Recognition is a vital part of a successful team, but it’s often overlooked.
Data from Gallup and Workhuman shows that only 34 percent of employees have a recognition program at their company, and according to our interviews, that’s a missed opportunity.
Just ask Kalyn Wright, senior manager of talent acquisition at CertifID.
“Recognition is our strongest retention tool,” Wright said. “Our voluntary turnover remains significantly below industry averages because our team members feel valued for their specific expertise and unique contributions to our mission.”
Similarly, at Wise, recognition is the fuel that keeps the team moving forward.
“In a world that often demands we be ‘always on,’ I believe the most powerful thing a leader can do is simply pause,” Amber Tarrant, head of talent acquisition, said. “It’s about looking someone in the eye and saying, ‘I see the invisible work you did to make this look easy.’”
Recognition makes a meaningful difference when it’s embedded in the team culture. Built In spoke with six tech professionals who had great examples of just how powerful recognition in the workplace can be.
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CertifID is a wire fraud protection company.
What’s your quotable philosophy on recognition?
At CertifID, recognition isn’t a top-down mandate; it’s a peer-to-peer reflex. We believe that when you empower people to protect the world’s most important transactions, their individual wins deserve to be shouted from the rooftops — not just tucked into an annual review.
What data or policy shows it works?
Recognition is our strongest retention tool. Our voluntary turnover remains significantly below industry averages because our team members feel valued for their specific expertise and unique contributions to our mission.
Which ritual keeps recognition alive?
Our #wins channel is the most active place in our digital workspace. It’s a 24/7 stream of screenshots, ‘shout-outs’ and GIFs where engineers, recruiters and sales reps celebrate everything from a successful code deployment to a candidate’s first day.
Dealerware manages tens of thousands of vehicles at dealerships in North America across every major manufacturer brand. By combining a mobile-first approach with fresh design thinking, Dealerware’s SaaS platform enables best-in-class fleet management and mobility services for automotive dealerships and manufacturers.
What’s your quotable philosophy on recognition?
Recognition from one’s peers, especially those with whom you may not work every day, can often be the most meaningful. I still have a cheesy, handmade certificate my peers gave me years ago at my first job, which brings me so much joy whenever I come across it in my files. At Dealerware, we host our annual leadership awards, where anyone can nominate a colleague (on any team) for recognition by sharing a story from the past year that best exemplifies one of our five leadership behaviors (our version of core values).
What data or policy shows it works?
Our fourth annual round of leadership awards was in 2025. We hit our highest number of nominations at 132, submitted by 40 team members (we had around 80 employees at the time). Sixty-six percent of team members received a nomination last year, so the recognition is widespread. After the event, we always publish the nominations as public feedback in our HR system, but last year I had one winner who reached out first thing the next morning: “Did you say that the nominations for leadership awards are available to read somewhere? I told my girlfriend about the award and she’s hounding me because she wants to read mine.”
Which ritual keeps recognition alive?
Each year, around the same time, we invite the whole team into Austin for annual celebrations and/or holiday events, we also hold our leadership awards ceremony to present the five winners and share their stories. We get a little creative with the presentation each year and how we introduce the five categories: drive, team, customer, DEI and communicate. We’ve shown movie clips and music videos (think “Fast & Furious” NOS scene for drive). We’ve had team members dramatically interpret and perform AI-generated haikus. Last year, a select group of comically-minded team members told the cheesiest of dad jokes for each category. So the ceremony ranges from hilarious, awkward moments to deeply memorable storytelling about the winner’s accomplishments. Our awards wall is a series of endlessly reconfigured wooden blocks representing each year’s winners and our five leadership behaviors. We get to add a new one and rearrange the display every year. The winners get their own personal award block and Bonusly points that can be cashed out as gift cards.
Wise wants to make money without borders the new norm. The fintech company supports customers with moving and managing money across borders, such as simplifying business payments and making it easy for individuals to spend abroad.
What’s your quotable philosophy on recognition?
