10 employee recognition ideas to celebrate great performance

“In times of economic uncertainty, businesses may be tempted to reduce their investment in people-centric programs like skills training, coaching, and recognition. However, this short-sighted approach risks lowering engagement and increasing staff turnover,” says Luck Dookchitra, VP of People at Leapsome.*

Recognition isn’t just a “nice to have” — it’s crucial for keeping team members happy, loyal, and productive. Research suggests that employees who receive regular feedback and acknowledgment are more satisfied, motivated, and focused on forward momentum. And social rewards can even activate positive emotions similar to those triggered by monetary bonuses.**

But how can you make recognition meaningful? Which approaches resonate most with employees, and which fall flat?

This guide shares ten actionable employee recognition ideas to build engagement, reduce turnover, and create a more supportive, productive workplace. By weaving these practices into your ongoing culture-building efforts, you’ll help top performers feel genuinely valued — and empower your teams to thrive.

🙌 Give credit when it’s due & watch engagement soar

Implement continuous feedback and build a culture of encouragement with Leapsome.

🎥 Take a product tour

*Leapsome’s Workforce Trends Report, 2024

**SHRM, 2019
‍

What makes employee recognition effective & meaningful?

Recognition efforts work best when they make team members truly feel valued. This may sound obvious, but there’s often a disconnect between what People leaders and managers believe is meaningful praise and what employees perceive as genuine acknowledgments.

Two-thirds of managers surveyed for our 2024 Workforce Trends Report reported giving praise in the past week — yet only 38% of employees recalled receiving any. The gap suggests that timing, specificity, and consistency are key elements of memorable recognition.

Sharing recognition and appreciation tends to be more effective (and memorable!) if it’s: 

• Consistent — Establishing a culture of regular recognition is better than a big, once-a-year gesture. There’s a balance between too much (which dilutes the impact) and not enough.
  
  
• Timely — To maximize its impact, share feedback soon after the event or situation. The employee will remember and appreciate the immediate response.
  
  
• Specific — Make the feedback highly relevant to the team member’s work and input. Highlighting a precise part of a report or a personal contribution is more effective than a generic “good job.”

Recognition should come from multiple sources, including leaders, managers, and peers. People may also deliver it in different styles, like:

• Formal — Structured and typically from leadership; for example, within a formal performance evaluation context.
  
  
• Informal — A casual acknowledgment of great work, like a shoutout from a manager or coworker during a meeting or via a praise wall.
  
  
• Everyday — A subtle but positive comment, like thanking colleagues for their contributions in a meeting or for a great day’s work.
  ‍

10 employee recognition ideas to show appreciation for team members

Recognizing employees for their work and achievements is most impactful when it’s part of an ongoing feedback culture.

Rather than relying on occasional grand gestures, aim for regular moments of praise and appreciation throughout the year. The ideas below will help you create a well-rounded, sustainable recognition program.
‍

1. Create a culture of continuous feedback

Regular positive acknowledgment helps establish a culture of continuous improvement, where employees expect both praise and constructive suggestions.

Indeed, 80% of employee participants in our 2024 Workforce Trends report said constructive feedback enhances their productivity. However, we also found a disconnect between the percentage of managers who believed they shared praise over the past week (66%) and the percentage of team members who thought they received praise over the past week (38%). 

Similarly, 71% of managers said they’d offered constructive feedback over the past week, but only 37% of individual contributors remembered receiving any.

Employee recognition software tools like Leapsome’s Instant Feedback make sharing constructive and positive feedback easy. Users can even link their feedback to predefined company values or use AI to make their feedback more specific and actionable. 

Expressing regular appreciation for good work is infectious; when people feel valued and safe in their professional environments, they’re more likely to recognize others’ efforts, too. This makes your organization a more pleasant and high-performing place to work.

💬 “Prioritizing open communication and continuous learning allows us to thrive in a constantly changing world, proving that true leadership lies in doing less while maximizing impact,”

— Jill Katz, Founder & Chief Candor, Courage And Care^TM Officer at Assemble HR

2. Build a praise wall

A praise wall is a great way to recognize employees publicly. It’s like a digital “wall of fame” for your organization, showcasing appreciative comments and congratulations sent between colleagues. According to Gallup research, peer acknowledgment is one of the most meaningful and memorable forms of recognition.

A public platform for positive feedback encourages employees to celebrate one another’s achievements, creating a more uplifting and connected culture. That way, everyone can see who’s doing a great job, even across different departments, teams, and work arrangements (like remote employees).

🥳 With Leapsome’s integrated tools, it’s simple to set up a virtual praise wall where team members can highlight each other’s contributions and foster collective morale.

3. Award a “personal project” day

Show employees you value them as individuals by offering a “personal project day” — paid time off to pursue hobbies or personal interests. Whether it’s baking, rock climbing, painting, or hiking, supporting individual growth outside of work demonstrates genuine care for employees’ well-being.

Team members who cultivate personal interests outside of the workplace may also perform better professionally. A San Francisco State University study found that workers who engaged in creative hobbies performed 15-30% better at work.

“We found that, in general, the more you engage in creative activities, the better you'll do,” said the study’s lead author, Kevin Eschleman, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State.

When team members return to work, encourage them to share what they dedicated their personal project day to, if they’re comfortable with it. This might even spark interest and common ground among team members who had no idea their long-time colleague baked, rock climbed, painted, or hiked! 
‍

4. Organize team and company events

Quality team events and gatherings help staff connect outside the regular work environment. From small group outings to larger company-wide events, these shared experiences foster camaraderie, help employees feel valued, and provide a break from everyday routines.

Events of different sizes also have different benefits. Larger events help employees feel part of something bigger, encourage team values and company pride, and allow them to meet colleagues they might not usually cross paths with. On the other hand, smaller events and activities bring team members closer together and allow employees to get to know each other outside of the workplace. 

