “listen, learn, and act,” he said.Turning Feedback Into ActionThe panelists went on to share systems that address employee concerns once their feedback has been received, including tools that route issues, assign them, and display status updates. Tracking escalations and their solutions creates transparent, accountable follow-through, says Neville.  It’s important to push beyond surveys toward systems that close gaps. Neville described tracking escalations “so people could actually, literally click it to watch it go, to progress inside the organization.” That transparency converts sentiment into visible, accountable change.Angie Parsons, the director of product marketing at Beekeeper, emphasized the connection between communication gaps and cultural gaps: “If you have leadership mandating certain things, but the frontline workers aren't getting the same communication streams, then you're already creating a lot of disconnect.” Her solution is an employee experience hub that centralizes messages and makes organizations more inclusive for shift and frontline workers. Recognition As CultureThe way people are seen, heard, and recognized also informs workplace culture. To Omar Pradhan, recognition is “the opportunity to have a thoughtful, deliberate pause.”Ariella Cohen, deputy managing editor, news, at the Philadelphia Inquirer, moderated the sessionPradhan, an employee engagement and HR technology strategist at Workhuman, shared how their platform utilizes impact-focused language, making recognition a record of behavior and a source of data for informed talent decisions. “Recognition can also be a revealer of the skills that people are demonstrating over time and readiness for promotion,” he said. That combination, utilizing recognition to validate employees personally and as a system of record analytics, enables companies to celebrate individuals while revealing patterns that managers can act upon. Embrace AI, But Keep Things HumanIn exploring new ways to strengthen communication and accountability, Brown described how she’s using AI to draft prompts for difficult conversations and to design exercises that encourage proactive ownership of follow-through and results.Additionally, organizations can use AI to “synthesize all the information” gathered from surveys to highlight trends managers should address, said Parsons. As AI transforms the workplace, Neville noted that companies are beginning to prioritize human skills over technical ones—empathy, clarity, and leadership behaviors. “Clarity is kindness,” he said, citing researcher Brené Brown, whose work explores courage, vulnerability, and empathy.AI’s role is to scale insights and free up time; people still must do the human work of translating those insights into productive outcomes, panelists agreed. Building Community and BelongingVolunteer days and community engagement remain powerful ways to strengthen workplace culture. Neville described “Team Up” volunteer opportunities, which give employees a sense of purpose and belonging while also fostering stronger connections across teams.Parsons offered an example of how community engagement can extend beyond the workplace. During Hurricane Helene, customers used Beekeeper’s platform to self-organize cleanup crews and raise funds. “Bringing that community element to work,” she said, “was really, really important,” highlighting how purpose and collaboration strengthen both company culture and broader communities.To end the session, panelists offered one question every HR leader should ask. Brown’s was simple and probing: “Did I create space for someone?” Pradhan asked, “How do we bring the culture off the walls?” Parsons focused on managers, “How am I leveraging my middle managers to the best of their ability?” Neville boiled it down to outcomes: “How am I helping the folks that are in my arena to thrive?”Ade Akin covers workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.(Photos by Josh Larson for From Day One)

