Shape Company Core Values With Micro-Recognition

By Rob Seay, Director of Employee Experience, Bonfyre

Do your company core values guide your recognition practices?

Although it may seem like common sense that they would, company core values and recognition programs haven’t always intersected. Historically, most recognition programs prioritize rewarding tenure, retirement, and outcome-oriented performance over behaviors representative of company values. However, a recent trend has emerged. According to the Society for Human Resources Management(SHRM), the number of recognition programs that incorporate value-guided recognition has increased by 10 percent in the last five years.

Company values have a powerful influence over the employee experience. Research shows that employees who know and fully understand organizational values are 51 times more likely to be engaged than those who don’t (Modern Survey).

Tying recognition to core values is a start, but from an operational standpoint, we should think critically about the type of recognition that makes these principles top of mind.

Why do we care about company core values?

Core values are a Rosetta Stone, helping employees decipher the language of their work environment. Company values also serve as reference points for the behaviors that define success at work. As such, it’s critical that they’re defined and thoroughly articulated. When these principles aren’t known, understood, and communicated, it opens the door to dysfunction in the company.

But beyond serving as behavioral guidelines, core values inform the purpose of our work. It’s human nature to look for meaning in our jobs and finding meaning in work might be more important than personal happiness when it comes to factors like retention, job satisfaction, and engagement (Fast Company).

How does micro-recognition shape company core values? 

Company values are communicated through your recognition practices. Who you recognize and don’t recognize sends explicit and implicit messages to employees about the behaviors expected of them. For example, when someone gets a certificate for outstanding sales performance, it signals to other employees that the behaviors and accomplishments of the person recognized are noteworthy, valued, and reflective of the culture the company wants.

The inherent power of micro-recognition, then, lies in its flexible nature. Unlike macro-recognition, micro-recognition is owned by everyone. It’s a process driven by leaders and employees in which recognition is exchanged from all directions as frequent, informal instances of sincere social praise, which happens in the moment.

Value-focused micro-recognition creates action-items out of the reference points provided by core values. Micro-recognition’s immediacy targets specific moments and behaviors that hold particular relevance to the individual employee.

This sincere, personalized form of attention makes clear to the individual how company core values manifest within a specific job, and it’s going to be more memorable to John than if we were vaguely talking about how he acts with integrity at the quarterly meeting. And that personal attention is not to be underestimated. The Aberdeen Group reports that 60 percent of best-in-class companies find recognition to be an extremely valuable way to drive individual performance (Globoforce).

If you want recognition to identify how employees can live out core values through their jobs, recognize immediately, often, and with sincerity. Macro-recognition can still be tailored to your value system, but save it for remarkable moments that need the dignity it provides. For everything else, unleash the power of micro-recognition to communicate and shape your company core values.


Rob Seay is the director of employee experience at Bonfyre, the workplace culture platform that helps employees to connect and relate.

Show Me the Perks: It’s About More than Just Money

Top tips for building a total rewards program that wins.

By Evette Baker, President of Sparks Group

Gone are the days when a simple compensation and benefit package was the key to a happy employee’s heart. If anything, to achieve an engaged and loyal workforce that will attract and retain quality personnel, employers have to do more than just go the extra mile—they have to constantly bring more and more perks, rewards, and incentives.

Millennials now dominate the workforce. They pray at the altar of convenience and individuality and crave employment opportunities and environments that “get them” and allow them to be part of something bigger. Thus this trend towards a total rewards package shows no signs of disappearing anytime soon.

Sound familiar? According to a recent piece by BenefitsPRO and a Global Engagement study conducted by Aon Hewitt, engaged employees tend to work for organizations that offer a “rich and balanced benefits package that is well explained to them and that is competitive in the marketplace.” Typically, the “rich and balanced” aspect of this offering tended to come from opportunities to build additional career skills and increase work-life balance. 

So, what does this mean for you and your organization? If you’re beginning to think that there might be some ways to improve your total rewards package (or if you’re thinking now would be a good time to start one), you’re right! In order to keep current employees happy and attract new talent, here are some top tips to consider:

·         Make it personal. Employment packages should include compensation as one of the factors, but additional rewards should focus on offerings that appeal to and deliver value to employees on a personal level.

·         It’s not about getting from point A to point B—It’s about the journey. Employees are searching for opportunities and packages with “extras” that will enhance their work experience, above and beyond the more transactional style of cost/compensation and negotiation from previous generations.

·         The unmatched power of influencers and impact. Employees are increasingly choosing to work for organizations that offer value-adds such as professional development and coaching, team and social activities, and appreciation incentives and overtures. A hefty part of ensuring that your total rewards are being communicated and enjoyed involves leveraging feedback directly from your teams. Brand ambassadors can either be your greatest asset in spreading the word to entice and engage employees or your toughest critics who complain about what you may not be doing as well as you could.

Overall, employers in today’s workplace need to be increasingly aware and adaptable, looking proactively at what competitors are offering and listening to their employees’ honest feedback about areas for improvement. Transparency, individuality, and knowing your audience (as well as speaking their language) may seem like difficult tasks, but they’re essential to ensuring that employee teams are satisfied and engaged to perform at their top potential, and advance your organization into the future.