6 Reasons To Choose O.C. Tanner for Employee Recognition (in the Words of Our Clients)

“It was evident that O.C. Tanner had the tools, the systems, the people, and the expertise that we were looking for. They would bring best-in-class recognition to American.”
‍—American Airlines

Few things impact workplace culture and business results as efficiently as a deep-rooted practice of employee recognition. That’s why HR leaders often ask us to explain why O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud is the best platform for impactful employee recognition. This article features comments from our clients about the things that matter most to them. If they matter most to you as well, let’s connect. We’d love to be your partners in creating a thriving workplace culture.

96% of clients are likely to recommend O.C. Tanner.*

1. The best partner for a thriving workplace culture

“O.C. Tanner helps us think not only about a specific technology, but about, ‘what is the recognition experience we want to create for our associates?’ We bounce ideas off each other. We test things. It’s a true partnership.”
—Capital One

O.C. Tanner is the world’s foremost authority for strengthening organizational culture through employee recognition. We’ve simply been at the workplace culture game longer, with more large client successes, more research, more boots-on-the-ground intelligence, and more innovation in everything from technology to award design to global fulfillment. That means we know how to scale thriving workplace cultures in the world’s largest enterprises.

One leader from CIBC shares how integral recognition from O.C. Tanner is to their workplace culture: “MomentMakers (powered by Culture Cloud) is proof of our culture of caring. It is intertwined with our purpose and leadership capabilities, and we’ve built it into the fiber of our organization.”

Helping our clients create a high-performance culture is our focus, our passion, and our promise. And our platform delivers. Clients routinely report improved culture metrics like higher employee engagement, productivity, and profits as tangible returns on their investment in Culture Cloud.

“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

2. The best approach to recognition: Culture by Design

“The O.C. Tanner team is part of our own work team. They understand our culture and our needs and are always available to brainstorm ideas and help with our overall recognition strategy.”
—Norton Healthcare

Our exclusive Culture by Design approach lives inside everything we do. Armed with award-winning global HR research and real-world expertise, we partner with clients in a way no one else can to intentionally shape thriving workplace cultures.

We’ve studied the connection between employee recognition and workplace culture for nearly a century. Along the way we’ve gleaned insights from millions of recognition moments and thousands of great places to work, plus proprietary research into what makes a workplace culture great. We deliver results with the best team of experts and tools anywhere.

Our most enduring client relationships (Chevron, for example, has been a partner for more than 60 years) have involved tackling multiple culture-building opportunities over time, addressing new challenges as soon as old ones are done away. We routinely achieve measurable improvement in areas like:

• Engagement
• Turnover
• Safety
• Wellness
• Inclusion and Belonging
• Innovation
• M&A transitions
• Teaching corporate values
• Achieving goals
• Increasing morale

As a manufacturing leader from CEAT in Mumbai puts it, “Our recognition platform has impacted motivation. You see it reflected in all our performance, financial metrics, and efficiency parameters.”

93% of O.C. Tanner clients that measured ROI saw payback within one year.*

3. The best platform: Culture Cloud

“The mobile app, Outlook and Teams plug-ins, robust rewards catalog, people, and Institute research all support their tools and strategies. Everyone is top-notch!”
—American Airlines

‍Our platform is your launchpad for an endless variety of recognition experiences. We offer our industry’s most comprehensive mix of enterprise software, employee recognition tools, and strategic and creative services. Together, these tools help you deliver impactful recognition moments at scale to reach 100% of your workplace population, no matter how, when, or where people work. Our platform lets you begin anywhere—and go anywhere—on a journey of impact that truly never ends.

One leader from Onity shares, “Our Applause program (powered by Culture Cloud) is a one-stop shop when it comes to recognition. Teams are motivated by the recognition process. The various categories also help in personalizing recognition.” A leader from 3M adds, “They have a great catalogue for redemption. The platform is easy to use for recognition that builds employee culture.”

