The Engagement-First, AI-First Playbook: Boost Productivity 70% by Letting AI Do the Boring Work

Hey everybody, here for the Engagement First, AI First Playbook, with me, Alex Grande, CEO and co-founder of Recognize. Thanks so much for coming on this mid-December day. It's very rainy here in Seattle.

Love to see where everyone is. I know we have a bit of a small group, which is awesome. I love being able to have it be more of an intimate discussion, maybe get to have more of a conversation in the chat. So feel free to write in where you're calling in from.

What's on your mind around engagement and AI? But I'd love to see where people are from.

Alright, sunny Orlando.

Alright, Anacortes, so just up the way. I was in Anacortes this summer with my uncle sailing, so that's really fun to have someone close by.

Man, minus 10 degrees. Celsius though, right? Still very, very cold.

Wisconsin, beautiful. Love Wisconsin.

Jamaica, oh my gosh. I’d love to visit Jamaica and check out the sound system culture.

Very cool to have international folks here.

Awesome. Well, it's been a couple minutes, let's go ahead and get started.

So I’ve got some interesting things to talk about in this conversation around using AI, recognition, and engagement.

I’d also love to see what people’s job titles are or what you do. It gives me a sense of what to talk about. Also, where do you work? Put that in the chat. It’ll help guide the conversation.

We have a good group of people here, under 30 people, so I want to make sure that we can serve the people here on this call. That’s why we’re here live rather than listening to it later or watching a snippet on LinkedIn, right? We’re here live, so let’s participate.

Alright.

Let’s get into it.

I think we all know there’s a traditional way of doing things that we’ve been doing for at least a couple decades, and now there’s the AI approach. Things are changing very quickly, and you want to be part of that wave and not be left behind. Super important.

Some of the things I’m going to talk about in this call, if you start using this kind of language or doing these certain types of activities or keeping track of certain types of things, you're going to elevate in your career.

And unlike crypto, where there were the haves and have-nots in the early 2010s, AI is only going to get more and more incredible. We already see what it can do since the advent of ChatGPT a few years ago.

A couple things I want you to think about: we shouldn’t just do things because everyone else is doing them. It’s always good to look at yourself and ask, what do you want to do? Where do you want to go in your career?

There are tools and widgets and gadgets you can buy to track how you spend your time, but oftentimes we can just be honest with ourselves at the end of the week.

What things did you do that week that weren’t things you loved doing? Maybe they were repetitive, or maybe you felt like somebody else could have handled them. Well, maybe AI can help you with those types of tasks.

We want to be in our state of excellence, our state of genius, however you want to call it.

And to be in that flow state requires you not to do things you hate doing.

Work is work, and we’re going to have to do things we don’t want to do. I was just on vacation in Mexico last week, and the reason we take vacations is because work is work.

That’s why grit and determination are so important in being successful.

But I would ask that you go to ChatGPT sometime and say:

“Here’s what I do. This is my role, this is where I work, this is what I love doing, and this is where I want to go. Help me design my week, my month, my quarter, my year.”

Getting a roadmap from AI on how to design your own life is super powerful.

Specifically in this call, we’re going to talk more about ways of using AI to automate some of the things you do, automate recognition and engagement, and work better and faster by working asynchronously.

I’d love it if you could put a 1 in the chat if you have a recognition program right now, a 2 if you have rewards or some kind of monetary component, and a 3 if you’re using a third-party system like Recognize to do employee recognition.

Really, these stats are how you can drive that conversation with leadership. If you don’t have a recognition program, or you want to elevate your recognition and rewards program to create that culture of appreciation in your organization, you want to talk to executives in the way they listen.

I recommend using stats, research, and the sources of that research for recognition.

Overall performance increased by 17%, and if you are a company that maybe doesn’t have a global recognition program throughout the organization, consider creating one just for your team.

At Recognize, the platform I created for recognition and rewards, we’re moving toward having teams get started first and create that FOMO inside the organization.

People start asking:

“Why is your team so much more productive?”

“Why are they working above and beyond?”

“Why do they seem like they’re having such a great time?”

Be the envy of the organization.

One of the last places I worked before I started Recognize, I created a healthy snack co-op within my team. I would buy affordable things like apples and peanuts and put them in the center of our group’s table.

I became the envy of the other groups. People would come by and ask, “Hey, can I get a couple snacks?”

