𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 : 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐝 , 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 ,

𝐔𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞

In a previous post, ” 𝑃𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 : 𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑊𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑜𝑣𝑒
𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 ,” I shared four themes that consistently appear in
engagement surveys.

We explored the first one, employee –manager relationships, in
yesterday’s post.

Today, 𝐥𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 : 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 .

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 , this is what they
mean:
Their efforts go 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 .
Their wins are 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 .
Their impact is 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 .

According to 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐩 , 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝
𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝟒𝐱 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 .
And research by 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 -𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬
𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟑𝟏% 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞 r.

Recognition doesn’t require a budget. It requires intention.

That’s why it shows up so often in surveys. Most people aren’t asking
for more money.
They’re asking to be seen.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭

At a minimum, here’s how to start improving recognition —no cost
required. These aren’t extras. They’re the baseline.

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝
Say thank you. Celebrate the win. Don’t keep appreciation to yourself.

𝐁𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜
A generic “good job” doesn’t build trust. Tell them what you saw —and
why it mattered.

𝐁𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲
Recognition lands best when it’s close to the moment. Don’t wait until
a quarterly review.

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥
Understand how your team prefers to be recognized. Some want a
shoutout. Others prefer a note.

𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬
Birthdays, anniversaries, promotions —these are easy ways to show
people they matter.

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞
Bring in coffee. Give someone the afternoon off. Find small ways to
say, “You matter here.”

Recognition is powerful.
It’s how people know their work matters —and that they matter.
Even better? Every time you recognize someone, you strengthen the
most important driver of engagement: the employee –manager
relationship.
(See: ” #1 𝐷𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 ? 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒𝑦 𝑆𝑎𝑦𝑠 … 𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝐸𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑒 –
𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠𝘩𝑖𝑝 “)

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 ’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 ?
Drop it in the comments —it might inspire someone else.

𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝘩𝑖𝑠 𝐵𝑒𝘩𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦
𝑝𝑜𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡 :
𝐸𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑒 “𝑄𝑢𝑖𝑡 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 9 𝑡𝑜 5 𝐽𝑜𝑏 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑇𝘩𝑖𝑠 90 𝐷𝑎𝑦 𝑆𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝐻𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛 !”
(30:04)