The Hybrid Culture Playbook: Boost Engagement 20% with Recognition-First People Ops

Hey everybody, welcome to the webinar with Recognize, a hybrid culture playbook. We're going to talk about creating a culture of recognition and boosting engagement.

And thank you so much to everyone for joining right now. I see the participants increasing, so thanks a lot.

Since this is a topic of giving thanks and appreciating employees to drive results, I’d love to hear what people are doing for Thanksgiving. Anyone in the States calling in? I understand Canada already had Thanksgiving. I’d love to hear what you did. I’m curious if anyone’s traveling next week.

I’ll be heading to Texas myself for Thanksgiving, which I’m excited about.

Curious to hear what people’s favorite Thanksgiving meals are, maybe? What people love to have for Thanksgiving. Or what people are doing.

I kind of oscillate between spending time with family for Thanksgiving and, on the other side, sometimes camping with family or friends. It’s just a nice time at the end of November when it’s not too cold to get out in nature.

So we’ll just give people an extra minute here. I see about 30 people in the room. It’s awesome. Thanks so much for coming.

Yeah, going out to a restaurant is good. I’ve definitely done the Chinese restaurant Thanksgiving with my mom before. That’s been fun. I have some good memories of Seattle Chinatown for Thanksgiving, which is definitely unorthodox.

But yeah, almost all my family is in Seattle, so we usually have some kind of gathering. It’s always fun to see relatives, nieces and nephews, and second cousins.

Awesome. We’re about 3 minutes in, so let’s jump into it.

We’re talking recognition, culture, and engaging employees, right?

My name’s Alex Grande. I’m the co-founder and CEO of Recognize. You can check us out at recognizeapp.com. There’s a QR code on the screen and a QR code to our LinkedIn. Please follow us and connect with me on LinkedIn as well. I’m easy to find. There’s going to be a link at the end to connect with me too.

I love talking to people. I love getting emails after the fact. I go through every single one and respond to everybody. So if you write me, I’ll write you back.

Very low sales pressure. We’re just trying to help people out, so no pressure on any kind of questions you have for me.

We’re going to go through a little bit about what it’s like to work at a hybrid company or a remote company, what the challenges are, and also some of the pitfalls of recognition, because it can backfire. We’ll talk about how to avoid that, some mistakes people make, and some things we can do to automate recognition and make it more exciting.

Then we’ll talk about some of the rituals you can do as a community or as a manager. I’ll share an example of a customer and how they’ve been able to increase retention, and then we’ll talk about some things you can take away from this webinar.

First of all, hybrid remote work is not easy. I think we all know that. There can be challenges with technology. Every app added by a company becomes another tab. So if you’re going to add new communication tools, ideally they’re integrated into what you’re already using.

If you’re using Slack, find things for Slack. If you’re using Microsoft Teams, find things for Teams or the Microsoft 365 stack.

Oftentimes, integrated tools are better than whatever may technically be “the best” because people will actually use them. If people never use the tool, why have it?

That’s why at Recognize we’re integrated into Microsoft 365 and Slack, so you can have best-in-class solutions in the tools you’re already using.

Another issue, from a study with The Economist, is that the quality of ideas declines when people are remote. That’s one of the biggest challenges.

There’s also emotional stress. People love working from home, and what studies often show is that remote employees can actually be more engaged than people in the office.

Maybe it’s because people feel grateful to be home, so they work harder. I think during COVID we all saw that people often worked longer hours from home than they did in the office.

But there can also be loneliness. One thing you have to be careful about with remote work is the feeling of being ghosted.

I think we’ve all experienced this with texting friends or dating. You send someone a message, you see the read bubble pop up, and then they never respond. That creates stress.

The same thing happens at work. If someone messages you and you don’t get back to them, or vice versa, it can create anxiety and uncertainty.

These passive-aggressive behaviors may not even be intentional, but they can feel exponentially more painful when you’re remote. You can’t walk down the hallway and see your manager’s facial expression.

So we need to overcompensate by communicating more.

I want to talk a little about the pitfalls of employee recognition before we get into the benefits.

One pitfall is trying to fix a struggling employee by giving them more recognition.

This can totally backfire.

Let’s say you have a bunch of A players, and then they see recognition going to someone who isn’t performing well. That can be frustrating.

