Getting Executive Support for Employee Recognition Programs
Part 1 of our Recognition Buyer’s Guide series
Updated on
March 31, 2025
31
March
2025
This article is part of our Recognition Buyer's Guide series. Access the rest of the series here:
- Getting Executive Support for Employee Recognition Programs (you are here!)
- Assemble Your Buying Committee
- Prioritize Your Employee Recognition Goals
- Research Top Employee Recognition Providers
- Selecting the Right Employee Recognition Partner
When hiring a recognition partner, you’ll need executive support. Your executive sponsor needs to understand your organization’s unique challenges and be fully committed to recognition as a solution. You’ll depend on leaders to make change, champion participation, and lead by example.
If you’re trying to promote employee recognition in your organization, but you don’t have the support of an executive sponsor, here’s the research and data that will help you get one.
Think like an executive
A thriving company culture improves business results. And nothing improves culture like powerful recognition experiences. Celebrating and appreciating people—it really is as straightforward as that.
According to Gartner, the top priorities for CEOs are growth and profitability. But that doesn’t mean money is the only thing executives have to worry about. They also have to think about where money comes from. And that’s people.
“Take care of your employees and they will take care of your business.”
—Richard Branson
The sources of profitability—great ideas, products, innovation, service—all come from people. And not just any people, but engaged, healthy, motivated people. Your employees create the culture that is the heart and soul of your organization. They practice the values that define your work environment.
This culture that your people build and share with one another is the key to a thriving workforce. And a thriving workforce is the key to a healthy bottom line.
Talk cost-to-benefit ratio
What’s the most cost-effective path to a great culture?
Nothing delivers an instant and sustained impact on workplace culture as effectively as employee recognition. Recognition delivers more than a return on investment—it delivers a return beyond investment.
Employee recognition programs are a sound business investment. (And in the case of O.C. Tanner clients, 93% say they see measurable ROI within the first year.) But these programs also increase great work, add around 3.5 years to average employee tenure, and are even tied to increased revenue.
With proven research, you’ll be able to convince even the most wary leader to stop thinking of recognition as a “soft benefit” and see it as a driver of success across the organization.
O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud platform comes with advanced analytics that allow you to track recognition participation in real time.
3 ways recognition benefits people and business
How can you help leaders see that employee recognition is good for business? Focus on the three big returns on investment: keeping good people, increasing output, and growing the bottom line.
1. Keeping good people
According to Gallup, disengagement and quiet quitting cost the global economy $8.8 trillion annually. 51% of employees are actively seeking or watching for a new job. Here's how it breaks down for an individual organization:
- Low engagement teams have turnover rates that are 18%-43% higher than highly engaged teams.
- The cost of replacing one employee can range from one-half to two times their annual salary.
- A 100-person organization that provides an average pay of $50,000 could have turnover-and-replacement costs of approximately $660,000 to $2.6 million per year.
For maximum effect, do the math and determine your organization’s turnover cost before you meet with leaders. It’s fairly easy using the formula above and your own voluntary attrition numbers and average pay.
But turnover has other costs we can’t measure on a spreadsheet.
Losing your best people often means losing your top performers, your best innovators, and your most effective problem solvers—people with the institutional knowledge to grow your business.
Attrition also breaks down team morale and customer relationships. Losing your best talent is worth avoiding at all costs. Happily, you can increase retention with employee recognition:
- 79% of people who quit cite “lack of appreciation” as their reason for leaving
- 31% lower turnover for companies with recognition programs
- A years-of-service award program increases employee tenure by 2 to 5 years
2. Increasing output
A company that produces more with less has a distinct advantage over their competitors. Employee motivation is key. This isn’t about placing stress on employees to produce more, it’s about creating a culture of accomplishment where employees are invested in helping the organization succeed.
“It all comes down to our people. And when we motivate, inspire, appreciate, and recognize them for their great work, and when we empower them to be themselves, it really does make a difference for them and bonds them to the company.”
—Lori Winters, VP of Total Rewards, Southwest Airlines
Giving and receiving recognition increases productivity. 84% of employees say the simple act of giving recognition inspires them to think about better ways to get things done.
18x increased probability of great work when employees are recognized
90% of employees have high trust in a leader who recognizes their accomplishments
Consider your own situation. Can you show leaders data or reference strategy meetings where the need for greater performance was discussed? Combining your organization’s own opportunities to improve with the data above sends a powerful message.
3. Improving business results
The ultimate test for any initiative: Does it improve business results? Studies consistently show that employee recognition increases profits. Make sure you have a clear understanding of your organization’s growth goals and connect them to these facts:
Organizations with highly integrated recognition are twice as likely to have increased in revenue over the past year
Organizations with highly integrated recognition are 73% less likely to have layoffs in the past year
Elevate results across your business
Company culture impacts employee motivation in a big way. 89% of employees say recognition creates a healthier culture. Here are the six elements that shape a great corporate culture from an employee’s point of view:
Purpose - feeling connected to your organization’s work
Opportunity - the ability to grow and develop
Success - innovating, doing meaningful work, playing on a winning team
Appreciation - feeling valued and useful
Wellbeing - providing physical, social, emotional, and financial wellbeing
Leadership - support, mentor, and help employees succeed
When you succeed at the six elements of a great culture, you succeed as a business. As you consider how you could give those 6 aspects of the employee experience a boost, look at the impact of just one catalyst—employee recognition:
“The power of recognition can impact engagement, attrition, and net promoter score. There is a business return when you do recognition the right way.”
—Capital One
There you have it: a solid business case for employee recognition. Use our Discussion Guide to plan a presentation and get the executive support you need.
The Culture Cloud employee recognition platform offers more ways to give, receive, and measure recognition than any other. This helps you create a world-class company culture where employees and business thrive together.
