Remote Companies That Nail Employee Recognition Culture

The way we work has undergone a seismic shift. As more organizations embrace remote-first models, teams are no longer sharing physical spaces, daily watercooler chats, or high-fives after a job well done. While remote work offers flexibility and access to global talent, it also presents a hidden employee recognition challenge: a loss of visibility and connection among remote workers.  

Without the natural interactions of an in-person office, great work can easily go unnoticed. Team members may feel isolated, undervalued, or unsure if their efforts are even being seen. In this environment, employee recognition isn’t just “nice to have” — it’s a cultural cornerstone. When done right, employee appreciation and recognition reinforce connection, build trust, and help remote employees feel more aligned, appreciated, and motivated. Overall, employee recognition helps improve the organizational culture in a remote company. 

Why Employee Recognition Matters Even More In Remote-First Workplaces

Remote work offers numerous advantages, including increased flexibility, reduced commuting, and improved work-life balance. The benefits that come with remote work have helped expand and sustain the modern remote workforce. However, there are some drawbacks as well, which is where employee recognition comes in to help companies prioritize their employees’ well-being. Here are a few reasons employee recognition matters, especially in a remote-first workplace: 

• Combating Isolation: A common problem for many remote employees is the feeling of being isolated from their coworkers. When employers prioritize employee recognition, it inherently encourages employees to connect with each other. 

Pro Tip: Peer-to-peer recognition can be very beneficial in remote situations. Encourage remote workers to give shout-outs to each other, create a Slack channel, or utilize a recognition platform like Kudoboard. Once one team member is recognized by a peer, it often sparks a ripple effect, encouraging others to give and seek recognition as well.

• Maintaining Motivation: When there is less face-to-face praise, there is a greater need for intentional recognition. In order for employees to stay engaged and motivated, they need appreciation and encouragement. A lack of appreciation often leads to decreased employee performance. 

• Reinforcing Company Culture: Recognition keeps company values visible. Especially in a remote-first company, where in-person events or casual hallway conversations aren’t happening. For remote companies, leaders must intentionally and repeatedly communicate culture through digital interactions. A powerful way to do this is by tying employee recognition to company values. This signals what behaviors the company prioritizes and celebrates. 

• Improving Retention: Authentic and consistent recognition increases satisfaction and loyalty to a company. Employee recognition strongly correlates with employee retention, particularly for remote workers. The lack of visibility in remote work environments makes it challenging to track progress, understand needs, and remember to acknowledge achievements. Employee loyalty is tied to how well the employee feels seen and valued, which is all tied to employee recognition. 

• Encouraging Engagement: Regular recognition fosters team spirit among employees, regardless of location. In an in-person office, team spirit and engagement often grow organically through casual chats, shared lunches, or spontaneous celebrations. In remote-first workplaces, that kind of natural bonding is harder to come by. To combat this, companies need to prioritize regular and intentional recognition. By fostering a sense of belonging and value, recognition efforts improve remote employee engagement and connection to the team’s goals. 

Read More: 13 Benefits Of Employee Recognition

4 Examples of Remote-First Companies With Strong Recognition Cultures

Some of the most successful remote companies that prioritize remote work understand that recognition isn’t just a morale booster—it’s a strategic pillar of their culture. The following organizations have developed intentional, consistent recognition practices that keep teams connected, motivated, and aligned with company values. These remote-first companies don’t just support remote work; they excel at making their remote employees feel seen and appreciated, no matter where they’re located. Here are a few standout examples. 

1. GitLab

GitLab is a DevOps/Software company that has always been fully remote, focusing on company values and transparency. According to GitLab’s handbook, they push employee engagement surveys to help the company keep up with culture, team member engagement, and overall health of the organization. Here are a few things GitLab does well regarding employee recognition: 

• Values-based recognition on public digital channels: GitLab’s core values include collaboration, results for customers, efficiency, diversity, inclusion and belonging, iteration, and transparency. Within their “collaboration” value, the company encourages remote employees to say thanks and give appreciation to fellow employees. While GitLab has a #thanks Slack channel, they encourage employees to give gratitude in other situations, not just within the channel. 

• The company built recognition into its operating model: GitLab specifically documents recognition of best practices in its publicly available GitLab handbook. This shows that appreciation isn’t just an afterthought. 

• They celebrate wins of all sizes: GitLab makes space to recognize everything from small contributions (like solving a tricky bug) to large milestones (like product launches or anniversaries). This normalizes frequent, meaningful appreciation, even while working remotely. 

2. Buffer

Buffer prides itself on being an open and fully remote company (meaning they share the company’s finances and other metrics) that focuses on social media management. Buffer’s company values include transparency, positivity, gratitude, reflection, improving consistently, and acting beyond yourself. Aside from a fully remote workplace, here are a few other ways Buffer rocks employee recognition and company culture. 

