A Step-by-Step Guide to Employee Recognition That Drives Results
It all starts at the top.
This post is part of my Implementer series: long-form articles chock full of expert insights, frameworks, habits, and best-in-class leadership strategies you can implement in how-to action steps. If you’re joining me for the first time - welcome to your leadership development journey! Get started by clicking on that red box below. From there, I promise to do everything possible to provide the pathways to make you that much better and more effective as a leader.
For the past three decades, I've championed the importance of caring for and supporting employees. In the early days, my message was barely a whisper amid the louder voices of skepticism and rigid, top-down leadership. But as we near 2025, the balance between workplaces built on care and those rooted in toxicity is shifting. Now, more than ever, organizations have a pivotal opportunity to embed care into their core strategies—meeting employee expectations and fueling sustainable success.
With that in mind, I wanted to share insights from recent research by O.C. Tanner. They gathered feedback from over 38,000 individuals across 24 countries, which makes their findings quite powerful. I did the heavy lifting for you and sifted through the mountain of data to give you the highlights here. But more importantly, what should we do with the data?
Their research underscores the importance of moving beyond just basic employee support (think pay and health benefits) and embracing a culture of what they call “generative care.” This means that truly caring for employees should be at the heart of how workplaces operate.
The report states that organizations should focus on these elements of care: meaningful recognition, fair compensation, emotional intelligence, and support during transitions. All these factors enhance the employee experiences, but it all starts with building a workplace where everyone can flourish and truly bring their best selves to work.
Key Findings
Let’s take a look at some of the report’s key findings.
Survival vs. Thriving:
Nearly a third of employees are in “survival mode,” feeling overwhelmed and anxious.
Employees satisfied with their compensation are 228% more likely to feel fulfilled.
Physical and mental health benefits increase fulfillment by 174% and 259%, respectively.
Employee Recognition Boosts Mental Health:
Strong recognition programs save organizations approximately $8K annually per employee with probable depression.
The Power of Ongoing Learning:
Organizations prioritizing skill-building, career development, and flexibility make employees 68x more likely to thrive.
Emotional Intelligence as a Cultural Catalyst:
Practicing five key emotional intelligence elements (empathy, self-awareness, resilience, flexibility, communication) makes organizations 107x more likely to thrive.
Job Transitions Are Crucial:
Employees with positive onboarding, promotions, or role changes report:
457% higher engagement.
438% more fulfillment.
237% stronger sense of belonging.
251% greater intent to stay for two or more years.
Moving to Action
Since I coach leaders for a living, we need forward movement to address what may be stumbling blocks in your leadership and organization, otherwise, all I’ve left you with is just good data to reflect on. So, what do we do with all this information? We devise a comprehensive strategy to implement based on the most crucial employee retention and engagement elements, per the research:
Meaningful employee recognition
Developing emotional intelligence
Devising an effective onboarding strategy
Support worker mental health and well-being
You’ll note I left compensation off the list. That’s for you and your HR people and CFO to sit down and determine if you have the bandwidth to stay competitive and pay what people deserve based on their market value in your region. It’s a separate conversation we will not tackle here. Let’s hope your company does place a high priority on compensation!
For the rest of this article, we will only cover that first important bullet: meaningful employee recognition. Then, in successive weeks, make sure to return because I will cover the rest of the strategies. Otherwise, you’ll suffer from information overload (today’s strategy is very comprehensive).