Recognition program examples

Best practices and ideas

Recognition Program Examples

Examples of recognition programs and how companies structure them.

FAQ

Listed below are details on sample recognition programs. The goal is to look at these programs from an HR practitioner's lens and go into the details on what is needed.

From the KangoHR perspective, you can read these examples and think about it in the following way.

A. What components will HR decide and own
B. What are the process requirements and would a service firm help
C. What is the employee experience


Overall, how do you turn your team's strategy and ideas into a replicable process. You want the programs to carry on for a while and not start strong and fizzle out.


  1. Manager Discretionary Recognition


    Provide managers budgets they can use to give ad-hoc spot awards. Managers know their employees the best. Give them a way to reinforce great work. Ideas to consider.


    • Define the parameters when a manager should give an award

    • Are the awards aligned to values, goals, impact

    • What does the employee receive

    • How is the recognition shared and given more visibility

    • Is there an approval process

    • Do managers use corporate cards, a tool that offers budget compliance, or lay out their own funds for reimbursement

  2. Peer Recognition

  • You want a culture where employees at all levels can reward great work. In turn, you want to make sure the right people see the praise and know who is leading by example.

  • Define clearly what you want front line employees to observe and reward.

  • What is their process to report great work?

  • Is there an approval or review process?

  • How a direct manager is notified

  • What will HR do with the information? Use it for compensation reviews, bonuses, job title changes, or other corporate benefits.


Employee Accomplishment & Goal Reporting

A time-tested approach is to let employees self-report on their accomplishments and impact. This approach allows people to share how they are helping other colleagues, contribute to their team's goals, impact on company goals, and their own career development.

A classic workflow includes

  • Who's collecting nominations?

  • Who reminds managers?

  • Who verifies eligibility?

  • Who sends communications?

  • Who fulfills the award?

  • Who handles the employee who says theirs never arrived?

  • Who gives me the report?