Employee recognition is an important practice for every workplace. Integrated recognition means recognition is a frequent, meaningful part of the everyday employee experience. For tech workers, getting encouragement and support from internal recognition champions can make your recognition program more meaningful and more successful.

When tech employees work in organisations with integrated recognition, there are:

• 4.7x increased odds of planning to stay two or more years
• ‍9.1x increased odds of having a sense of belonging
• 12.7x increased odds of feeling fulfilled at work
• 13.9x increased odds of high engagement
• 3x increased odds the employee will thrive at work

What to keep in mind when recognising tech workers? Read on for 5 recognition best practices in the tech industry.

1. Integrate recognition into your company culture and employees’ daily flow of work

75% of tech workers say recognition is a part of their organisation's everyday culture and 77% say their organisation continually implements new programs and technologies to recognise great work. 

And while 80% of tech employees say their organisation has a formal program to recognise years of service, fewer (79%) have programs to recognise above and beyond performance, everyday efforts (66%), safety (74%), or wellness (69%).

Organisations should provide tools for employees to recognise one another for a variety of reasons including great work, extra effort, safety, and wellness. Recognition tools, like Culture Cloud®, should also be integrated into the tools employees use every day for collaboration, leadership tools, reporting, etc., so employees can remember to recognise and easily do so in their flow of work when they see great work happening.

2. Give recognition in a personal and meaningful way

When it comes to meaningful recognition, 51% of healthcare workers say the recognition they receive at work feels like an empty gesture and 42% say recognition at their organisation is inauthentic.

For recognition to feel genuine and sincere, it must be personal, timely, and specific. Ensure recognition calls out individual accomplishments and contributions, connects recognition to the organisation’s values and purpose, and details what the employee has done well and why it matters. Also, share stories of recognition happening across the organisation, so everyone can see the great work an employee has done.

Train leaders to get to know their people and learn how they want to be appreciated so leaders can create recognition moments that are appropriate and tailored to each individual. This ensures recognition is delivered in a personal and meaningful way, every time.

Do you have tech employees who work offline? Learn how to help them feel valued and included on your team.

3. Build connection, belonging, and community with recognition

Most tech employees (82%) believe recognition is a crucial part of building a workplace community and believe recognition for their work makes them feel like they belong at their organisation (83%).

Empower and equip peers to recognise one another—it’s guaranteed to build connection and community. Have leaders recognise employees during leader rounding efforts and when employees transition roles or teams. Help new employees feel welcomed and connected with recognition from day one.

Recognising employees' extra effort, career milestones, and life events shows you care about employees both at work and outside of work. With 77% of tech workers saying their organisation celebrates life events, there is an opportunity to help employees thrive outside of work. Recognition for things like new babies or homes, but also accomplishments like running a marathon, learning a new skill, or even sending kids off to college are great ways to build connection, community, and a sense that the company cares about employees.

Custom awards are another powerful way to connect employees to your workplace community and organisation. Using symbols of your company culture, history, and work environment can help tell the stories of your employees’ accomplishments and how they’ve made an impact at your organisation, in a memorable way.

4. recognise growth and development

Ongoing skill building and development is crucial for employees in the tech industry. It leads to more fulfillment, increased retention, and better client outcomes. Recognising employees both during and after the skill-building process shows they are valued and have achieved something important as they learn new skills.

Employees have 3x greater odds of being satisfied with their experience if they’re recognised at the completion of training, but 4x greater odds when they are recognised during and after. We found 84% of tech employees were recognised both during and after training with a gift card, certificate, or other form of acknowledgment. This leaves about 15% of employees who would benefit from more recognition as they build skills.

Recognition is equally important as employees learn new skills in a new role or team. When recognition is an integrated part of a job transition experience (as employees are learning new skills)—whether it’s a new hire, a newly promoted employee, or an employee changing job responsibilities or teams—satisfaction with their transition experience increases 6x.

5. Encourage gratitude to support employees’ mental health

Tech can be a rewarding but tough business. A whopping 75% of tech employees report high levels of burnout.

Just as clinical research finds expressions of gratitude can help improve mental health, giving gratitude at work through recognition can also alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression. Employees who gave recognition in the past 30 days report decreases in the odds of:

• Burnout (-57%)
• Probable diagnosis of anxiety (-24%)
• Probable diagnosis of depression (-28%)

While recognition is not a replacement for mental health care, it can complement mental health wellbeing strategies. Giving and receiving recognition can increase belonging, connection, and gratitude, which counteract many factors that lead to poor mental health.

Encourage employees and leaders to give recognition when they see great work happening. Align employees’ work to a greater purpose, be specific in how they contributed and why it was unique, and focus on genuine, positive sentiment.

Simple acts of saying thank you and receiving recognition not only bolster the mental health of employees, but also strengthen workplace culture, which can help protect against mental health struggles and lead to an estimated annual savings of $8,000 per employee with probable depression.

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See how Culture Cloud makes it simple and fun to recognise everyone on your tech team. Request a demo.