People often use recognition and appreciation interchangeably in the workplace, and many think of the two as the same thing. While they both have a place in the office, there is a big difference between the two. To make your company stand out, especially when it comes to company culture and employee experience, knowing the difference can truly change your company from the inside out. Recognition and appreciation are both powerful tools not only for enhancing company culture but also for boosting employee satisfaction and motivation. Once you discern the difference between the two, you can start to truly create a culture of positive feedback and recognition.
What is Employee Recognition?
Employee recognition is more about what someone does in the workplace. Recognition efforts could include service awards, milestone celebrations, and even structured peer recognition to encourage employees to highlight one another’s contributions. Employee recognition is the act of recognizing an employee for their achievements within the workplace.
What is Employee Appreciation?
While employee recognition is more about what someone does, employee appreciation is more about who someone is in the workplace. What kind of worker are they? Are they consistently lifting others up? Are they always putting in the extra effort to complete a project? Employee appreciation is the act of appreciating an employee for who they are, rather than what they do in the workplace.
Key Differences Between Recognition and Appreciation
Understanding these differences helps companies create both effective employee recognition programs and more authentic appreciation efforts. Here are a few key notes that highlight the difference between employee recognition and employee appreciation.
- Recognition is more achievement-based, while appreciation is relationship-based
- Employee recognition leans more public, while appreciation is more private/personal (though they can both be public or private)
- Employee recognition leans more formal/scheduled, while employee appreciation is more spontaneous
The main key difference is
- How each makes an employee feel, either valued for what they do or valued for who they are (both are important in the workplace)
Why Both Matter In The Workplace
When paired with an effective employee recognition program, appreciation creates an employee experience where team members feel valued personally and professionally. According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, recognition is a genuine human need, and appreciation can help humans feel a sense of belonging, connecting them. Recognition helps us feel respected and valued. Here are some ways that employee appreciation and recognition can help transform your workplace.
Increases Employee Engagement
When employees feel valued, whether through appreciation or recognition, they are more likely to be engaged in the workplace. Employee engagement can affect many aspects of your business, including team dynamics, employee turnover, customer experience, revenue, and more. For employees to feel engaged, they have to feel connected to their organization. Basically, employee engagement is a key indicator of a healthy and thriving workplace. A workplace where employees feel valued, involved, and connected to their roles within the company.
Boosts Employee Morale
Companies that focus on valuing and recognizing their employees generally have happier employees. According to our Kudoboard Happiness Trend, 91% of employees think that receiving gratitude and appreciation in a Kudoboard made them feel happier at work. Building morale isn’t just about one-off perks; it is about embedding effective employee appreciation practices paired with a consistent recognition program into the company culture. The impacts of low morale could include low productivity, increased employee turnover, and decreased employee engagement. Boosting employee morale through employee recognition and appreciation could help solve these problems and create a happier workplace.
Read More: 15 Ways to Boost Employee Morale
Reduces Turnover
It is no surprise that recognition in the workplace would make a difference in employee retention. When employers appreciate and value their employees, those employees’ loyalty to the company is likely to increase. Employee turnover is costly for the company because the company now has to find a new employee and train them, which reduces productivity in the employees training them. If training for the new employee is minimized in the effort of maximizing the productivity of the employees that would otherwise be training the new employee, then the result would be an insufficiently trained new employee that can be expected to have lower productivity during their entire career with the company when compared to where they would be had they received fully the necessary training.
Improves Company Culture
Of course, recognizing and appreciating employees would help improve the overall culture of the company. A healthy company culture impacts everything, from the values to the overall vibe of a company. A company with great culture is one where employees want to stay because they know they are valued and cared for, because it is written in the company’s heart.
How To Build Strong Employee Recognition
Employee recognition is more than just sending a one-off thank-you email. Recognition is most effective when it combines specific positive feedback with occasional tangible rewards. Any tangible rewards aren’t appreciated only because employees just like getting stuff. They’re appreciated because it is seen as a sacrifice on the company’s part, backing the verbal recognition with more substance. To make employee recognition strong and impactful within your company, you just have to follow a few guidelines:
- Be timely: Would you respond very well if you received a recognition email or note months after the event happened? While it is nice they sent something at all, recognition matters more when it is shortly after the event. Whether you are recognizing an employee for a job well done on a project, or putting in extra hours, recognizing them a few days to a week after the fact will make more of a difference than waiting months. Generally the smaller the accomplishment the sooner the recognition should come. Very large accomplishments, which are ones that took a long time to complete, are allowed more time to receive recognition because it can be expected that it may take a while to fully take in the impact from the accomplishment.
