The manufacturing industry is tough—everyone knows that. Hard work, hard hours, and often isolated working conditions that aren’t conducive to being recognized for your efforts. This has led to levels of turnover and dissatisfaction in the industry.

Employee recognition is one of the most effective ways to transform the conversation around the manufacturing industry. Recognition makes work more rewarding, leads to greater engagement, and boosts productivity. But only if it’s done right.

If you want to learn more about the power of recognition in the manufacturing industry and how to best implement recognition programs, you’ve come to the right place.

The state of the manufacturing industry

There are three statistics that sum up how manufacturing employees feel in present day:

• 70% of them are considering quitting due to burnout
• 66% of them are disengaged on a regular basis
• Only 1 in 10 of them say recognition is an important part of their work culture

Many manufacturing employees are stressed, unhappy, and disengaged at work. They’re not getting recognized, and so they feel undervalued or unappreciated.

We understand that recognition in manufacturing can be tough, especially when many of your employees work on the frontline, travel frequently, or are always on the manufacturing floor. These challenges make it hard to make the culture changes you need to flip the script and help your people feel happier.

But one thing we can promise is that the benefits of effective recognition will be worth the effort.

Why recognition matters in manufacturing

Making sure your employees feel recognized, valued, and supported is the cure for many of the challenges that the manufacturing industry faces. Let’s dive into some stats that show this:

• Effective recognition can cut your turnover by 31%.
• Recognition from managers increases employee engagement by 43%.
• A culture of regular recognition helps employees feel 3X more loyal to their organization.
• Recognition makes employees 56% less likely to look for a new job.
• 37% of employees agree that recognition is the best motivator for them.

These are general statistics that apply to every industry. Here’s a more specific one you won’t forget: 97% of manufacturing employees who feel valued are highly motivated and satisfied.

Employee recognition can transform the manufacturing industry. It’s that simple.

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Strategies for improving employee recognition in manufacturing

To enjoy these amazing benefits, you need to know how to most effectively implement, improve, and spread recognition programs throughout your manufacturing organization. Here are some strategies to keep in mind.

Ensure everyone—from corporate to floor employees—is involved

Recognition in manufacturing is tough because some people use computers while others don’t; some people work in an office and others don’t; and some people may travel to sites all over the country.

In order for your recognition programs to really take off, EVERYONE needs to feel involved and noticed. If your programs only reach those in front of a computer, for example, those one the floor will feel even less engaged and more resentful.

Some ways to overcome this challenge:

• Peer-to-peer recognition. Implementing an easy-to-use peer recognition program allows any employee, no matter where they work, to recognize those around them. This ensures that feelings of recognition are spread everywhere.

• Bonus tip: Awardco lets you give individuals a recognition budget—so peers can give each other some points each month to make recognition more rewarding!

• Digital and physical recognition methods. Digital recognition is convenient and simple—this is great for corporate locations and offices. However, don’t underestimate the power of a handwritten note or a thank you card for those who aren’t in front of a screen.

• Bonus tip: AwardCodes® provide the convenience of digital recognition with the joy of a physical card to make offline recognition a breeze. You can also set up SMS notifications so that floor employees can give and receive recognitions easier.

Case study: MasterBrand Cabinets

Incentivize desired behaviors

One of the most important aspects of any manufacturing workplace is following safety and compliance rules. By using rewarding incentives, you can drive safe behaviors and get people excited about participating in your culture.

For example, All Access Staging, one of our clients, has created safety incentives to spread safe behaviors. Because they can offer a huge range of rewards that their employees actually want, they’ve seen a big jump in safety and compliance.

You can also incentivize wellness and productivity—simply build a program that rewards employees who perform certain acts or achieve certain goals.

Case study: Southwest Gas

Integrate core values into recognition

When you’re on the manufacturing floor or the frontline, it can be hard to feel invested in the corporate core values, especially if they never come into play with your work.

However, by creating a recognition program that centers around your company core values, you can spread your desired culture to every employee.

A program like this would allow both managers and individual contributors to recognize others when they exemplify your core values. This recognition reinforces those values and inspires others to follow suit. 

Insights from manufacturing experts

At RCGNZ Summit, manufacturing leaders shared how recognition works on the front line, where workforces are dispersed, deskless, and often offline. Their discussion focused on what actually drives culture, safety, and connection in environments where traditional recognition falls short.

Below are the most practical takeaways from the panel. (Watch the full presentation here.)

Frontline recognition starts with access

Across manufacturing organizations, the biggest barrier to recognition is not intent. It is access.

Leaders described workforces that span foundries, refueling sites, farms, labs, and shop floors. Many employees do not sit at desks or log into email regularly. Recognition only scaled when it met employees where they already were.

Common solutions included:

• mobile-first access through personal or company-issued phones
• kiosks on-site to support shared access
• QR codes and simple sign-on to reduce friction
• consistent language that mirrors how teams already talk about performance

When recognition fit naturally into daily routines, adoption followed.

Centralized recognition creates consistency and visibility

Before moving to a centralized platform, many organizations relied on local, ad-hoc recognition.

That approach created gaps, like uneven spending across locations, limited insights into who was being recognized, and no way to measure impact.

By consolidating recognition budgets and programs, leaders gained visibility into behavior, participation, and outcomes across sites. Just as importantly, employees could finally see recognition happening beyond their own location, reinforcing a shared culture.

Safety improves when recognition reinforces the right behaviors

One of the strongest examples the leaders shared was focused on recognition’s impact on their safety culture.

At 4Refuel, recognition was paired with real-time coaching data from vehicle safety technology. Drivers who demonstrated safe behaviors earned points through Awardco rather than small bonuses buried in paychecks.

The results were measurable:

• significant reductions in high-risk driving behaviors
• fewer vehicle incidents
• stronger engagement with safety standards

Recognition shifted safety from a compliance exercise to a shared goal with personal meaning.

Recognition works best when tied to how work gets done

At McCormick, recognition was intentionally aligned with updated performance competencies.

Instead of launching recognition as a standalone program, leaders tied peer and manager recognition directly to the behaviors the business wanted to see more often. Tags and reporting made it possible to track which competencies were being reinforced and where coaching was needed.

Recognition became a feedback loop, not just a feel-good moment.

Democratized recognition builds trust on the shop floor

At NIBCO, one of the biggest shifts came from who was giving recognition.

Hourly employees began recognizing supervisors and cross-functional teams. Praise flowed upward and across roles, not just down the org chart. Team-based recognition also gained traction, reflecting the reality that manufacturing outcomes depend on coordination, not individual effort.

Recognition created dialogue where there had been silence.

Leadership buy-in accelerates everything

Across the panel, one theme was consistent: recognition scales faster when leaders treat it as a priority, not a perk.

Effective approaches included:

• tying recognition to leader goals
• giving leaders clear budgets and expectations
• modeling recognition publicly and frequently
• using data to reinforce accountability

When leaders participated visibly, recognition became part of how work happened, not an extra task.

Use recognition to transform manufacturing

Manufacturing may be a tough industry, but it doesn’t have to be a thankless one. Use this knowledge and these strategies to either start new recognition programs or improve the ones you already have in ways tailored to improve the lives of your manufacturing employees. If you do, the ROI can be hugely impactful.