If you’ve ever run a company nomination award program–a President’s Award, an Employee of the Year Award, a Legacy Award–you know the skeptics: Will the right people be nominated? Will it become a popularity contest? Isn’t it a lot of work for just a few winners? It’s nice to have, but is it really worth it? 

These are fair questions. Nomination programs are not lightweight initiatives. They require time, coordination, and real investment. And at the end of it all, only a small percentage of employees walk away as award recipients.

So why do we keep coming back to them?

Awardco’s latest State of Recognition research explains the science behind why these programs move the needle on engagement and intent to stay more than any other recognition method.

Here’s what the data says.

The peak of the recognition pyramid

Not all recognition is created equal, and the data makes that clear. 

The research examined six common methods of performance-based recognition. Company awards ranked #1 for impact on both employee engagement and intent to stay, yet they are also one of the least commonly used methods in most workplaces. That gap is worth noting. 

Day-to-day recognition matters. A shoutout in a team meeting, a kudos in a private 1:1, or a peer-to-peer moment in an online recognition platform are some of the building blocks of a healthy recognition culture.

But why do company awards outperform?

Because nomination-based company awards are public, prestigious, and crowd-sourced. They don’t just say, “your manager noticed you.” They say, “you made such a big impact that someone took the time to tell your story and the organization agreed that it mattered enough to publicly celebrate you.” These moments cut through the noise. 

This is why nomination programs often feel like the “crown jewels” of a recognition strategy. They are high effort, but they are also high signal. 

Why senior leader recognition has staying power

Here’s another reason company awards hit differently: they are often presented by senior leadership. And the research shows that matters a lot. 

Manager recognition is essential. Without it, engagement drops quickly. But senior leader recognition operates on a different level entirely.

Awardco’s State of Recognition research shows that recognition from senior leadership can have roughly twice the positive effect on engagement compared to manager recognition, and it can sustain that impact for up to a full year.

That’s a meaningful return on a single moment.

When a company award is delivered by a senior leader, it sends a signal that no Slack message can: This is what excellence looks like here. 

Ask anyone who's received a President's Award. They remember it. The research backs that up.

But the signal doesn’t stop there. Everyone who sees that moment gets the message too: This is what we celebrate here. This is what good looks like.

The cost of doing nothing

If you’re still struggling to make the case for investing in a company nomination award program, it’s worth understanding what happens when recognition is missing. The research found that 14% of employees received zero recognition, and those employees experienced a nearly 40-point drop in engagement scores, from 76% down to 38%. Yikes.

The research calls this the “recognition gap.” The gap has a dramatic effect on engagement, productivity, intent to stay, and more. Doing nothing has a price.

It’s worth noting that the gap is especially visible in industries like healthcare and education, where the emotional and physical demands are high, but recognition is often inconsistent.

A company award program alone won’t solve everything, but it’s a recognition strategy that is visible, impactful, and measurable. It delivers outsized impact relative to the investment.

Why this matters now

Organizations are investing more than ever in employee experience, culture, and retention, especially in the age of AI where human connection matters more than ever. 

Employees want to know that their work matters. They want visibility. They want acknowledgement that feels timely and specific.

Nomination programs already have the ingredients to deliver on those expectations. The research supports their impact. The question is whether the way we run them actually unlocks the full value.

The reality: where nomination programs break down

So if nomination programs are powerful, what are we missing? 

The process might look something like this:

• Nominations are collected through forms, emails, or spreadsheets
• Guidelines might be unclear, leading to suboptimal or vague submissions
• Submissions disappear into a review process that only a few people can see
• Reviews are complex and involve multiple layers of input
• Nominators never know if their submission was received, reviewed, or appreciated
• Only the final award recipients experience any visible recognition

From the outside, the program looks successful. Awards are celebrated. Leaders are involved. The initiative checks the box.

But behind the scenes, something important is often overlooked. These programs generate more value than we actually capture. And that gap is where many programs quietly lose their impact. 

The real risk

There is a concern that comes up when designing nomination programs:

“If only a few people win, are we creating a sense of scarcity?”

In my experience, the risk isn’t that only a few people receive the award. The real risk is how much value never gets realized. The stories of impact, collaboration, and values in action that never see the light of day.

Because the value of a nomination is not only in the final decision, it’s in the act of recognizing someone’s impact in the first place. 

What comes next

The data is clear: nomination programs work. They drive engagement, strengthen culture, and create moments that stick.

But in many organizations, we’re only capturing a fraction of that value. We’re not getting the full return on our investment. 

So the question isn’t whether to use a nomination program—it’s how to get more out of it.

In the next part of this series, I’ll share another way to approach nomination programs. It’s a small structural shift that unlocks more impact.