Ade Akin November 12, 2025

Elevating Employee Experience Through Personalized Recognition and Rewards

A post-pandemic workplace survey found that only four in 10 employees feel respected at work. Researchers suggest that a drop in employee engagement and well-being caused major discontent across the workforce. With positive engagement faltering across companies, leaders are working to implement programs and systems that encourage the recognition of employees through rewards, appreciation notes, and flexible benefits. During a panel discussion at From Day One’s San Francisco conference, leaders shared their methods on effectively recognizing valued employees and elevating their work experience.Representing a Diverse WorkforceFrom Generation Z to Baby Boomers, companies are seeing an increasingly diverse demographic in the workplace and are challenged with adjusting to a wide range of needs. Aon’s 2025 Employee Sentiment Survey found that while benefits such as medical, paid time off, dental and retirement benefits were valued by all employees, the level in which they prioritized them differed across generations. Serafina Miller, senior vice president of Aon’s Northern California Health Solutions Practice, says that Gen Z will value paid time off and work life balance over retirement while Baby Boomers are more likely to focus on life and disability benefits and retirement.Even companies that may have a tight budget are offering ways to reward their staff. In these situations, Miller says that offering flexibility and choice becomes critical. This can be provided through different types of health plans with high, medium and low coverage. In addition to still recognizing the needs of workers, this can drive financial wellness benefits as well, she says.At Prezzee, U.S. Senior Marketing Manager Samara Swenson said the company is “constantly developing different programs that fit different needs that may fit different generations.” The company provides customizable digital gift cards, and its rewards programs allow employees to swap their gift cards for something they need. The company is also able to track what they are exchanging it for, such as groceries or other necessities to understand the budget constraints impacting its workers.Shawna Chen, reporter at Axios, left, moderated the discussion among leadersAllan Brown, vice president of total rewards at Snowflake, acknowledged that the pandemic also changed the power dynamic between employees and company leaders, where the culture of one workplace might appear better than another. For recruiters, he suggested that it could be effective to share with potential candidates that while a company will pay competitively, there is also an awareness for work life balance. “We’re looking for ways to sort of tap into what that person cares about, beyond money,” he said. An Aon study has also found that “hybrid working arrangements actually allow employees to feel the most valued versus being forced to return to work,” Miller said. Remote working from the pandemic has allowed people to find that the ability to work home can be a stress reliever and a way to manage life better. To See and Recognize EmployeesRemote-capable workers forced back on-site reported the largest decline in feeling respected, dropping from 46% to 35% in 2022, according to Gallup. After the pandemic, more employees began to feel overlooked or disrespected in the workforce amid layoffs, lack of recognition, decline in wellness services and restricted work flexibility. Brown of Snowflake, says a stronger focus on manager training is necessary to address the needs of individual employee experiences. “Manager training and the responsibility of managers that they have to guide, mentor, coach and try to see the employee,” are important aspects to acknowledging staff, he said. At Visa, employee recognition starts from day one, said Jennifer Cullen, global head of employee experience and listening. During its onboarding process, employees are introduced to all different systems used within the company as well as its peer-to-peer recognition program. With over 32,000 employees across the world, Visa ensures that “there’s not big differences in the way that folks are recognizing one another,” said Cullen. Prezzee similarly works with companies to create a reward system that encourages employees to recognize their coworkers with points. When a certain amount of points are collected, they can cash it in for a gift card, says Swenson. “This is a small way to make your coworkers and everyone feel seen, make them feel rewarded, make them feel like the work that they’re doing at the workplace is valued,” she said. Jennifer Yoshikoshi is a local news and education reporter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.(Photos by David Coe for From Day One)