Before using recognition as a strategy, look at how often that lower-performing employee is already being recognized. If they’re already getting recognized once or twice a month, additional recognition probably won’t move the needle.

But if they’ve never been recognized for anything positive they’ve done, then a meaningful shout-out might help improve performance.

Sometimes, though, the employee simply isn’t performing and there’s nothing to recognize. Then you may need to consider other approaches, such as a performance improvement plan.

Be careful with recognition because one recognition sent to a non-A player can make a bunch of A players start acting like B players.

Another pitfall is recognizing only groups instead of individuals.

Group recognitions are fine, but if you’re only recognizing teams as a shortcut to raise your recognition score, the meaning gets diluted.

You want to recognize people individually and specifically.

Another issue is overlapping company values. If your values overlap too much, employees won’t know which value applies when recognizing someone. That’s usually a sign your values need refinement.

You also want to make sure deserving employees aren’t falling through the cracks. Sometimes your best employees go unnoticed because you assume they’re fine.

But those high achievers often need recognition the most.

One meaningful recognition a month can make a huge difference.

People also say recognition should always be immediate. I actually disagree with that.

Recognition doesn’t have to happen instantly. Sometimes delayed recognition can feel more thoughtful and meaningful.

Last week Rue did something amazing helping us with webinars, for example. It doesn’t need to happen on the spot.

Actually, Rue, I forgot to do the poll on the last slide. Let’s do the poll now.

Let’s see what people think the biggest challenges are with remote work.

Is it distractions at home? Meeting overload? Time zones? Something else?

Please write it in the chat too. It helps us create future webinar content.

Wow, look at that. Misunderstandings, slow responses, unclear messages.

Personally, one thing I’ve learned with my business partner here at Recognize is that we solve so many communication issues by getting off text and getting on the phone.

If you’re discussing anything emotional or nuanced, get on a quick call.

Text tone creates misunderstandings constantly.

You can easily interpret a message as passive-aggressive when it wasn’t intended that way.

And yes, having a paper trail is useful. That’s why I take copious notes during meetings. Zoom transcripts help too.

But misunderstandings happen all the time when communication stays text-only.

Another challenge people mentioned was work-life boundaries.

That’s definitely hard. I’m in my home right now, so things naturally come up.

But working from home can also benefit family life and pets. Our pets don’t have to stay home alone for 8-plus hours anymore.

Aaron mentioned they started a lunch roulette where employees are paired up virtually for lunch conversations. I love that idea.

We lose those water cooler moments in remote environments.

You also need to make sure people aren’t getting notifications for every single Slack or Teams message. Constant notifications are exhausting.

I do a lot of small group direct messages instead.

People shouldn’t feel pressure to respond to everything. If someone responds constantly, they probably aren’t getting real work done.

Abby mentioned coffee chat meetings with no agenda. I highly encourage that.

We also do monthly virtual events like cooking classes and trivia happy hours.

So I want to highlight what happens when recognition is done right.

When meaningful recognition exists inside an organization, people become more engaged, performance improves, results improve, and then there’s more reason to celebrate.

It creates a flywheel.

At Recognize, we do a scorecard every week across marketing, sales, and product because we always want to be winning and measuring progress.

That’s why every business book talks about recognition around company values.

I’m always surprised when executives say they personally don’t need recognition.

It’s not about them. It’s about creating a culture where people feel valued.

People are your number one asset.

Especially client-facing staff. They need to feel appreciated so they can transfer that energy into client interactions.

Let’s talk about automation.

Of course, you can buy software like Recognize. We do automated anniversaries, nominations, and rewards.

But you can also do a lot yourself with tools like Microsoft Power Automate or Zapier.

You can have spreadsheets of anniversaries automatically post to Slack or Teams.

These slides were generated with AI, so apologies for any image typos.

I’m using Gamma.app for this presentation. I highly recommend it.

You can paste outlines into Gamma and instantly generate presentation decks.

You can use it for recognition gatherings or basically anything else.

We want to work smarter.

You can automate work anniversaries and notifications pretty easily.

As far as recognizing people goes, I love how in Microsoft Teams you can create a shared spreadsheet where people log recognitions and accomplishments.

Then managers have real data for performance reviews and team gatherings.