Everyone on my team was paying into it. The company wasn’t paying for it because all they had was a vending machine.

You can do things like that to create culture and make strides in the organization.

Recognition does not have to start company-wide. It can start within your group and grow from there.

I want to talk about some of the things we can do with AI right now that you may or may not already be doing.

I think the first level is using ChatGPT to write more empathetic messages, help write articles or wikis, and handle routine tasks you don’t want to do.

I’m not going to spend too much time on that.

But I do want to touch on actually writing code yourself, which may sound intimidating if you’ve never done it before.

For example, I gave ChatGPT a prompt:

“Create an HTML file that helps me calculate bonuses for my staff. Make it look modern and nice.”

That’s basically it.

And it produced the HTML, the styling, and the JavaScript automatically.

Another tool you can use is Visual Studio Code. If you were an actual developer writing code, this is one of the tools you’d use.

I was at the climbing gym recently, and one of the employees said:

“Yeah, I’m launching my app on Android and iPhone. I vibe-coded it.”

“Vibe coding” basically means writing software using AI and prompts.

You become a prompt engineer.

That’s a great skill to have on your resume.

This is the same prompt I put into ChatGPT:

“Create an HTML file where I can calculate bonuses.”

And it produced a complete interface.

I then used Claude inside Visual Studio Code. Claude is another AI assistant by Anthropic, similar to Copilot or ChatGPT.

I just said:

“Give me a calculator.”

And it built one.

This one didn’t look quite as polished as the ChatGPT version, but they both worked.

You can continue building from there:

“Now add graphs.”

“Now export it to Excel.”

“Now make it more sophisticated.”

You can build full applications through continued prompting.

We launched several calculators on RecognizeApp.com this way:

* ROI calculators

* Points budget calculators

* Team offsite calculators

These were all vibe-coded.

You can also ask ChatGPT to turn these into Excel files if that’s more comfortable for you.

That’s the shift now:

You’re editing rather than writing from scratch.

Another thing you want to get into is workflow automation.

These are tools that connect one app to another app.

At the end of the day, apps are mostly forms connected to databases. Excel is also a database.

The more we record things in Excel, the more powerful we become because we can automate workflows around that data.

For example, if you have an Excel file recording recognitions, you can trigger an event whenever a new row is added.

That event can:

* Be analyzed by ChatGPT

* Post automatically into Teams or Slack

* Notify managers

* Update reports

There are several tools for this:

* Zapier

* Make.com

* Microsoft Power Automate

For example, if someone completes a Typeform survey, Zapier can:

* Filter the response

* Send it to Slack or Teams

* Add it to a spreadsheet

* Notify someone by email

Make.com is another useful option, especially if you’re a Google Workspace company.

Microsoft Power Automate is more difficult, honestly, but it’s deeply integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem.

Zapier is still probably the easiest overall.

Power Automate has a lot of promising templates, but it can be frustrating sometimes.

Still, these workflow tools are incredibly important because they allow you to automate processes and build lightweight internal apps.

If you have Copilot integrated with Power Automate, you can already use AI to analyze emails and sort information automatically.

Another thing I wanted to mention is ChatGPT personalization settings.

Go into ChatGPT settings and look at Personalization.

You can now customize:

* Tone

* Style

* Behavior

People online have been saying the “Nerdy” style is especially good because it’s curious and exploratory.

I added custom instructions like:

* Be right to the point

* Be innovative

* Think outside the box

It’s worth exploring.

Coming back to recognition, one thing I like using is a recognition spreadsheet.

Every week, someone should recognize somebody else.

You can create a recurring Outlook or Google Calendar event that reminds people every Friday morning to submit a recognition.

No meeting required. Just asynchronous participation.

Then at the end of the month, you can use Excel’s “Analyze Data” feature to instantly see:

* Who sent the most recognitions

* Who received the most recognitions

You can also paste the spreadsheet into Gemini, Copilot, or ChatGPT and say:

“Analyze these recognitions against our company values.”

The AI can identify who demonstrated which values.

That makes monthly or quarterly gatherings much easier.

You can highlight:

* Good ideas

* Teamwork

* Leadership

* Innovation

All without manually sorting through data.

The key is simply getting the data entered consistently.

I also love using these systems for performance reviews.

Performance reviews should feel psychologically safe.

Employees should already know where they stand because there’s continuous recognition and feedback.