Recognition isn’t a trophy we hand out for finishing the race; it is the fuel that keeps the heart of the runner beating. In a world that often demands we be “always on,” I believe the most powerful thing a leader can do is simply pause. It’s about looking someone in the eye and saying, “I see the invisible work you did to make this look easy.”
I lead with the belief that people don’t leave companies; they leave environments where their contribution feels like a ghost. When we fail to acknowledge effort, we risk making our best people feel invisible and invisibility is the enemy of innovation. Recognition is the act of making that contribution seen, felt and valued in real-time. It’s not about ego; it’s about belonging. For me, leadership is about transparency and being human enough to admit that none of us win alone. When we recognize each other, we aren’t just celebrating a win; we are honoring the humanity behind the work. It is a commitment to seeing the person, not just the professional and ensuring they know they matter as much as their productivity.
What data or policy shows it works?
At Wise, we keep a pulse on employee engagement through internal surveys (”WiserPulse”). We’ve seen consistent growth in our engagement scores and feedback conveys a culture where people feel like they aren’t just a cog in the machine. Our survey results show that Wise scores above the benchmark for recognition, with scores continuing to increase year on year. We also see a big shift in how peers are acknowledging one another since we introduced an ‘anytime feedback’ tool which allows colleagues to recognize their peers. In the last quarter, we have seen a 42 percent increase of feedback overall which is amazing to see. When the team starts shouting out others without a leader prompting them, that’s when you know you’ve built something real. It shows that our team cohesion is rooted in mutual respect rather than a corporate mandate. I believe the organization’s true strength and resilience emerge when teams take the time to celebrate each other’s contributions. Teams with high peer-recognition rates are not only more productive, but they are significantly more empathetic toward one another during high-pressure cycles, creating a sustainable environment where people actually want to stay.
Which ritual keeps recognition alive?
In my team we deliberately kick off every single meeting with a dedicated space for highlights and recognition. Whether it’s a massive win or a small, quiet moment of support that happens behind the scenes, we make space for it first before we ever touch an agenda, a metric or a deadline.
We also have a Slack channel for our whole people team, which is purely dedicated to acknowledging individual and team contributions and shouting out key milestones. Whether it’s celebrating a work anniversary or welcoming a new joiner in the team — everyone takes the time to let others know they matter.
Ritualizing these moments of recognition helps us to keep our energy focused on our collective wins — it is the foundation of how we stay connected as a team. It bridges the gap between our global offices, reminding us that regardless of the miles or time zones between us, we are one team with a shared mission. Moments of recognition also create a culture of transparency where we celebrate the “how” just as much as the “what.” It turns recognition from a “nice to have” into the very foundation of how we operate, ensuring every voice has the chance to be heard and every effort has the chance to be celebrated.
ReUp Education is an organization that focuses on helping colleges and universities engage and re-enroll the more than 40 million U.S. residents who have “stopped out” and support them until graduation, through technology-enabled service.
What’s your quotable philosophy on recognition?
I’ve always believed that while any one of us may be part of a larger system, no one should feel like they don’t matter within it. That’s why recognition is so important to me, especially as a people manager. People want to feel seen for their effort, their time and the impact they make. When I recognize someone, my goal is simple: to make sure they understand that what they do and more importantly, who they are, matters.
What data or policy shows it works?
At ReUp, you can see recognition in how consistently people engage with it. Tools like 15Five and Bonusly give us visibility into participation, whether that’s through the High Five leaderboard, where both recognition given and received are tracked, or the steady volume of peer-to-peer recognition across the company through Bonusly points given. Being the top name on the High Five leaderboard has even become a source of friendly competition for me!
Beyond the points or the leaderboard, the structure of how we give recognition matters: recognition is built into our systems and directly related to our values, leads to rewards like gift cards or swag and is reinforced through friendly competition and shared visibility where you can see who is giving and receiving recognition in a dedicated company Slack channel. These point to a culture here at ReUp where recognition isn’t once-in-a-while; it’s active, measurable and part of how we stay connected and engaged.
