How LegalZoom Powers an Inclusive Culture Through Recognition & Recognition Insights
Table of contents
- Zoom In! recognition shows values in action
- Recognition reports reveal meaningful culture trends
- Recognition drives organic inclusion
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LegalZoom Snapshot
Tech: | 1,200 global employees | HQ in Mountain View, CA
Product used: Social Recognition®
Customer since: 2022
- 70% of employees recognized through Zoom In!, their Workhuman recognition program.
- 60% of Zoom In! recognition is peer-to-peer
- 81% of employees answered "I receive recognition from my manager when I do a good job" in their last employee survey
LegalZoom is America’s #1 online legal services company, transforming how individuals and small businesses navigate the legal system since 2001.
With about 1,200 global employees, LegalZoom has been steadily strengthening its employee recognition efforts. Rooted in its vision of being the guardians of people’s aspirations, lives, and legacies – and guided by their operating values—the organization partnered with Workhuman® in 2022 to expand the reach and consistency of recognizing its Zoomers.
This partnership aimed to:
✅ Reinforce their pay-for-performance culture
✅ Highlight the meaningful impact Zoomers are making on the business, customers, and company culture
✅ Enable greater visibility into how employees connect across teams and locations
✅ Provide valuable insights to further strengthen engagement and performance
Catherine Davie, Head of Employee Experience & Social Impact, shares how LegalZoom evolved Zoom In!, their Workhuman-powered Social RecognitionOpens in a new tab® program, to a more values‑aligned approach supported by Workhuman’s newest reporting tools.
Keep reading to discover how LegalZoom leveraged employee recognition and recognition insights to amplify culture priorities, uncover meaningful trends, and validate leadership focus – all while reinforcing an inclusive culture where their people feel seen and supported.
“What I love about this platform and about Rewards and Recognition in general is that it is an act of inclusion. That might not be obvious—but recognizing somebody in a public way provides a platform for them to be seen.”
Zoom In! recognition shows values in action
“Recognition before [Zoom In!] was pretty limited to spot bonuses, and it was a very manual process,” Catherine explained. “We didn't have a lot of rigor around what warrants one and what doesn't. It was on the manager to decipher, and it would go to our HR business partners for review and approvals.”
With Zoom In!, LegalZoom established recognition tiers – linked to their operating values and pay-for-performance culture – to provide guidance to employees on what rewards make sense for positive impact made on the business.
This meaningful change was in line with Workhuman’s recommended best practice of linking employee recognition to organizational values to bring culture and strategy to life. With this change, LegalZoom’s Zoom In! now features real time recognition moments, reinforcing their values with recognition employees can see and learn from.
“We were also able to add our spot bonus program to it as well, so we have a one-stop shop for all rewards and recognition,” Catherine added. “Previously, our HR business partners evaluated each reward proposal on a case-by-case basis. Now we have a structured program and tool that eliminates subjectivity and streamlined all rewards in a consistent way.”
Since streamlining recognition efforts, LegalZoom also expanded their recognition program internationally. This created a stronger connection to their global teams, bringing more visibility to the great work happening with teams working in different time zones.
“We have our values, we talk about them, they're part of our vernacular,” Catherine said. “But [now] they're the bedrock of our rewards and recognition program, along with our pay-for-performance culture, which makes them part of how we operate even more—it's really a good place to be.”
Did you know? 💡
In the 2025 Workhuman Global Research Study: Recognition as an Engine for Strategy, we found a trifecta of encouraging results between frequent appreciation, improved psychological safety and cultural alignment to organizational values and strategic initiatives:
The bottom line? Having a strong recognition program helps alignment. When employees love their recognition program, 95% also say they understand their company values. That understanding rate drops to 46% among those who dislike or hate their program.
Zoom In! recognition strategically amplifies culture priorities At LegalZoom, they’ve successfully used Zoom In! to drive awareness and cross-promote key culture priorities such as:
- Employee Resource Group (ERG) visibility: Zoom In! is used to recognize ERG leaders with their annual incentive, creating an additional boost of visibility for their ERGs on the Award Feed for all employees to see.
- Reinforce values: 70% of employees have been recognized through Zoom In!. When leaders use Zoom In!, it reinforces the values and behaviors they want to replicate across the organization.
- Integrated communications: Recognition moments are regularly highlighted in their internal employee communications and their newsletter, The Docket, to highlight the great work and remind employees to use the program.
Workhuman data shows that LegalZoom has a 94% award approval rate—meaning very few awards are being sent back for the wrong tier or value. “To me, that means our employees are invested, they get the program and see its value,” Catherine reflected.
Recognition reports reveal meaningful culture trends
Reporting from Workhuman has helped keep other program stakeholders better informed as the LegalZoom team tracks improvements across recognition efforts.
So far, the LegalZoom team has used Workhuman reports to evaluate if peer-to-peer recognition is increasing (check ✅) and if recognition is beginning to spread out of concentrated pockets and across the organization (also check ✅). And as they measure their employee engagement scores going forward, they’re keeping an eye on how cross-team collaboration and rewarding trends.
With new reporting features from Workhuman, the LegalZoom team has seen culture trends come to life through recognition data including:
- Reach and adoption: 70% of employees received an award last year, with 30% of all awards coming from people leaders.
- Peer-to-peer momentum: In 2025, peer-to-peer recognition was 60%.
- Cross-team connection: Frontline and international use is trending upward. Recognition is now occurring not just cross-department, but cross-country.
“One of the things I am most pleased about is how [recognition] is now a habit and part of how we operate,” Catherine said.
She elaborated with a story of how after a large initiative was completed, she reached out to her Chief People Officer to start a recognition moment for the project. Her CPO had already written the message—the Zoom In! recognition moment was in motion.
“For our most senior leaders, it's top of mind and, when they model the behavior, everyone else participates too,” she said. Looking ahead, one area the team is hoping to tap more into Workhuman analytics is in measuring how many times they’re seeing their strategic initiatives show up as keywords in their recognition moments.
Unlock how recognition drives alignment and investment in company values. Download the 2025 Workhuman Global Research Study for actionable insights on boosting strategy execution.
Recognition drives organic inclusion
LegalZoom continues to see high scores in their annual engagement survey on the question: “I receive recognition from my manager when I do a good job.”
While Catherine notes recognition comes in many forms, the platform certainly helped them reach a response well above industry standards. And it’s this habit of recognizing one another, along with the social aspect of connecting with colleagues – that makes the LegalZoom team most proud.
Whether remote, in-office, or working internationally, there’s no doubt Zoom In! helps keep everyone connected and included.
“What I love about this platform and about Rewards and Recognition in general is that it is an act of inclusion. That might not be obvious—but recognizing somebody in a public way provides a platform for them to be seen,” Catherine reflected.
“When you are seen, you feel included and you feel a sense of belonging. The best part is that [with recognition] it's done through the actual work you're doing. So, it really helps drive inclusivity on a different level and in a way that's not tied to something specific. It’s organic inclusion.”
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