6 questions to assess your employee recognition program impact

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Is your employee recognition program for optics or impact? Companies are paying big bucks for their recognition program, but when being asked whether their current program is driving business results, only 40% of HR leaders answered yes. Despite this number, our 2024 State of Recognition report found that 63% of HR leaders say recognition and reward spend will increase in 2024.

Taken together, this data indicates that almost a quarter of HR leaders are not confident their program drives business results, but are still planning to invest more. This means that as recognition platforms become increasingly common, they are at risk of being seen as a checkbox exercise.

This infographic provides 6 questions that can help you assess your recognition program’s effectiveness.

Why is employee recognition valuable?

Employee recognition is valuable because it boosts productivity, engagement, and retention. In this report, we surveyed 5,000 employees including 1,400 HR leaders to collect best recognition practices that help organizations drive measurable business outcomes, including performance reviews, employee satisfaction, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB).

Companies need to know if and how a business investment is generating positive outcomes, and HR leaders are expected to prove that their recognition strategies contribute to the overall business impact. We know that frequent recognition, including manager and peer-to-peer recognition, positively correlates with employee outcomes. Over the last three years, however, the number of employees saying they never get recognized has almost doubled from 10% to 17%.

How to drive impact with your recognition program?

HR leaders should reassess their recognition strategies. Don’t know where to start? We looked at the responses from the 40% of HR leaders who say their recognition strategies are driving business results and found five main differentiators that make them great.

However, before that can happen, HR leaders need to:

1. Identify business objectives

Start building a strategic recognition program with SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) objectives.

2. Accurately aim recognition at those targets

Remember to always tie recognition back to your company’s mission and goals and use them as a foundation to run your program.

3. Measure the impact on business outcomes

Evaluate your program’s success based on metrics that matter. Hint: this is one of the key ingredients to an impactful recognition program. Read our 2024 State of Recognition report to learn more.

See our Optics vs. Impact infographic today to find out if your recognition program is lacking behind.