Which ritual keeps recognition alive?
From my first week at ReUp, I could feel how connected people were through recognition and nearly seven years later that hasn’t changed. We use tools like 15Five and Bonusly to celebrate each other’s contributions and in a remote and hybrid environment across teams and time zones, that really matters. We celebrate everything from birthdays and work anniversaries to personal and professional wins in Slack channels like #wins. On my team, we also highlight one impactful learner call each month, recognizing the individual with Bonusly points from both leadership and peers. These rituals are a constant reminder that the work we do and the people we do it with truly matter.
Luxury Presence is a growth platform for high-performing real estate agents, teams and brokerages.
What’s your quotable philosophy on recognition?
Recognition works best when it’s specific, timely and tied to impact, not just outcomes. The goal is not only to celebrate wins, but to reinforce the behaviors that create long-term success.
At Luxury Presence, we try to create a culture where recognition happens consistently across every level of the organization. Big wins matter, but so do the smaller moments that move the business forward like coaching teammates, improving processes, helping clients or showing resilience during challenging periods. The most meaningful recognition is authentic.
What data or policy shows it works?
One of the clearest indicators for us has been internal mobility and career growth across teams. We’ve seen employees grow from individual contributor roles into leadership positions because of the visibility and support created through strong coaching and recognition practices. Our team also cares about the quarterly recognition plaques we send.
Which ritual keeps recognition alive?
Recognition is most effective when it becomes part of the operating rhythm of the business. At Luxury Presence, that happens through a combination of team rituals, leadership visibility and peer celebration.
We regularly highlight wins in Slack channels, team meetings and company wide communications to celebrate both individual and team accomplishments. Sales and customer experience teams also use performance callouts and coaching sessions not only to recognize outcomes, but to spotlight strong habits, creativity, collaboration and customer impact.
SciPlay is a developer and publisher of digital casino games.
What’s your quotable philosophy on recognition?
My philosophy on recognition comes down to three things: It should be genuine, specific and timely.
The most meaningful recognition is clearly tied to what someone actually did and the difference it made. That specificity tells people their contributions weren’t just noticed, rather they were understood. And when that recognition comes in the moment, delivered authentically, it does more than make someone feel good. It builds the kind of trust that makes teams perform better over time.
I’ve seen what recognition looks like when it’s missing and I’ve seen what it unlocks when it’s done well. That’s what drives how I think about it.
What data or policy shows it works?
Recognition at SciPlay is both peer-driven and measurable. Approximately 75 percent of employees engage in our annual SciPlay Awards, where colleagues nominate one another for embodying our core values: #beYOU, #playTOGETHER, #embraceCULTURE, #levelUP, #getRESULTS and #justWIN. Our highest honor, The Spark Award, goes one step further, recognizing an individual who truly brings all of those values to life. What makes this structure meaningful is that recognition isn’t handed down from the top. It comes from the people working alongside each other every day.
Our most recent engagement survey shows that seven out of 10 employees feel genuinely recognized for their contributions. In addition, hundreds of recognition moments are shared organically each year across our shoutout Slack channel and team-specific channels. Together, these signals point to a system where recognition is consistently practiced and widely adopted across the organization.
Which ritual keeps recognition alive?
Recognition at SciPlay stays alive because it lives in both our calendar and our culture. We’ve built structured moments for it, including: SciPlay Awards celebrate employees at local and global levels, quarterly all-hands meetings give leaders a platform to spotlight individuals and teams, and monthly studio gatherings create a more informal space for peers to acknowledge each other.
But what really makes it stick is what happens between those moments. Legacy employees carry the culture forward, modeling what recognition looks and feels like, while newer employees bring fresh energy and new ways to celebrate impact. Day to day, you see it in our dedicated shoutout slack channels, where people call out contributions in real time, whether someone launched a new feature, improved the player experience, or stepped up to support a teammate who needed it.
Together, these rituals and everyday habits make recognition part of how SciPlay operates, not a separate initiative.
