How to build a culture of recognition that actually works

More than two-thirds of today’s employees don’t feel engaged, energized, or enthusiastic about work—and disengagement leads to costly issues like absenteeism and turnover. While these issues require a multi-faceted solution, one tool that should always be part of the strategy is recognition. 

Gallup-Workhuman’s research found that employees who receive recognition are 45 percent less likely to have turned over, and 5x as likely to be engaged at work. 

Our report on motivating employees surveyed nearly 2,500 workers across industries and found that today’s employees believe recognition is one of the top four qualities of good and motivational management. 

ZayZoon’s commitment to employees made Rewards & Recognition the perfect addition to our growing suite of employee financial wellness tools.

But even with the right tech, and despite its positive impact on employees and business, recognition can be challenging to implement. You might be thinking: "What recognition platforms should be used? How can recognition be embedded in company culture? What does meaningful recognition even look like?" 

In this blog, we’ll answer these questions and more while sharing helpful tips for building a meaningful culture of recognition that actually works. 

Why we built Rewards & Recognition—and how it works

At ZayZoon, we know that employees are the bedrock of any successful business, and when they feel valued, they can thrive. But creating a culture of recognition can be difficult for SMBs due to limited resources. That’s why we designed our new Rewards & Recognition tool to be simple and effective. 

This new tool makes it easy to send instant rewards like digital gift cards, making recognition timely and meaningful. As part of our broader commitment to creating more connected workplaces, we will also introduce additional features such as communications and announcements and surveys/polls later this year.

ZayZoon’s Rewards & Recognition tool can help businesses build a culture of recognition without any administrative burden and see great returns—because when employees feel like they matter, they will do their best work. 

Key strategies to build a culture of recognition

Tie recognition to company goals for greater context and value

Transactional recognition refers to a directive approach that rewards employees for completing specific tasks. For example: closing five business deals by the end of the week; finishing the annual report; or clearing the backlog of customer inquiries. It’s a little bit like checking a box. 

While it's beneficial to establish clear objectives and acknowledge when they are achieved, transformational recognition goes a step further by tying the employee’s achievement to broader company goals. 

ZayZoon built “core values” into our Rewards & Recognition tool so employees’ achievements can be tagged with values set by employers. This contextualizes the shoutout within the company’s mission, helping them see their full value and purpose in the business. 

Make recognition frequent and consistent by embedding recognition into existing workflows 

Ever heard the saying, “It takes 21 days to build a habit?” Your parents might have used it to get you to like vegetables as a kid. It’s true—while we’re not sure of its effect on the taste of broccoli, consistency is how you build a habit. Recognition must be given frequently and consistently to create a culture of recognition. 

Think about what daily workflows and communication channels already exist in your workplace so you can embed recognition into them instead of building something brand new. This will make it much easier to keep up the habit because it’ll simplify implementation, training, and reporting. 

Here are some ideas: 

• Explore the untapped features within the software you’re already using across the company. For example, ZayZoon’s Rewards & Recognition tool is built into our app—it’s not a separate product, which makes it easy to roll out recognition if you’re already offering ZayZoon to employees for earned wage access. 
• Turn parts of a regular newsletter into a “recognition corner” that spotlights an employee’s recent achievement or milestone. 
• Incorporate recognition into performance reviews, once again tying recognition to company goals and objectives. 
• Reach out to managers before regular cross-departmental meetings to add shout-outs to your slide deck, or make time for people to recognize colleagues during meetings.
  
  

Personalize recognition for more significant impact

Some employees prefer public recognition, while others prefer to be recognized privately. It’s sort of like how some people hate when you sing “happy birthday” to them, but others love it. 

The easiest way to meet these preferences is to empower managers and people leaders with recognition tools, then encourage them to learn how each of their team members wants to be recognized. Some might prefer a public shoutout; others might want recognition shared with them in 1-on-1 meetings. 

Another way to personalize recognition is to consider a variety of rewards. Recognition can be as simple as a thank-you note and a gift card (or just a thank-you note, depending on the budget 😉). If you’re adding a gift card, consider personalizing it to the employee’s interests.