4. Insightful expertise, research, and consulting

“The consultation and world class research provides ideas and strategies that help shape recognition at our organization”
—KPMG

‍Powerful insights begin with award-winning research. The PhD’s and researchers in our O.C. Tanner Institute never stop studying workplace culture on a global scale. Unlike many competitors who conduct only surface-level research or need to partner with outside research firms to produce studies, we constantly conduct and publish deep, ongoing, academic research deliberately taken from the employee perspective into what makes thriving workplace cultures tick.

We publish the industry’s only comprehensive Global Culture Report, which is widely cited by the world’s top news organizations and put into practice by dozens of Fortune 100 clients. Each year, our report produces actionable insights that organizations everywhere use to improve their workplace cultures. As one American Airlines leader says, “Their strategies and research have supported our goal to make culture a competitive advantage. They are the best of the best.”

You can explore Executive Summaries of our current and past Global Culture Reports here.

‍Expertise is delivered via world-class consulting, training, IT, and branding services. No one can touch O.C. Tanner’s breadth or depth when it comes to workplace culture expertise. O.C. Tanner’s subject matter experts are steeped in trending best practices and modern perspectives. They routinely learn what works and what doesn’t from consulting with and developing strategies for organizations with tens of thousands of employees all over the world.

“Their designers might be some of the most talented people I've ever worked with. The things that they created were just so spot on and vibrant and joyful and all the things that we wanted.” 
—Starbucks

‍Don’t underestimate the power of strategic branding and communications. Making your platform reflect your organization’s brand in powerful words and images—and creating brilliant communication campaigns that increase participation—are platform essentials that require real strategic expertise.

In their previous careers, our creative directors, designers, and writers were the minds behind some of the world’s top brands. Now they apply their talents to helping you live your brand from the inside out. As a leader at St. Elizabeth Healthcare explains, “O.C. Tanner helped us bridge the gap between how we serve and how we fulfill our Mission, Vision and Values.”

5. Elevated experiences personalized to every employee

“We have points. But we also have green apron cards, collectable tokens [for Careerscapes], MUG award pins—all sorts of special ways to show partners that we see them, we value them, and they're important to us.”
—Starbucks

Our platform helps you reach 100% of your people.

80% of the global workforce lacks access and enablement to technology that helps them feel appreciated at work. See The 80% Experience from our 2024 Global Culture Report.

No matter the industry, it takes more than a great social feed with points and redemption (essential as those things are) to reach 100% of your workforce. To create a true culture of appreciation, many organizations need on-the-spot recognition tools—tangible ways to express recognition—for employees that don’t have access to electronic devices or the internet at work. And these need to be readily accessible to managers in the field. We’ve led the world in providing such tools for nearly 100 years. We invented most of them.

On-the-spot recognition can involve anything from simple thank you notes to gift cards; from reward cards (with codes to redeem) to trophies and other symbols of accomplishment. When these physical tools are integrated with a top-rated mobile app and powerful technology, recognition has better reach, inclusiveness, and impact.

By providing more ways to give and receive recognition, our platform ensures appreciation is not entirely dependent on technology many employees simply don’t have access to at work. We will partner with you to help you connect with 100% of your people in meaningful ways.

98% of organizations say O.C. Tanner custom awards are better than competitors.*

“Big Thanks (powered by Culture Cloud) has enabled us to reach every single employee across the organization. It’s become a hallmark of moving forward to make us better and stronger.”
‍— BHP

Variety matters. Our wide variety of recognition experiences are noticeably more creative, personal, and meaningful. Imagine your recognition partner offers nothing but an online experience. When an employee joins the company as a new hire, they’ll get a post on the social wall, maybe some points. When they work a long weekend, have a birthday, or invent a product that makes the company a billion dollars, they’ll get a post on the social wall, maybe some points. See the problem?

The trouble with a points-only strategy is that impactful recognition needs to be authentic and varied, not repetitive and transactional. We understand the role of technology and the science of symbolism, the power of personalization, and the value of tokens of accomplishment. We help clients keep recognition fresh with data-backed insights on how to match the right rewards to the right achievements.