- Be specific: Don’t just say, “Job well done!” Keep it specific by writing why they did a great job. Vague messages are typically overlooked and don’t feel genuine, but a specific message will feel more meaningful and have more of an impact. Including specifics of the result of their work is also appreciated when included.
- Align it with company values: Keeping recognition aligned with company values is a great idea because it helps reinforce the values that matter so much to the heart of the company.
- Make it personal: Make sure to use the employee’s name and add a detail that they would remember (e.g. they worked extra nights to make that happen when no one else did). Making it personal helps to keep the recognition genuine.
- Keep it authentic: Don’t write the same note to every employee. That is disingenuous and would have the opposite effect that great recognition has. Disingenuous appreciation comes across as actually uncaring at best and manipulation at worst.
- Encourage peer recognition: To really create a culture of recognition, companies have to embrace peer recognition (also known as social recognition). Encouraging employees to compliment another employee’s accomplishments builds strong teams, improves retention, and increases employee motivation.
Read More: 80 Powerful Peer Recognition Examples
How To Make Appreciation Meaningful
Remember, appreciation is more about acknowledging who the employee is, not what they do. Appreciation builds trust and loyalty, which drive employee satisfaction in the long run. While appreciation doesn’t always require tangible rewards, pairing appreciation with small gestures (extra time off, wellness perks) shows employees they are truly valued. With that, making appreciation meaningful is similar to employee recognition, with a few differences:
- Tailor it to the individual: Not every person likes to be appreciated the same way. Some employees might like more public recognition or appreciation, but others might want a more low-key approach. Be mindful of employee preferences, and that will help employees know you value them and are paying attention.
- Recognize the person, not just the performance: When showing appreciation, don’t just recognize their hard work. Include a note about how you value that they are a hard worker or a team player. Focus on the employee, not just what they do.
- Go beyond words: While it is nice to receive a note of gratitude, focusing on other methods of appreciation would also be helpful. Having flexible work situations available, celebrating work anniversaries, and offering wellness perks are excellent ways to show that you appreciate your employees.
- Be consistent: Showing appreciation can’t just be a one-time thing, it needs to be embedded in the everyday culture of the company. Consistent appreciation will make a bigger difference than once in a while appreciation.
Ideas and Examples of Each
While recognition focuses on specific actions and accomplishments, appreciation goes beyond the specific achievements. Appreciation values employees as people, showing gratitude for their presence and character. When done well, recognition not only makes employees feel proud, it also boosts employee motivation and reinforces the behaviors that drive stronger employee performance. Here are a few practical ways to focus on recognition and appreciation in the workplace.
Employee Recognition Examples:
- Meeting Shoutouts
- Send an eCard
- Employee of the month
- Employee achievement newsletter
- Recognition parking spot
Employee Appreciation Examples:
- Highlight employees on social media
- Host an employee appreciation day
- Celebrate personal milestones
- Send a handwritten letter
- Host a family day
- Curate a wellness program
- Host employee appreciation day
How Tools Like Kudoboard Can Support Both
Kudoboard is more than a digital eCard; it is a place where employees and management can share appreciation for their team members meaningfully. Whether you want to send a simple thank you or have a team celebration, Kudoboard has you covered. Kudoboard is a step above the rest because of all the exceptional things it offers. Here are just a few:
- Seamless integration between the apps that your company uses daily
- Easily add fun media to set your eCard apart (like GIFs, videos, messages, and pictures).
- Custom branding (with a subscription). Personalize your eCards with your company’s logos, colors, and design.
Kudoboard is a recognition platform that has an eCard for everything from employee milestones like anniversaries, farewells, birthdays, and more. You can make the recognition a little more special by adding a gift card or printing the Kudoboard as a book or poster for special occasions (like a farewell or retirement).
Make A Difference In Your Company Culture
Employee appreciation and recognition may have some differences, but both are essential to creating a foundation of a motivated and high-performing workplace. Recognition reinforces positive behavior with clear feedback, motivating employees to keep raising the bar. Appreciation ensures that employees feel valued as people, which drives long-term employee engagement and loyalty. When companies combine both, they create a culture rich in positive feedback, strong employee motivation, and sustained employee performance.
Ready to put both to action? Check out Kudoboard, where you can easily combine specific recognition with heartfelt appreciation.
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