The most important aspect of team events is getting people together outside the workplace and encouraging them to have fun. Organizing more elaborate team events is fun, but you can plan a great get-together even with a limited budget.
‍
Some ideas for fun team gatherings:

• Potluck-style meal
• Scavenger hunt
• Organizational “talent show”
• Escape room
• Board game or card night
• Karaoke session
• DIY craft workshop
• Volunteer day
  ‍

5. Offer unique learning and development opportunities

An essential part of employee recognition is showing that you want them to succeed professionally. So, when you offer a high-performing team member special learning and development opportunities, you reward them for a job well done and demonstrate how much you value their skills development, ambition, and career progression. 

These kinds of learning and development opportunities might include:

• A prestigious or widely recognized course to further their skills
  
  
• Specialized leadership training to enable them to take the next step in their career
  
  
• An all-expenses paid trip to a relevant conference
  
  
• Mentorship from a senior team member, executive, or successful industry figure

Of course, providing unique, tailored learning and development opportunities is also possible with Leapsome Learning. It has a built-in library of select courses on core management skills like feedback, coaching, and running effective meetings⁠. Additionally, admins can create and customize learning paths to match their organization’s specific development needs — and get AI’s input in the process.
‍

6. Create a “perks menu”

A “perks menu” lets high-performing employees choose their reward — an early Friday finish, an extra day off, a voucher for a local spa, or a sweet treat delivered to their desk. Offering a variety of options ensures everyone finds something they appreciate.

These perks might include:

• Getting off work early on Fridays for a month
  
  
• An extra paid day off when they choose
  
  
• Free lunch from a local restaurant for a week
  
  
• A box of cookies or sweet treats delivered to their desk
  
  
• A voucher for a local spa

You can even offer personalized perks, like a pet store voucher for an employee who owns a dog, as an extra personal touch.

This approach makes recognition more tangible and personal. It also clarifies what rewards are available, encouraging employees to strive for the perks that resonate with them most.
‍

7. Host a virtual team activity

If you have a high number of remote workers, want to make it easier for employees to attend team events, or have a smaller budget, a virtual activity could be the way forward. 

These unite people in an informal environment, encourage collaboration, and give people a space to relax and have fun as a team. Some possible ideas include:

• Escape rooms
• Trivia quizzes
• Pictionary games
• Music or movie guessing games
• Trivia games based on team members (e.g., guess the quote)
• Holiday parties with festive activities, like virtual costume contests 

Provide prizes for winners and runners-up to add an extra sense of appreciation and excitement. Ask someone to lead the activity beforehand to avoid people talking over each other and ensure everyone can participate as much as they wish.

⭐ With as many as one in five employees now working remotely, you likely already have some on your team (or will in the future). For remote staff to thrive, you must intentionally train, engage, and retain them. Check out our guides on:

Onboarding remote employees

Offboarding remote employees

Training remote employees

8. Use all-hands meetings to highlight top performers

Like praise walls, company-wide meetings are a great opportunity to publicly spotlight top performers and highlight their efforts.

Be sure to recognize people across all levels and teams, not just employees who directly contribute to sales and revenue, for example.

You might set up different shoutout categories and pick different winners for each. For example, if you have a list of established company values, you could recognize people who embodied a specific value over the past month at your all-hands meeting.

Be specific about why and how the winner was chosen and clearly explain their achievements, so even staff unfamiliar with them or their work will understand and appreciate their contributions.
‍

9. Post social media shoutouts

Public praise is a winning way to highlight top-performing employees, and shouting them out on social media is an especially far-reaching way to do it. Doing so allows internal team members to acknowledge their colleagues and allows their peers and mentors in the broader industry to share their congratulations.

LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for organizations to shout out their employees because of its business focus. You could also consider setting up a post of the week on Instagram or doing a weekly video shoutout on TikTok.

Of course, ensure your employees are comfortable with the public nature of your post before you shout them out, especially if it includes identifying details or images. If they’re uncomfortable with a public post, you could do a similar internal shoutout, for example, in the core team Slack channel, on your company praise wall, via a tool like Leapsome Instant Feedback, or in your monthly newsletter. 
‍

10. Give (surprise) milestone days off

Granting a surprise day off to celebrate a milestone — such as a birthday or work anniversary — is another thoughtful way to show genuine appreciation.

Some organizations offer these milestone days off to all employees, while others reserve them exclusively for top performers.

Whichever approach suits your culture, you’ll acknowledge team members’ lives outside of work, support their well-being, and foster a healthier work-life balance.

‍

💡 When awarding this kind of perk, work with the employee’s manager to rearrange their calendar on their surprise day off so they aren’t missing any important commitments.

It won’t feel like a reward if they return to work and need to catch up on a pile of tasks and missed responsibilities. </tip box>

Employee recognition: essential for workplace engagement

Regular employee recognition fosters team member engagement, productivity, loyalty, and organizational retention. 

The most effective form of recognition is consistent, timely, and specific. Creating a culture of continuous feedback and offering regular rewards, fun perks, and professional development opportunities are excellent ways to make employees feel valued.

By weaving these recognition practices into your HR processes, you’ll keep the momentum going without reinventing the wheel each time. People enablement tools like Leapsome make this even more seamless. 

Features like Leapsome’s Instant Feedback make it easy for team members to express their appreciation for each other. Our platform’s AI capabilities can help make recognition even more relevant, actionable, and meaningful.

These features engage staff and improve the employee experience, ensuring that your organization nurtures engagement with professional growth and a thriving company culture.

For happier, higher-achieving team members — and a positive, more productive workplace.

😊 Boost employee happiness, engagement & performance

Show regular gratitude and appreciation for a job well done with Leapsome.

👉 Book a demo