A simple act of employee recognition could noticeably benefit your business. A recent study by Gallup in collaboration with Workhuman revealed that employees who strongly agreed that recognition was an important part of their workplace culture were 3.7 times more likely to be engaged. Moreover, they’re half as likely to experience frequent burnout and are 45% more likely to still be with the business in two years.
Our recruitment experts have collated 7 employee recognition ideas guaranteed to boost morale. Each idea should be deployed in a personalised and authentic way, and - or best effect - embedded into company culture as a regular practice for leadership.
Use them consistently to get your teams engaged, motivated, and in peak performance mode, now and into the future. Continue reading for 7 workplace recognition ideas.
1. Book a team away day
Treat your team to a team-building work session away from the office, complete with a packed itinerary of collaborative and creative tasks designed to encourage new thinking and foster team bonding.
Physical challenges, escape rooms, quizzes, and fact-finding missions are all excellent ways to get the team feeling happy and engaged. Top it all off with a celebratory team dinner to reward everyone for their efforts.
Read more: 7 fun team-building exercises for work
2. Offer meal vouchers or team lunches
Happiness often starts with a good meal! Salary Guide data for 2025 revealed that 41% of workers want meal vouchers as an employee reward, yet only 25% of employers surveyed currently offer this.
Offering meal vouchers as a reward or as part of a weekly work routine can be a welcome pick-me-up, as can the excitement of weekly food truck visits, company breakfasts, and regular team lunches.
3. Promote from within your ranks
A happy and engaged workforce is one that knows their efforts make a difference, not just to the company, but to their own advancement.
Regularly promoting from within the workforce incentivises productivity, engagement, and buy-in, while also ensuring that legacy knowledge stays within the company.
Read more: How to motivate a team to perform
4. Offer training and career development opportunities
Investing time and money in your employees' development is an excellent way to make them feel valued, and it also benefits the company's bottom line.
Our studies show that 43% of workers would like paid time off for external learning, and 40% would like paid opportunities for learning and development.
It could also be as simple as offering the chance to shadow someone else on the team or dedicating one workday a week to independent learning.
5. Celebrate milestones
Demonstrate your commitment to each employee's journey within the business by celebrating birthdays, work anniversaries, or successes as they arise.
Marking each milestone with a greeting card, team lunch, or a celebratory snack is a simple yet effective way to show each individual that they’re valued by the team and the company.
6. Peer-based recognition initiatives
Leaders aren’t the only people capable of making a positive impact via praise and recognition. Initiatives which share peer-based recognition can foster good feelings between teams and colleagues and encourage people to pay attention to (and appreciate!) the efforts of others.
Shout-outs in company-wide newsletters or annual employee recognition awards are a great way to encourage your team to champion others.
7. Offer flexible working
Flexible working is still considered an attractive and beneficial offering by employees, five years on from the pandemic.
According to the 2025 Salary Guide, 73% of employees surveyed believe they are more productive when working in a hybrid setup. Studies show that workers feel less stressed (78%) and less anxious (72%) after spending part of the week working from home, while 85% report that it had improved their job satisfaction.
Read more: 5 benefits of flexible working for your employees
