Changing Culture in the Workplace Through Employee Appreciation & Recognition Software

Workplace culture isn’t just about open floor plans and trendy coffee machines. It’s the unwritten rules, shared values, daily behaviors and emotional undercurrents that shape how your people work together. And it matters more than ever.

Why? Because the top reason employees leave their job is a toxic culture or negative work environment, reports SHRM. Today’s workforce wants more than just a paycheck. They want to feel connected, appreciated and part of something bigger. 

That’s where employee recognition software can help. Employee recognition software, like Inspirus Connects, empowers HR leaders to reinforce company values in everyday actions. When done right, recognition software can help people managers create meaningful moments that reinforce values, drive engagement and change workplace culture from the inside out.

The Importance of Workplace Culture

“Our belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff, like great customer service or building a great long-term brand, or empowering passionate employees and customers will happen on its own.” – Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO

This quote captures a simple but powerful truth: culture drives everything. When your organization gets the culture right, engagement, innovation, customer satisfaction and long-term success naturally follow. In fact, when employees feel connected to their organization’s culture, they’re 4.3x more likely to be engaged and 5.3x more likely to recommend their workplace. They’re also 62% less likely to burn out and 47% less likely to be looking for another job.

On the flip side, a toxic workplace culture is 10.4 times more likely to drive employees to leave than issues related to compensation, according to  MIT Sloan Management Review.  A toxic culture is a recipe for disengagement and high turnover, and it’s costing businesses big. Especially when you consider that organizational culture alone accounts for 42% of job satisfaction, reports PT Telkom Makassar. That’s nearly half. 

When you have a supportive company culture, employees are set up to thrive. They are more likely to be engaged, satisfied, motivated and feel a sense of belonging. Each of these resulting outcomes leads to stronger business performance, better retention and a workplace where people genuinely want to be.

Not sure where your organizational culture stands? Take this quiz to assess the health of your organization culture.

The Role of Employee Recognition in Building Company Culture

A strong culture doesn’t just happen. It’s built with intention. With the right tools in place, organizations can create a workplace where people feel connected, seen, and inspired to stay and grow. One of them being: employee recognition. 

According to a Josh Bersin study, companies with a “recognition-rich culture” vastly outperform their peers — yet only 17% of organizations fall into this category. That gap represents a massive opportunity for companies ready to invest in meaningful, values-based recognition to cultivate their desired culture.

Fortunately, employee recognition software is helping close this gap by enabling organizations to shape culture through everyday recognition. By spotlighting achievements, celebrating contributions and reinforcing value-driven behaviors, recognition software makes it possible to build a thriving workplace from both the top-down and the bottom-up.

How Recognition Software Helps Shift Workplace Culture

Changing culture is hard — and it doesn’t happen overnight. But recognition software gives you a practical, scalable and even enjoyable way to accelerate that shift. 

When the right behaviors are noticed and appreciated in real-time, the values you want to reinforce start to take root across your organization. Here’s how recognition software helps:

• Reinforces company values: By connecting recognition to specific behaviors and achievements, organizations can consistently spotlight and strengthen the values they want to see more of across the organization.
• Strengthening belonging across teams: From hybrid to offline to cross-functional teams, employees feel more connected when wins are shared publicly. Seeing colleagues recognized creates a sense of inclusion, unity and shared purpose.
• Encourages peer-to-peer connection: Culture thrives when recognition comes from all directions; not just from the top. A peer-to-peer recognition platform like Connects Plus enables employees to recognize and celebrate each other in real-time, improving trust and building a more inclusive, connected workplace.
• Improves employee connection: Recognition software creates a central space where remote, hybrid, on-site and offline employees can connect. It bridges physical gaps and ensures everyone feels included no matter where they work.

When implemented strategically, recognition software helps shift company culture by reinforcing positive behaviors and company values. It brings visibility to contributions that might otherwise go unnoticed, boosts morale through timely recognition and rewards everyday actions aligned with your organization’s goals and mission.

Over time, this fosters a shared sense of purpose and belonging that strengthens team dynamics and drives a more connected, motivated workforce. 

Important Best Practices for Using Recognition Software to Improve Culture

Tie Recognition to Core Values

When recognition is aligned with your organization’s core values, it reinforces the behaviors you want more of. Employees learn quickly what’s appreciated and what’s expected. That’s why it’s important to make your company’s values part of every recognition moment.

For example, the Inspirus Connects recognition platform allows employees to select a core company value with each recognition message they send. If one of your values is "Collaboration," for instance, an employee might choose it and send a recognition message like: "Shoutout to Jordan for jumping in to help the marketing team hit a tight deadline. Your teamwork and can-do attitude made all the difference!" 

