Recognition shapes how people feel about their work, their team, and their future with an organization. It strengthens engagement, supports retention, improves well-being, and helps employees feel like they belong.

That is the core message from a recent Awardco webinar featuring Christi Gilhoi of the Awardco Center of Excellence. Drawing from research across more than 2,000 employees in the U.S. and U.K., the session explored a practical question for HR leaders: what kind of recognition actually drives engagement?

Read the recap below or watch the full recording here.

Why recognition matters

When employees feel meaningfully recognized, the impact reaches across key outcomes:

• Engagement: recognition can increase engagement by 31%
• Intent to stay: recognition can improve intent to stay by 16%
• Inclusion: recognition can improve feelings of belonging and authenticity by 27%
• Wellbeing: recognition can improve wellbeing by 30%

The effect is not limited to one type of employee or one industry. Christi highlighted consistent results across sectors, roles, levels, and age groups. That matters for organizations trying to build culture at scale, especially in distributed or frontline environments.

Recognition works because motivation is not one-dimensional

One of the strongest themes from the webinar was that motivation is both intrinsic and extrinsic.

Employees want to do meaningful work. They want ownership, purpose, and pride in what they do. They also respond to feedback, visibility, appreciation, and rewards.

Recognition connects both sides. It reinforces the internal satisfaction of doing good work while also giving employees external confirmation that their effort matters.

That is especially important in roles that are repetitive, demanding, or easy to overlook. Not every task is exciting. Recognition helps employees stay connected to the value of their contribution, even when the work itself is routine.

Non-monetary recognition should come first

Many organizations assume rewards are the main driver of recognition, but the research pushed back on that idea.

When every thank you is tied to money, recognition can start to feel transactional. Over time, that can weaken the behavior an organization is trying to encourage.

Non-monetary recognition often carries more meaning. Employees remember the thoughtful note from a manager, the public appreciation for a job well done, or the milestone celebration that made them feel seen.

That does not mean monetary recognition has no place. It can add significance to key moments, milestones, and achievements. But the strongest programs build a foundation of genuine, specific appreciation first.

How recognition is delivered matters

The COE’s research found that the mode of recognition accounts for a meaningful share of engagement change. Some formats consistently performed better than others.

The strongest options included manager emails, company awards, and one-on-one recognition. These approaches had the clearest positive connection to engagement.

One of the most useful takeaways was what didn’t impact engagement—a quick message in Slack or Teams, on its own, showed no measurable impact. That does not make those tools useless, but it does mean they should support a broader recognition strategy, not replace one.

For HR teams, the lesson is that convenience is not the same as impact.

Frequency matters even more

If mode tells you how recognition lands, frequency tells you whether it lands often enough to matter.

According to the research, frequency had an even greater effect than mode. More recognition led to better outcomes across engagement, inclusion, retention, and wellbeing.

There was also a practical takeaway for managers. Recognition loses power when too much time passes between moments of appreciation.

Manager recognition showed a clear decline in impact when employees had not received it within the last three months. Senior leader recognition had a longer shelf life, but still dropped off sharply when it happened less than once a year.

That means recognition cannot be seasonal or occasional. It needs rhythm.

Manager and senior leader recognition have different roles

Not all recognition has the same impact depending on who delivers it.

Recognition from senior leaders showed the strongest overall effect on engagement. Recognition from managers also mattered, though at a lower level. Peer recognition played a different role. On its own, it did not strongly affect engagement or intent to stay, but it did support wellbeing.

This gives HR leaders a more practical way to design programs.

If the goal is stronger engagement and retention, senior leader and manager touchpoints need to be built into the system. If the goal is supporting employee wellbeing and reducing burnout, peer recognition deserves more attention.

Different sources of recognition lead to different outcomes, and each has their own place.

Everyone needs recognition, not just top performers

One of the most valuable points shared in the webinar was also one of the simplest: recognition should not be reserved for a small group of standouts.

High performers deserve recognition, but so do the consistent contributors, the quiet problem-solvers, and the employees who remove friction behind the scenes. These are often the people holding teams together without drawing attention to themselves.

When leaders only celebrate the obvious wins, they miss an opportunity to shape behavior across the broader workforce. Recognition helps define what success looks like. It shows employees what the organization values, not just who gets the spotlight.

That makes recognition a culture tool, not just a reward tool.

Rewards still matter, but not in the way many companies expect

Christi also shared what kinds of rewards employees prefer and which options actually correlate with stronger outcomes.

Gift cards were the most commonly requested option, but they did not produce the strongest results. In fact, they showed a slight negative relationship with engagement.

The highest-impact options were more personal and focused on building culture. Company-branded items performed best, followed by team experiences and more curated rewards.

That finding is useful for HR leaders trying to balance employee preference with program effectiveness. What employees ask for in the moment is not always what creates the strongest connection over time.

A strong rewards strategy should support pride, connection, and shared experience, not just convenience.

Recognition is especially important for remote and frontline employees

Remote employees can be overlooked when visibility is limited. Frontline and deskless workers can miss out when communication depends on company email or office-based systems. In both cases, recognition can help employees feel connected to the larger organization.

That takes intentional design. Managers need tools that work in the flow of work, and leaders need ways to recognize employees they may not see every day. Programs need to reach employees regardless of location, device access, or job type because appreciation shouldn’t depend on proximity.

What HR leaders should do next

The strongest recognition strategies that actually drive engagement are not complicated, but they are intentional. Here are the strategies you need to build intentional recognition strategies that move the engagement needle.

Build manager accountability

Managers should be trained to recognize employees well and often. Recognition should be treated like a core leadership behavior, not a soft skill, and optional extra, or something managers should learn how to do on their own.

Create a consistent cadence

Recognition should happen often enough to stay meaningful. Weekly or monthly touchpoints are far more effective than waiting for annual moments.

Use multiple forms of recognition

One-on-one appreciation, company awards, leader recognition, and peer support all play different roles. The best programs combine these methods in a seamless way that empowers recognition from any party at any time.

Prioritize meaning over transaction

Rewards can add value, but they should not replace thoughtful appreciation. Specific, personal recognition is what makes employees feel seen. Organizations should save their budget to emphasize impactful or important recognition milestones.

Design for every employee

Recognition should work for remote, frontline, deskless, and in-office teams alike. Equity matters as much as frequency.

Recognition is a business strategy

Christi ended the webinar on a simple truth: People want to know how they are doing. They want to know their work matters.

That need doesn’t disappear with job title, age, or experience.

For HR leaders, that makes recognition more than a nice gesture. It is a practical way to strengthen culture, improve employee outcomes, and create a better workplace at every level.

For more research from Awardco’s COE, check out our State of Recognition 2026 report.

See how Awardco can help you build an intentional recognition strategy that reaches each employee and drives real results.