Why recognition programmes need a rethink
As organisations face rising manager disengagement, talent shortages, and the pressure to do more with less, recognition programmes have the potential to become strategic assets that generate measurable ROI.
Many organisations, however, are missing opportunities to maximise their recognition programme investments.
Maturity models or frameworks used by organisations to assess the current state of their employee recognition programmes can help by showing the stages of recognition programme evolution and where opportunity exists. They offer practical insight into how recognition can deliver greater impact across engagement and business outcomes.
Recognition needs a rethink
Many organisations believe they have recognition covered, despite 60% of employees saying they hardly ever or never receive recognition. Managers send thank-you emails, teams celebrate milestones, and gestures of appreciation do happen. However, without structure and visibility, these efforts rarely scale or deliver measurable results.
Employees can feel overlooked, managers lack confidence, and leadership often questions the value of recognition at all. Yet, when it is consistent and trusted, the effect is significant. For instance, employees who believe their good work will be recognised frequently are 12.4 times more likely to say they have a great company culture, underlining recognition as a diver for long-term organisational success.
Why this matters now
Recognition programmes, if implemented effectively, can influence more than just culture. A well-structured approach can drive business performance by linking recognition to outcomes such as customer satisfaction and innovation.
Mature programmes will generate data that can inform workforce planning and strategic decisions. They can future-proof the employee experience through personalised, tech-enabled solutions, and strengthen employer branding to attract and retain top talent.
Understanding recognition programme maturity
Leading organisations consistently seek to optimise their business strategies and investments.
With recognition programmes known to be able to positively impact business KPIs, understanding how effective recognition programme efforts really are and where they could be doing more is important.
A programme maturity framework sets out the phases of programme development, highlighting opportunities to strengthen impact and revealing where potential value is being left on the table.
The BI WORLDWIDE Recognition Programme Maturity Model outlines five distinct phases of maturity:
- Fragmented: Recognition happens inconsistently and often goes unnoticed, varying across teams and regions.
- Structured: A global recognition framework begins to deliver a standardised experience with early alignment to company values.
- Embedded: Recognition becomes cultural, with strong adoption and integration across the employee lifecycle.
- Strategic: Recognition supports wider business goals and connects with other technologies and initiatives.
- Optimised: Recognition is core to how the organisation operates and grows, fully integrated and data driven.
With recognition programmes largely being positioned as a tool for empathy and emotional connection, most organisations fall within the early stages of maturity, which means the potential for growth is significant.
Each phase provides an opportunity to sharpen focus, lean deeper into culture activation and support business wide strategy and performance, exploring programme success factors such as leadership buy-in, technology adoption, cultural relevance, governance and policy, data and measurement, communication and personalisation.
How organisations approach their evolution through these phases will differ, but the principle remains the same: recognition works best when it is structured and aligned with business goals.
Recognition does not require a huge budget or complex technology to begin, but instead requires clarity, intention and leadership support. Even small steps can make a big difference when they are part of a structured approach to recognition programme transformation.
For leaders, this insight provides a way to quickly see where gaps exist and where effort should be focused. Maturity models highlight whether recognition is still informal and fragmented or whether it is becoming embedded and strategic and provide a clear view of what needs to happen next to move forward.
Final thoughts
Recognition can be a core enabler of enterprise strategy.
By understanding where your organisation’s recognition programme maturity sits today (fragmented, structured, embedded, strategic or optimised), the goal is the same: to evolve recognition from a tactical activity to a pillar for organisational success.
To explore BI WORLDWIDE’s full framework and take the full Recognition Programme Maturity Tool assessment.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, BI WORLDWIDE
BI WORLDWIDE is a global engagement agency delivering measurable results for clients through inspirational employee and channel reward and recognition solutions.