• Recognition is a cornerstone of their culture: Buffer reinforces that employee recognition is a core element of their company culture by highlighting gratitude as a core company value and is a vital part of a thriving remote work environment. 

• Focused on deliberate praise: To help keep their remote employees engaged and recognized, Buffer prioritizes transparent communication and deliberate systems for sharing praise. Through using a discourse category just for praise, employees can tag the entire company or a fellow employee to share praise publicly. Buffer uses their All Hands meetings to celebrate team achievements, work anniversaries, and more. 

• Employee feedback is a priority: To ensure employees are happy and feeling heard and valued, Buffer prioritizes employee feedback and performance reviews. During these reviews, employees can voice their feedback, as well as get feedback from management/leadership. This feedback keeps employees on track and ensures that management hears their voices. 

3. Zapier

Zapier is a remote-first automation company that embeds recognition into every stage of the employee journey. From onboarding to ongoing development, they consistently tie appreciation to company values like transparency, impact, and growth. By making recognition a daily practice—not just a formality—they foster connection and motivation across a globally distributed team.

• Intentional onboarding and culture building: When Zapier hires, they give new employees a well-documented onboarding experience and place them in a buddy system to aid their social and professional integration. From the start, Zapier introduces new employees to a culture of recognition through shout-outs, peer-to-peer recognition, and encouragement. Following an onboard

• Employee recognition and feedback: Zapier has systems in place to celebrate and acknowledge employee contributions, such as public shout-outs in Slack, company-wide acknowledgements of major milestones, and clear goal-setting and progress tracking so employees know how their work matters.

• Growth and learning opportunities: Career growth and employee recognition are closely tied because recognition is both a reward for performance and a signal that growth is possible. Recognition reinforces growth-oriented behaviors and builds motivation. Zapier offers growth and learning opportunities to encourage employee growth and learning. 

4. Toptal

Toptal prides itself as the “world’s largest fully remote company” with employees working in over 100 countries to connect businesses with top-tier freelancers. They’ve built their employee recognition program around core values like accountability, excellence, and contribution to culture—embedding these principles into performance reviews, rewards, and daily interactions. This intentional alignment ensures that employees feel seen, valued, and connected, no matter where they work in the world.

• Learned from mistakes: When Toptal started, they were struggling with high employee turnover rates. The company’s leadership realized that their employees felt undervalued, so they implemented a structured employee recognition program that celebrated individual achievements and team success. Within a year, employee satisfaction scores went up and employee turnover rates dropped. That is the power of listening to employee feedback and implementing a strong employee recognition program. 
  
  
• Emphasis on company culture: The company’s culture is a top priority for Toptal. In an interview from 2023, Toptal’s CPO said:

“Our culture is the DNA that runs through our organization. We hire for it. We do culture interviews. We review our culture during peer reviews and manager feedback. During those reviews, we even ask employees to rate somebody’s contribution to the culture and how they’re embracing it. Our rewards and recognition program is built around our cultural attributes. It’s how we run initiatives. It’s how we have objectives and key results. It’s how we run meetings. Our culture is about accountability, and you see it in everything we do.” – Michelle Labbe, Chief People Officer, Toptal

Key Lessons from Recognition-Driven Companies 

By studying companies like the ones listed above, it is clear that a strong recognition culture doesn’t happen by chance. It is built intentionally through systems, tools, and values that center around genuine appreciation. Here are a few noteworthy lessons from these companies that are masters at recognition culture. 

• Tie Recognition To Values 

One of the most effective ways to strengthen workplace culture is to connect recognition directly to your organization’s core values. Praising employees who embody specific values, such as collaboration or empathy, reinforces what matters most. Platforms like Kudoboard make this easy by allowing you to personalize recognition boards with messages that highlight how a team member lived out a value in their work. Being intentional about praise not only boosts morale but also ensures that the company values are more than just words on a wall. 

• Normalize Public Praise

In remote teams, visibility is everything. One way to increase that visibility and foster a positive team atmosphere is to normalize public recognition. Making appreciation visible reminds employees that their work matters, even when no one is physically close. An easy way to highlight employee achievements is through public recognition, either at the beginning of a meeting or in a dedicated Slack channel. Public praise also tends to lead to more engaged employees, lower employee turnover, and an overall improved employee experience. 

• Create Consistent Rituals 

Consistency turns recognition into a cultural habit. Something as small as a consistent Slack shout-out can make a big difference. Monthly peer recognition awards are an excellent way to highlight appreciation and create a new recognition ritual. Companies can also make a scheduled post on work anniversaries to help keep recognition regular. 