We recommend you supplement points for merchandise and a social feed with well-timed recognition surprises like these:

• Symbolic awards
• Meaningful trophies
• Keepsakes and collectibles
• Wearable items
• Custom company swag
  

The resulting variety is guaranteed to keep recognition relevant, authentic, personal, and meaningful—from accomplishment to accomplishment. It’s how you make your recognition experience distinct from that of other companies as well. As one client from a mid-sized energy and utilities enterprise says, “Employees display the custom awards proudly in their workspaces. They are like status symbols.”

No one does recognition variety better than O.C. Tanner. In fact, 94% of our clients say our award selection is better than competitors.

Our elevated experience extends to admins in the form of easy administration, powerful analytics, and the best customer service in the industry. Our team is your team. We help your program to constantly improve in impact over time.

As our Paris-based client Ipsos says, “O.C. Tanner has an amazing team! They have all been super helpful, always supportive, and highly responsive at every interaction. There’s a great quality of customer service, product offerings, and support.” A client at Sharp Healthcare adds, “The ease of use takes the administrative workload off our shoulders.”

98% of clients say O.C. Tanner’s customer service is better than our competitors.*

6. Intuitive technology that makes recognition fun and easy

“O.C. Tanner puts all our recognition in one place. From the eCards and awards to celebrating anniversaries and retirement and the online site to choose a gift—having all of that together creates a better experience for us and our employees.”
—Heritage Bank

‍When it comes to making recognition flow freely, ease of use is everything. We were first to market with online award redemption at the dawn of the internet and we haven’t stopped innovating since. Our technology offers the following:

• Simple UX and give flow
• World-class social feed
• Points bank
• Global redemption store
• Top-rated mobile app
• Best-in-class APIs and plug-ins
• Powerful analytics and admin tools
• Integrations for Outlook, Teams, Workday, Salesforce, Zebra, and more

98% of clients say O.C. Tanner’s ease-of-use is better than competitors.*

Clients love the variety of ways to give that our software provides. It starts with the extensive media library of ecards, videos, and gifs that allow users to personalize online recognition moments with fun attachments that match the personality of the employee.

A leader from Northside Hospital says, “the integration of ecards into our recognition practices has successfully ingrained a culture of appreciation on a daily basis.” Our Initiatives tool allows for the creation of goal-oriented programs from the corporate level down to the team level and can be applied to safety, wellness, and other strategic objectives. Award nominations and approvals are also flexible to meet your company’s specific needs.

As a Ring Power leader shares, “O.C. Tanner’s products have allowed us to offer a world-class recognition program that is essentially turnkey. We couldn’t accomplish this level of recognition internally, no matter the head count.”

97% say O.C. Tanner’s technology is better than competitors*

‍In-app training, prompts, and nudges, drive participation. Besides being easy to use, our software teaches users how and when to recognize and why. Using exclusive insights from the O.C. Tanner Institute, our platform teaches users what monetary amount is appropriate for what achievement. It also helps drive frequency by reminding users to recognize great work when they’ve forgotten for a while.

Reporting and analytics fuel constant improvement. No recognition solution is complete without analytics that help you measure solution participation and impact. And ours gets it done with dashboards and reports that give you visibility to everything happening in your recognition solution. As an HR analyst from a mid-sized beverage company says, “The in-depth reporting and simplicity of the systems sets O.C. Tanner apart.”

And our software is getting better every day, with a roadmap that includes new admin tools, AI-assisted coaching, enhanced integrations, and more.

Bringing it all together

Head-to-head with the competition, we’re confident that these three strengths—Insightful Expertise, Elevated Experiences, and Intuitive Technology—along with the industry’s most culture-focused approach and platform, make us the best partner for employee recognition. And our clients agree. 

“We have employees all over the world. Using O.C. Tanner’s products and services makes it easy to get everyone involved in recognition no matter which part of the world they live in. It brings everyone closer together.”
—LSEG

Schedule a demo

No one has done employee recognition longer, for more clients, or with more success than O.C. Tanner. And while we love adding new clients to our happy client list, there’s something we love even more. That’s sharing insights. Solving problems. And helping people and their organizations succeed. So contact us today for a no obligation review of your recognition needs and culture-building opportunities.

We’re here to help. Schedule a demo today.