Jennifer Yoshikoshi November 03, 2025

Culture by Design: Making Connection and Recognition Real for Frontline Teams

When was the last time someone genuinely recognized your work—where you felt seen, valued, and reminded that your contributions matter? That question, posed by Dave Nixon, co-founder and CEO of Enablo, set the stage during the From Day One webinar on recognition and connection. Nixon spoke with Heather Halliday, customer success manager at Flip, to explore how leaders can make recognition more real, especially for frontline teams. These deskless workers make up roughly 80% of the global workforce: retail associates, healthcare professionals, hotel staff, bank tellers, and many others who keep businesses running. Yet too often, they feel isolated from leadership and disconnected from the company culture. Recognition isn’t just a nice-to-have for them, it’s essential.While recognizing people is simply the right thing to do, it also has a measurable return on investment, says Nixon. “When people are disengaged, a lot more incidents happen,” he said. “They’re 18% less productive, 50% more safety incidents occur, and turnover costs climb.” Meanwhile, when employees feel valued and heard, the results are dramatic: up to 50% fewer safety incidents, 37% higher productivity, and voluntary turnover rates that improve significantly. As Nixon put it, recognition drives a “20x return on investment.”Focus on Daily RecognitionLeaders have many opportunities to recognize their people, but daily recognition is the foundation, says Nixon. Unlike formal awards or quarterly celebrations, daily recognition builds habits, strengthens trust, and reinforces culture in real time.Dave Nixon, the co-founder and CEO of Enablo, led the webinar (company photo)“It’s less formal. Sometimes there’s no monetary value,” Nixon said. “It’s just the simple things done consistently.” While quarterly or annual awards have their place, it’s the frequent, everyday acknowledgments that make the biggest impact.So how can organizations design recognition programs that actually work—especially for frontline employees? Nixon shared three key design principles:First, make it accessible. Recognition should be available where employees already are. “It needs to be in the flow of work, in the tools they already use,” Nixon said. For frontline workers, that often means mobile access during breaks, when checking shifts, or reviewing pay stubs. Recognition can’t sit in a silo—it needs to live in the everyday workflow.Second, make it visible. From the first day on the job, employees should see recognition in action, linked to company values. “When someone accesses the platform, they should immediately get a sense for the culture and what’s important to the company,” Nixon said.And lastly, make it timely. Recognition loses power if it’s delayed. “The magic happens when you celebrate the moment in real time,” Nixon noted. Frequent, immediate acknowledgment keeps the momentum going.Too often, companies roll out recognition platforms that end up unused, stuck on separate apps or hidden behind clunky systems. “Only a fraction of people log in,” Nixon said. “It just sits out there in a silo.” The key is integration: recognition should be intuitive, seamless, and part of the same space where employees already collaborate.Recognition in Action: Lessons from the FrontlineEffective recognition reinforces culture, builds connection between employees and leadership, and directly impacts retention and safety, says Halliday. In her role, Halliday helps companies bring recognition to life for frontline employees, emphasizing that successful programs should follow the design principles Nixon outlined: accessibility, visibility, and timeliness. Flip’s platform integrates these principles into daily workflows, giving employees space to collaborate, connect, and celebrate one another, whether in chats, channels, or automated “Flip Flows.”Halliday shared two reminders for building recognition programs: don’t overwhelm employees; and don’t overwhelm yourself. Tailor streams so recognition feels relevant, and starts small. To illustrate, Halliday offered a few customer examples.First, a European retail chain with 50,000 employees launched a campaign called Together. Staff wrote recognition notes for colleagues on branded cards, posted them on a breakroom board, then snapped photos to share in Flip’s digital channel. Each shout-out doubled as an entry into a raffle, making recognition both visible and fun, she says. Another example was a company looking to reimagine their ‘Employee of the Month’ initiative. Shout-outs were submitted in a dedicated digital channel, and leadership selected winners based on content and variety of nominations. The result was an inclusive program that celebrated many employees, not just the usual few.Bringing Recognition to LifeNixon demonstrated Flip’s platform, showing how it could be white-labeled for a fictitious “Big Box Co” retailer. Frontline employees could access recognition with just one tap, select a colleague, tie the recognition to a company value, and write a personal message. Branding could be customized with logos, GIFs, or even photos, creating a personalized and engaging experience.Once submitted, recognition appears in a dedicated Shout Outs channel. The recognized employee receives a notification, and coworkers can react with likes, comments, and encouragement. “That’s the dopamine hit we talk about,” Nixon said. “That feel-good moment.”Posts don’t clutter the main news feed, which remains reserved for essential company updates. Instead, they live in their own space, allowing employees to engage without distraction. Leaders can tailor visibility based on team, department, or location, Nixon says. Celebrating MilestonesMilestones are key opportunities to celebrate employees in ways that feel personal and meaningful. Years of service can be spotlighted in dedicated channels, paired with thoughtful gifts like flowers or wine, often presented by a senior leader. “It’s such a simple, straightforward thing,” Halliday noted, “but it makes all the difference in whether someone goes home feeling unseen or celebrated.”Retirement provides another meaningful opportunity. One memorable example: a retiree’s high-visibility work jacket was signed by teammates and shared in a farewell post, turning an everyday item into a cherished keepsake.Recognition can also celebrate personal milestones, including weddings, new homes, or births. Halliday highlighted a unique use case: self-recognition via a Winning Channel. Examples included a colleague securing a visa, someone hosting an art show, and Halliday herself sharing that her dog won a local drag competition.Community celebrations can also be recognized. Halliday described campaigns around Thanksgiving, Pride Month, or International Women’s Day, noting one example where employees were given orchids to mark International Women’s Day. “That’s the kind of recognition that stays with you even after you leave the job,” she said.Embedding Recognition Into CultureRecognition should be embedded into the culture by design. “We’ve got to make it so easy, take away the friction, remove the barriers,” Nixon said. Templates and ready-to-use cards allow leaders to recognize quickly and often, building positive habits that last.Equipping managers and champions to lead by example is equally important. Recognition from the top cascades across teams, and digital tools allow those acknowledgments to happen in the moment, reinforcing the values that matter most.Finally, the real power comes from the data. Every recognition post contributes to a stream of real-time cultural insights that surveys cannot capture. Leaders can see which values resonate, where recognition is thriving, or lagging, and uncover hidden influencers. When combined with operational metrics like turnover, safety, or sales, this cultural data proves what many already know instinctively: recognition drives results.Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Enablo, for sponsoring this webinar. Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.(Photo by Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock)

Carrie Snider September 29, 2025