Managers can use ChatGPT almost like a coach.

You can say:

“I’m having this problem with this employee. Help me reframe this feedback in a respectful and solution-oriented way.”

It’s incredibly useful.

One-on-ones are another area where managers can improve.

We all know what it’s like to have a manager who chats casually in one-on-ones but then gives a low performance rating later. That disconnect creates distrust.

Employees should feel honesty, clarity, and psychological safety.

I had a friend recently say their manager’s communication improved dramatically after they started using ChatGPT. The messages became warmer and more understanding.

Even if it’s obvious AI helped, people still appreciate the effort and clarity.

Recognition culture can absolutely start at the team level.

You can create:

* Shared spreadsheets

* Email workflows

* Feedback inboxes

* Peer recognition systems

Even a simple workflow where emails with “Praise” in the subject line automatically get saved into a spreadsheet can be valuable.

You can also create recurring reminders for managers if someone hasn’t been recognized recently.

Compound-interest tasks are the best tasks:

You set them up once, and they continue generating value over time.

Anniversaries are another example.

You can maintain a spreadsheet or simply use calendar reminders for:

* Work anniversaries

* Wedding anniversaries

* Personal milestones

Privacy matters, obviously, but small personal acknowledgments go a long way.

Another thing I want to touch on is remote communication.

Since we’re using Teams and Slack more than ever, things can get out of hand quickly.

At Recognize, we eventually moved from Google Drive and OneDrive to Notion because we needed a stronger wiki system.

Notion allows much better organization and hierarchy.

Micro-videos are another powerful tool.

I use Zoom Clips constantly.

If my assistant in the Philippines asks a question, I’ll often respond with a short Zoom video instead of a long written message.

She can:

* Rewatch it

* Speed it up

* Learn asynchronously

That said, we still need human connection.

If everything becomes asynchronous updates, we lose camaraderie and culture.

But many people also want fewer meetings.

Sometimes companies need to completely reset recurring meetings and rebuild intentionally.

People are healthier when they have flexibility and autonomy.

If someone is getting their work done, don’t obsess over whether their green dot is active in Slack or Teams.

For example, yesterday I took time off at 4 PM, then came back online from 6 PM to 10 PM.

People work differently.

Autonomy often creates healthier and more productive employees.

I also want to talk about proving ROI.

Track your AI savings.

Track:

* Time saved

* Faster turnaround times

* Quality improvements

* Project completion speed

I created this presentation using Gamma.app.

The initial draft took less than an hour.

Without AI, it would have taken significantly longer or required a designer.

Leadership loves evidence, not anecdotes.

Another tool I recommend is Whimsical.

You can create flowcharts and diagrams using AI-generated content.

I asked ChatGPT for workflow recommendations around promotions and discounts, pasted the output into Whimsical, and instantly got a polished flowchart.

Instead of spending hours building diagrams manually, it took about 10 or 15 minutes.

Again, the mindset is:

Edit instead of compose from scratch.

One important note around AI tools is privacy and company information.

You absolutely want to be mindful about what data you upload into third-party systems.

If you’re uploading sensitive recognition data or internal information into public AI systems, there are privacy considerations.

That’s why purpose-built platforms with proper security standards matter.

As we wrap up, I’d encourage you not to wait.

Even if your company doesn’t yet have a formal recognition or engagement program, start with your own team.

Create newsletters. Summarize recognitions. Celebrate wins.

Build psychological safety and appreciation.

Then measure the results.

Use surveys through Typeform or other tools. Analyze the results using AI.

Research consistently shows that employees who are never recognized are far more likely to leave organizations.

Recognition is a strong indicator of retention and engagement.

At Recognize, we even generate AI-powered summaries for employee performance reviews based on recognition history.

Things are becoming easier every month.

You just have to stay curious and keep experimenting.

Thanks so much for joining today, especially during the busy holiday season.

Please reach out to me on LinkedIn or email me if you’d like to continue the conversation.

We’ve got an exciting webinar schedule planned for 2026.

And if you’d like a demo of Recognize and how we do recognition rewards, I’d love to show you.

We’re especially excited about launching discounted concerts, sporting events, and experiential rewards tied to anniversaries, company values, and engagement challenges.

Thanks so much, everybody.

I hope you have a wonderful continued Hanukkah, a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and enjoy the winter solstice with friends and family.

Take care, everybody.