These gatherings help combat loneliness in remote organizations.

The more employees internalize your values, the stronger your culture becomes.

Departments often have their own sub-values too. Incorporate those into stand-ups and team rituals.

And recognize the recognizers.

At Recognize, one of our values is simply: are you a recognizer?

Recognition matters.

In these monthly or weekly gatherings, make sure everybody gets highlighted.

You can also randomly select recognitions and turn them into raffles or small celebrations.

I also want to mention the gamification acronym SAPS:

Status, Access, Power, and Stuff.

Status could mean recognition in a newsletter.

Access could mean attending a conference.

Power could mean being trusted to make decisions.

Stuff means tangible rewards like gift cards.

People often focus only on “stuff,” but status can be even more powerful for intrinsic motivation.

Managers are where the rubber meets the road.

People often say you join a company and leave a manager.

But the opposite can also be true. You might not love the company’s mission, but you remember an incredible manager forever.

So create meaningful one-on-ones.

I had a friend recently tell me their manager spent the entire hour-long one-on-one talking at them.

That’s not a quality one-on-one.

The meeting should focus on the employee.

Talk about recognitions they’ve received, accomplishments, and whether they feel appreciated.

I also love ad hoc private messages.

Brené Brown talks about trust like a jar of marbles.

Every positive interaction adds a marble.

When trust is strong, you can give honest feedback without gimmicks like the “feedback sandwich.”

Small moments build trust.

Checking in on someone’s family or remembering something personal means a lot.

I even keep notes after social events so I remember names and details.

Then months later I can ask someone how their grandmother’s surgery went, and it surprises people in a positive way.

Do the same thing for your direct reports.

One thing that causes immediate stress is getting a message that simply says: “Can we talk?”

That spikes cortisol instantly.

Always provide context.

Say, “Can we talk about the upcoming meeting?” or “Can we talk about the new hire?”

Context matters.

Now, let’s talk about games.

You don’t need expensive tools.

I recently asked ChatGPT for 10 trivia questions covering music, movies, culture, and politics from the last 20 years.

Then I pasted them into Gamma and instantly had a trivia deck.

We also do Shark Tank-style games.

I asked ChatGPT for technology words like “AI” or “digital twin” and random activity words like “camping” or “cooking.”

Then teams had to pitch startup ideas combining the two concepts.

AI plus camping, for example.

It’s incredibly fun and also stimulates creativity.

Pictionary is easy online too.

Task-based bingo can work well for wellness or productivity initiatives.

Another fun game is Fishbowl.

People create the prompts themselves, which makes it endlessly replayable.

All of this builds camaraderie and connection in remote environments.

Obviously remote work allows companies to hire talent from anywhere, but we still need intentional rituals to create human connection.

One customer of ours found that employees who receive recognition stay at the company seven months longer on average.

Lack of recognition can also become a leading indicator of who might leave the organization.

That data helps leadership understand the value of recognition systems.

Recognition is a privilege, not a right.

One thing this customer does is require new hires to recognize someone on their very first day.

That immediately signals that recognition matters here.

We also encourage leaders to record short videos demonstrating how to send recognitions.

Building the habit early is important.

They also use Recognize for professional development.

Recognition shouldn’t just be generic praise.

The strongest recognition ties directly to business outcomes and growth.

For example:

* Completing safety training

* Completing security training

* Positive customer reviews

* Personal development milestones

These are all meaningful achievements.

Gallup reports employees are 74% less likely to leave if they feel recognized.

Recognition also increases organizational citizenship behaviors, meaning people are more likely to go above and beyond.

Recognition is one of the highest ROI engagement activities available.

So create rituals. Create meaningful one-on-ones.

If you’re a director, check in with your managers’ direct reports too.

Are managers responding? Are they ghosting people? Are one-on-ones meaningful?

Managers should absolutely be measured on these behaviors.

We also have another webinar coming up in December about using AI, Zapier, and Power Automate for recognition workflows.

So if you enjoyed this webinar, please come to the next one.

We do webinars every month.

And thanks so much for coming.

Before we close out, I’ll just say please email me at [alex@recognizeapp.com](mailto:alex@recognizeapp.com) if you have any questions.

I can send award certificate templates and other free resources you can use.

I love being part of the community, so please reach out and follow us on LinkedIn.