ZayZoon makes it easy to personalize rewards—with our tool, you can select a gift card from hundreds of popular brands that speak to the employee so they don’t feel like it’s a one-size-fits-all reward. 

Recognition can also come with non-monetary rewards, like: 

• Mentorship: a great option if the employee has expressed interest in learning from and building relationships with senior leadership  
• Professional development opportunities: does the employee want to grow in their career? Pay to send them to a relevant conference or networking event.
• Extra PTO: enough said. We could all use a day off.
• Experiences: think spa days, tennis lessons, or team dinners—all exciting and memorable rewards
  
  

Encourage peer-to-peer recognition

Recognition shouldn’t just come from leadership or management. Build a recognition culture that encourages employees to recognize each other. 

• Train managers to encourage cross-functional recognition. This builds greater trust and loyalty among team members and can also help to break down siloes between departments. 
• Offer training to all employees focused on how to give effective feedback. You’d be surprised how many people hold back on sharing feedback—even when it’s great—because they haven’t been equipped with the tools to do so.

• Look for a recognition platform with a social feed where employees can share kudos or react to shoutouts. ZayZoon’s Rewards & Recognition tool features a social media-style feed that makes shoutouts visible to all internal team members.

Leverage technology for seamless recognition

HR technology is your friend! Why go through the trouble of manually writing cards or emails and buying physical or digital gift cards? Employers and HR pros already have enough on their hands. Here are some tech tools that make giving rewards and recognition quick and easy. 

• Lattice can help you track everything from 1-to-1 meetings to performance reviews. It also automates the process of giving recognition through its “Feedback” feature, with which you can give private or public shoutouts to one or more team members.
• ZayZoon built Rewards & Recognition right into our app so you can seamlessly offer earned wage access and recognition to your employees. With our tool, businesses can send gift cards instantly, align recognition with company core values, and monitor participation and impact with an intuitive employer interface. 63% of workplaces report a rise in productivity after adopting earned wage access—combining EWA with financial rewards keeps your employees motivated, performing and engaged at work. 
• Workhuman helps employers build a culture of gratitude through social recognition, rewards, and milestone celebrations. You can offer peer-to-peer shoutouts or company-wide announcements. 

Measuring the impact of your recognition program

We know adoption is a pain when introducing any new benefits, perks, or programs into your workforce. So is telling the story of its impact on the business. When offering a recognition tool, don’t forget to track impact through these key engagement metrics: 

• Retention: Measure employee turnover rates before and after implementing recognition programs. Employees who feel valued are more likely to stay with your company, reducing turnover costs, and improving long-term team stability.
• Absenteeism: Recognition contributes to a more positive work environment, leading to lower absenteeism rates. When employees feel appreciated, they’re more likely to be motivated, engaged, and present at work.
• Employee net promoter score (eNPS): Use eNPS surveys to gauge how recognition impacts employee satisfaction and loyalty. A strong recognition culture can boost scores and turn employees into advocates for your organization.

ZayZoon’s Rewards & Recognition tool makes it easy to measure the impact of recognition on your workforce with an intuitive interface created for employers to quickly read and understand data like participation. 

With a data-driven approach to recognition, you can continuously refine your efforts and drive company-wide improvements. 

Recognition that makes sense for your business 

Compliments, shout-outs, kudos—whatever you call it, recognition powers a motivated, productive, and engaged workforce. 

But generic praise isn’t cutting it anymore. Don’t get us wrong—thank you notes, pizza parties, and shout-outs in company-wide emails can go a long way, but ultimately, meaningful recognition has the potential to transform your workplace. 

Recognized actions are repeated

With a recognition tool in a larger culture of employee appreciation, you can reinforce positive behaviors and see higher retention, engagement, and motivation in your workforce. 

Just to recap, recognition: 

• Drives engagement, retention, and productivity.
• Must be frequent and meaningful.
• Can be personalized for the employee.
• Should also happen on a peer-to-peer level.
• Can be easily administered with the right tech tool.
• Should be measurable for long-term success. 

Does that sound like a lot? Don’t worry—employee recognition is easier to implement than it looks, especially with the proper support. 

Book a demo with one of ZayZoon’s team members and let a real-live human talk you through how our Rewards & Recognition tool hits all these marks—and more!