• Make Room for Both Peer and Manager-Driven Praise 

Employee recognition should not just come from the top down. There should be a balance of both peer and manager-driven recognition. Peer-to-peer, or social recognition, helps build crucial social relationships in the workplace. These social relationships make a big difference, especially in a remote-first company. Encouraging recognition moments from both leadership and peers helps foster a true culture of appreciation and recognition within the company. A strong recognition culture in a remote setting is achievable when companies emphasize inclusivity and make recognition a core company value, ensuring that every member of the remote workforce feels appreciated and connected.

Read More: What Types of Employee Recognition Matter Most?

Build Your Own Remote Recognition Strategy

Having a strong recognition culture doesn’t happen by accident; it needs to be intentional and tailored to your company’s needs. This is especially true for remote companies, where recognition programs play a vital role in ensuring employees feel valued. Without the in-person interactions, employee recognition can fall to the wayside. To build a strong remote recognition strategy, companies need to follow a few key steps. 

1. Define your company’s purpose and goals behind the need for a recognition program. Start by asking: Why are we creating an employee recognition program? Perhaps you want to increase employee engagement, reduce turnover, or create a more inclusive culture. Having a clear objective helps guide every decision the company makes regarding this employee recognition program. 

2. Collect input from employees at all levels. If you want employees (especially management and leadership) to appreciate and use the employee recognition program or strategy, they need to be involved in the process of building the program. Getting feedback is invaluable and provides information like what channels they would prefer, what types of recognition feel meaningful to them. Giving employees a chance to be involved helps give them a sense of ownership and will help boost participation. 

3. Align recognition with company values. Recognition is most powerful when it reinforces your company’s core values. Take a look at each value and decide how it might show up in day-to-day or quarterly work. Then create categories of recognition that spotlight those behaviors. For example, if one of your values is “teamwork”, recognize employees who proactively engage in collaboration. 

4. Choose tools that suit your remote team’s communication style. This could include having a Slack shout-out channel, visual recognition boards, or dedicated time during meetings. By designing a system that is both structured and flexible, you’ll create a culture where recognition feels authentic, consistent, and aligned with your company’s mission. One where any remote employee can feel seen and valued. 

5. Create clear guidelines and expectations. Outline how often recognition should happen, who can give it, and what it should look like. Encourage both manager-driven and peer-to-peer recognition to create a well-rounded culture of appreciation. Built-in rituals could include weekly shout-outs, monthly awards tied to company values, onboarding recognition for new hires, and yearly appreciation events. 

While building a recognition program, watch out for common recognition program failures. Things like poor user experience, inconsistency, and lack of training can all lead to a failed recognition program. A well-designed remote recognition strategy isn’t just about giving shout-outs, it’s about building a culture where appreciation is visible and tied to what matters most. Meaningful and consistent recognition helps employees feel valued, boosts employee engagement, collaboration, and reduces employee turnover.

How To Choose An Employee Recognition Program

Selecting the right employee recognition program is crucial, especially for remote companies. There are plenty of employee recognition programs out there to help support recognition efforts. Here are a few questions to keep in mind when finding an employee recognition program or software that works for your company. 

• Does it align with organizational values? 
• Is it easy to use and accessible to all employees?
• Is there an option for flexibility and customization?
• Does it integrate well with existing tools that are already used by the company?
• Are there feedback mechanisms set in place? 

By carefully evaluating these factors, you can select an employee recognition program that not only supports recognition efforts but also cultivates a thriving and engaged workplace. Luckily, there is a program out there that does all that and more. Kudoboard is an easy-to-use employee recognition software program that empowers teams to recognize each other through online group cards. 

Read More: 15 Questions to Ask in Selecting an Employee Recognition Software

Final Thoughts 

Recognition isn’t optional for remote teams—it’s essential for building connections, reinforcing values, and sustaining engagement across time zones. The remote companies that do it best don’t wait for recognition to happen organically. They design thoughtful strategies, choose the right tools, and create rituals that make employee appreciation part of daily life. Balancing both informal, day-to-day recognition with more formal, quarterly recognition helps create a consistent culture of appreciation, rather than relying solely on occasional, scheduled praise. 

From employee recognition platforms, like Kudoboard, filled with team praise or a shout-out during team meetings, consistent recognition helps remote employees feel seen, valued, and motivated while boosting employee morale. By learning from successful companies and building a recognition approach that fits your unique culture, you’ll not only boost employee morale and job satisfaction. You’ll also lay the groundwork for a more connected, resilient, and high-performing remote team. Want to build a recognition culture your remote team will love? Start by recognizing one teammate today, publicly and meaningfully.