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5 Recognition Best Practices for Healthcare Organisations in 2025

Insights from
,

Healthcare workers celebrating together

Updated on 

January 28, 2025

28

 

January

 

2025

Employee recognition is an important practice for every workplace. Integrated recognition means recognition is a frequent, meaningful part of the everyday employee experience. For healthcare workers, having offline recognition tools that are integrated into your employees’ flow of work is crucial to helping them feel appreciated and valued. 

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

  • 4x increased odds of planning to stay two or more years
  • 11x increased odds of having a sense of belonging
  • 8x increased odds of feeling fulfilled at work
  • 12x increased odds of high engagement
  • 4x increased odds the employee will thrive at work

Healthcare organisations like Ohio Living have even tied recognition back to patient outcomes like infection, fall, and readmission rates.

What should you keep in mind when recognising healthcare workers? Read on for 5 recognition best practices in the healthcare industry.

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

Only 48% of healthcare workers say recognition is a part of their organisation's everyday culture and 56% say their organisation continually implements new programs and technologies to recognise great work. 

And while 68% of healthcare employees say their organisation has a formal program to recognise years of service, fewer (51%) have programs to recognise above and beyond performance, everyday efforts (42%), safety (51%), or wellness (45%).

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 patient care, leader rounding tools, reporting, etc., so employees can remember to recognise and easily do so in their flow of work when they see great work happening.

Examples of recognition experiences in O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud recognition software, including physical thank you cards with points and online award redemption.
See how a healthcare system with 50,000 employees made giving recognition easier for their people (and patients).

2. Give recognition in a personal and meaningful way

When it comes to meaningful recognition, 41% of healthcare workers say the recognition they receive at work feels like an empty gesture and a third (34%) say recognition at their organisation is inauthentic.

Pizza parties and Hospital or Nurses’ Week celebrations aren’t enough. 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.

Mobile app and desktop recognition experiences in O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud, including physical thank you cards with points.
Learn how one U.S. hospital system built fun and creativity into their recognition tools.

3. Build connection, belonging, and community with recognition

Most healthcare employees (73%) 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 (74%).

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 only 64% of healthcare 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.

Examples of celebrating career accomplishments and life events with O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud, including swag boxes, recognition points, cards, and gifts.

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.

Custom awards designed and manufactured by O.C. Tanner, including Careerscapes with collectible icons, pins, and numerals.

4. recognise growth and development

Ongoing skill building and development is crucial for employees in the healthcare industry. It leads to more fulfillment, increased retention, and better patient 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 recognized at the completion of training, but 4x greater odds when they are recognized during and after. We found 67% of healthcare employees were recognized both during and after training with a gift card, certificate, or other form of acknowledgment. This leaves about ⅓ 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.

O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud recognition eCards for sending thank you notes to teammates, with or without points.
O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud Initiatives platform.
Initiatives through Culture Cloud can help you set and achieve goals like skill building, safety, innovation, or team targets.

5. Encourage gratitude to support employees’ mental health

Healthcare can be a rewarding but tough business. A whopping 78% of healthcare 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.

Recognition eCards (thank you notes) on O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud platform.

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

Employee recognition is an important practice for every workplace. Integrated recognition means recognition is a frequent, meaningful part of the everyday employee experience. For healthcare workers, having offline recognition tools that are integrated into your employees’ flow of work is crucial to helping them feel appreciated and valued. 

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

  • 4x increased odds of planning to stay two or more years
  • 11x increased odds of having a sense of belonging
  • 8x increased odds of feeling fulfilled at work
  • 12x increased odds of high engagement
  • 4x increased odds the employee will thrive at work

Healthcare organisations like Ohio Living have even tied recognition back to patient outcomes like infection, fall, and readmission rates.

What should you keep in mind when recognising healthcare workers? Read on for 5 recognition best practices in the healthcare industry.

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

Only 48% of healthcare workers say recognition is a part of their organisation's everyday culture and 56% say their organisation continually implements new programs and technologies to recognise great work. 

And while 68% of healthcare employees say their organisation has a formal program to recognise years of service, fewer (51%) have programs to recognise above and beyond performance, everyday efforts (42%), safety (51%), or wellness (45%).

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 patient care, leader rounding tools, reporting, etc., so employees can remember to recognise and easily do so in their flow of work when they see great work happening.

Examples of recognition experiences in O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud recognition software, including physical thank you cards with points and online award redemption.
See how a healthcare system with 50,000 employees made giving recognition easier for their people (and patients).

2. Give recognition in a personal and meaningful way

When it comes to meaningful recognition, 41% of healthcare workers say the recognition they receive at work feels like an empty gesture and a third (34%) say recognition at their organisation is inauthentic.

Pizza parties and Hospital or Nurses’ Week celebrations aren’t enough. 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.

Mobile app and desktop recognition experiences in O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud, including physical thank you cards with points.
Learn how one U.S. hospital system built fun and creativity into their recognition tools.

3. Build connection, belonging, and community with recognition

Most healthcare employees (73%) 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 (74%).

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 only 64% of healthcare 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.

Examples of celebrating career accomplishments and life events with O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud, including swag boxes, recognition points, cards, and gifts.

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.

Custom awards designed and manufactured by O.C. Tanner, including Careerscapes with collectible icons, pins, and numerals.

4. recognise growth and development

Ongoing skill building and development is crucial for employees in the healthcare industry. It leads to more fulfillment, increased retention, and better patient 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 recognized at the completion of training, but 4x greater odds when they are recognized during and after. We found 67% of healthcare employees were recognized both during and after training with a gift card, certificate, or other form of acknowledgment. This leaves about ⅓ 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.

O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud recognition eCards for sending thank you notes to teammates, with or without points.
O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud Initiatives platform.
Initiatives through Culture Cloud can help you set and achieve goals like skill building, safety, innovation, or team targets.

5. Encourage gratitude to support employees’ mental health

Healthcare can be a rewarding but tough business. A whopping 78% of healthcare 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.

Recognition eCards (thank you notes) on O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud platform.

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

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