Real Customer Results: Highlights from the Recognition Intelligence Report

How much can you learn from saying thank you?

This is the philosophical question that I keep returning to year after year. It’s at the heart of every interview I conduct or client analysis I review: a fundamental belief that gratitude can be a great teacher.

That’s a big part of why I’m excited to unpack some of the highlights from the Workhuman® Recognition Intelligence report in this blog. The report features tons of sparkly new research, plus stories from our customers around the world like British Airways, CAA Club Group, Encore, Moody’s, Panduit, and Zentiva.

Each customer story gets at that question: what can recognition teach us? When paired with their own workforce data, our customers discovered all sorts of new things, from psychological safety, engagement, and wellbeing outcomes to performance, retention, culture, and program results.

These results demonstrate the power and scale of recognition data. They show how a moment in time – simply taking a moment to say thank you – can start a chain reaction, become an authentic movement.

Let’s take a look at some of the business questions we tackled with customers and highlighted in the report.

Think about a time in your life you were thanked for doing a good job. You probably felt more motivated to keep at it, right? In partnership with Workhuman, British Airways was able to see that pattern appear in their recognition data. Employees who were recognized more frequently were more likely to improve their performance ratings. And employees who both gave and received recognition were also more likely to improve.

“What surprised us was that the impact isn’t just limited to those receiving recognition – our research shows that colleagues who actively recognise others are more likely to achieve stronger performance ratings themselves.”

Read the British Airways case study →

We've been studying the connection between recognition and wellbeing for a long time. Over the years, we've seen customers integrate recognition and wellbeing strategies through ERGs, Team Awards, and streamlining disparate programs into a one-stop-shop. For Workhuman customer, CAA Club Group of Companies (CCG), they've gone the route of linking their recognition and wellbeing program together.

Together, we looked at their employee data + recognition data to analyze the connection between program participation, performance and retention. We found that wellness badge earners (those who had been recognized for wellness activities) had lower voluntary turnover and were more likely to move from Meets to Exceeds in the following performance cycle. Pretty neat.

“Our partnership with Workhuman iQ continues to reinforce what we've long believed: recognition, belonging, and well-being are deeply connected. By linking wellness achievements to recognition, we've created a virtuous cycle where healthy behaviours become visible, celebrated, and shared.”

Read the CCG case study →

When looking at employee retention, it's important to know that that the numbers vary greatly between industry and employee type. For example, turnover rates in the professional and business services sector have increased by 0.5% per month since 2024 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Encore, a professional services customer, employs a large frontline and hourly workforce. As the company was expanding through acquisitions, it evolved its recognition strategy to create a more connected and consistent employee experience. With Workhuman, they found that employees who were recognized more often were less likely to leave, with the strongest retention relationship appearing among hourly employees. That's key for addressing the increasing turnover the BLS is reporting on in their industry.

“The findings reinforce what we've seen across our workforce: when people feel valued and recognized for their contributions, they are more likely to stay engaged and perform at their best. Recognition is an important part of how we build connection, strengthen our culture, and support team members' growth and development throughout their careers at Encore.”

Psychological safety is another topic we frequently study at Workhuman. In our 2025 research paper, Recognition as an Engine for Strategy, we surveyed 2,500 employees and found when people have been recognized in the past month, their psychological safety scores are 21% higher. The act of thanking people also correlates with higher psychological safety in those expressing gratitude to others – an increase of 15%.

When Moody’s investigated their own workforce data, they found that teams with high recognition activity scored 7.5 points higher on an internal psychological-safety survey compared to teams with no recognition activity. Recognition was also linked to stronger engagement and intent to stay.

“Recognition is essential to fostering a workplace culture where people feel valued, connected, and supported – and in today’s environment, that matters more than ever.”

Hear from Moody’s in our on-demand webinar, Leading from the Center: HR as the Operating System of the Enterprise

Panduit has been a customer with Workhuman since 2011. Over time, Workhuman iQ tracked a sustained increase in message length, with employees writing more detailed recognition. This matters because those richer messages were associated with higher performance-improvement rates and clearer coaching opportunities. And within the more detailed recognition, the team found that messages reflected the organization's strategic priorities.

“Once we saw the impact that thoughtful recognition messages were having, it became clear that the more effort employees put into writing meaningful messages, the more powerful the recognition experience became. This realization led us to focus even more on encouraging this behavior throughout the organization.”

Read our blog, 100+ Effective Employee Recognition Words That Work in 2026

Zentiva did a one-year diagnostic, connecting recognition to performance, retention and company values. Together, we found:

• 76% of employees received recognition in the first year and 84% of high performers participated
• Among employees whose performance improved, 77% were recognized and 47% were frequently recognized
• Voluntary turnover was 3.5 times lower among employees receiving 3+ awards than among unrecognized employees

“These insights provide us with concrete information to act on. In Zentiva, recognition is developing into an important tool we can leverage to strengthen our culture and support our people.”

Keeping Humanity at Work

What’s interesting about recognition data is that it can show us all that (!!), and just as much about what it means to be human. Every thank you reveals a little bit more about how we really see one another at work, the place many of us end up spending about a third of our lives. Ultimately, I’m drawn back to the same conclusion again and again. In this fast-paced world that is full of so many moments both joyful and challenging, recognition captures what it means to stay human through it all.

See these customer stories and more. Read the full report →