How Recognition Became a Cornerstone of Culture-Building at GoTo
3 min read
GoTo, a Boston-based company that provides SaaS and cloud-based tools for remote work and IT management, was founded in 2003. With nearly 3,500 employees globally, GoTo’s leaders recognize the importance of communication and connection within the organization. GoTo boasts a robust culture, emphasis on recognition, and a number of thriving Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), so it’s no surprise that the organization has such a high number of 'boomerang' employees.
GoTo is determined to maintain their reputation as a highly values-driven organization, which means making a daily commitment to practice what they preach to their employees. Their Bravo! recognition program, which is powered by Workhuman, allowed them to do exactly that. Read on to discover how GoTo strengthened their culture and values through recognition.
The challenge
GoTo's leaders work tirelessly to foster a positive employee experience and a culture of belonging. They encourage work-life balance and want their employees to bring their whole selves to work. Not only does this type of culture lead to better levels of psychological safety, it also encourages better communication and innovation from employees who don’t feel like they need to hide any part of themselves.
We’re in an age now where your work and your home life are blended together, especially through remote work. There is no way that you can shut off who you personally are and what your work identity is.
GoTo’s culture is centered around the values of Be Real, Think Big, Move Fast, and Keep Growing. They’re highly invested in their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and ERG strategy. GoTo recognizes that ERG participants are more likely to recommend their organization to a friend, be highly engaged in their work, and know their company’s values.
Because they understood the important link between belonging and job performance, GoTo’s leaders needed a recognition program that would exemplify their values and tie in directly with their DEI and cultural initiatives.
The solution
GoTo was already deeply focused on the employee experience, with policies like monthly, company-wide self-care days and a financial and cultural investment in ERGs. As an organization, GoTo is deeply committed to valuing employees for their “whole selves,” not just their job performance. With all of this in mind, implementing a formalized recognition program seemed like the next logical step.
A unique aspect of recognition at GoTo is that it began as a Sales Incentive program and expanded to become a company-wide recognition program. Expanding the program allowed GoTo to more deeply link recognition to their DEI initiatives. Bravo! points are used as prizes during ERG and DEI events, tying recognition and culture together even more tightly. When employees begin to recognize each other for who they are as people, beyond just their roles within the company, there is room for true belonging and change to take place.
Whether it's a safe space discussion, a speaker, or a hands-on training, Bravo! allows leaders to recognize employees for winning contests or even just for participating. It creates visibility for all the diverse perspectives that make our company a great place to work.
There were many specific elements of the Workhuman platform that helped create massive impact at GoTo. Workhuman’s Social Recognition platform provided employees with a view into one another’s day-to-day work, increasing their gratitude for one another’s contributions. Workhuman’s Service Milestones, which celebrate important work achievements, helps the workforce stay connected in a remote environment, creating a sense of camaraderie and work-life balance.
The result
The first thing GoTo noticed about Workhuman’s recognition program was the ease of implementation. With a Workday integration that captures recognition and rewards data for GoTo’s employees, the organization has a seamless, flexible, bidirectional integration that facilitates faster program deployment, reduces maintenance requirements, provides greater compliance, and allows for real-time data exchanges.
As Christine Grant, former Staff Compensation Analyst said: "Any time we add on a new application, there’s always concern about how it’s going to work with our existing systems, or how much work it will require from our team to implement and maintain. However, our integration with Workhuman was so seamless that I don’t even have to think about it or worry if things are feeding into the system correctly. It's just all taken care of."
GoTo reports 95% employee engagement in Bravo!, meaning that almost their entire workforce has adopted this technology. They’ve seen 4X lower turnover for employees who received recognition from multiple nominators and 3X lower turnover for those who both gave and received recognition.
4X lower turnover for employees who received recognition from multiple nominators
What’s more, Bravo! has become the thread that ties all of GoTo’s culture-building efforts together. The sense of pride and togetherness this program creates is especially valuable within a huge, global, fully remote workforce like theirs. In fact, 56% of the recognition from the US has gone to employees in other countries. GoTo’s leaders have seen firsthand that recognition has the power to help build and maintain a community of employees who see one another’s worth.
When GoTo rebranded from LogMeIn in 2022, employees maintained a sense of stability and normalcy through Bravo! and GoTo’s other positive cultural practices. Although the rebrand involved considerable work changing GoTo's product offerings, having the ability to formally recognize one another during this stressful time also kept employees on-task and committed to the larger vision of the company.
Partnering with Workhuman has truly bolstered GoTo’s reputation as a conscious, connected place to work.