This approach ties specific behaviors to organizational values, reinforcing what matters most and making each message more purposeful and memorable.

Celebrate Both Big and Small Wins

Don’t wait for major milestones to recognize employees. Everyday contributions — like helping a colleague, solving a tricky issue or sharing a great idea — deserve the spotlight too. There are many meaningful moments throughout an employee's career where recognition can make a lasting impact, from onboarding and training to team collaboration and even retirement.

Peer-to-peer recognition is especially powerful in surfacing these important day-to-day achievements that managers and leaders might miss. By enabling every employee to celebrate their peers’ contributions, organizations can build a culture of appreciation that celebrates daily achievements, not just the milestones.

Want to see if you're missing important recognition moments? This interactive guide features 16 key opportunities you should recognize throughout an employees’ career.

Make Recognition Public and Visible

Employee recognition software can make recognition public and visible across your entire organization. Many platforms offer a real-time public activity feed that ensures appreciation is front and center, allowing employees to view, like and comment on recognition moments as they happen.

Plus, platforms like Inspirus Connects offer integrations with collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams, making it easier to give and receive recognition without disrupting productivity.

When people see their peers being recognized, they’re more inspired to participate and contribute to the culture of appreciation themselves.

Train Managers to Give Meaningful Recognition

Gallup reports that managers account for 70% of the variance in engagement among their direct reports. If your managers aren’t consistently recognizing employees in meaningful ways, there’s a strong chance your workforce isn’t feeling appreciated (or participating in recognition themselves!).

Although a simple "great job!" can be nice to hear, it’s the specific, thoughtful and value-aligned recognition that usually sticks. Managers should be trained to personalize recognition based on the behavior, its impact and how it connects back to your company values.

That’s why manager training is critical. Give them the tools, language and confidence to deliver praise that resonates. Encourage them to build recognition into weekly check-ins, team meetings and project debriefs, so it becomes a regular occurrence.

Common Challenges & How to Overcome Them

Rolling out employee recognition software isn’t all smooth sailing. While the benefits are clear — increased engagement, stronger connections, better culture — getting from implementation to impact can be challenging at times.

Change is uncomfortable, and not everyone will jump on board immediately. Some employees may question the authenticity of praise, others may ignore the platform altogether and a few might feel overwhelmed by another new tool in their stack.

Still, these challenges aren’t dealbreakers. They’re just speed bumps, and they can be overcome with the right strategy. Common hurdles include:

Executive Buy-In

• Challenge: One of the biggest hurdles in implementing recognition software is getting leadership on board. Executives want to see ROI. They need to understand how the investment directly contributes to business priorities like improved retention, higher employee engagement and increased productivity.
• Solution: To make your case, you need to speak their language by linking recognition to real business outcomes, such as retention, productivity and bottom-line results. This blog on making the business case for an employee recognition and engagement program is a great place to start.

Leadership Participation

• Challenge: If your leaders aren’t recognizing, why would anyone else? Recognition starts at the top, and without their active involvement, it's difficult to establish a culture where appreciation is seen as a shared responsibility.
• Solution: Build leadership participation into your rollout strategy. Encourage executives and managers to lead by example through regular, meaningful recognition. Using a points-based system, give leaders a monthly recognition allowance. This provides a simple, structured way for them to consistently acknowledge team efforts.

Employee Adoption

• Challenge: It can be hard to get employees to consistently use recognition software, especially early on.
• Solution: To boost adoption and drive long-term value, consider incentivizing participation with points or small rewards. Integrate your platform with collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams so employees can send recognition in the tools they regularly use. Leverage reminders and visible leader participation to embed the platform into daily routines.

Budget Limitations

• Challenge: Tight budgets can sometimes make it difficult to launch and sustain a recognition program.
• Solution: Start small and expand as you go. A great starting point is a work anniversary program to recognize employees’ ongoing dedication and loyalty. Over time, track participation and sentiment to measure how the program is making an impact. These insights can help you build a strong case for expanding into a more holistic recognition strategy backed by clear metrics.

Inspirus Employee Recognition & Appreciation Software

Start shaping and strengthening your organization’s culture with Inspirus Connects, an employee recognition and engagement platform built for HR teams who want to build a thriving workplace. 

With Inspirus Connects, you can implement consistent, scalable programs that spotlight both day-to-day wins and milestone moments. From peer-to-peer shoutouts to milestone programs and real-time activity feeds, every recognition moment reinforces the culture you’re working to build.

The best part? You won’t have to navigate this alone. With Inspirus, you gain a dedicated customer success team that brings deep industry experience to your corner. Whether you’re starting from scratch or enhancing a current initiative, our recognition experts will partner with you to ensure your program aligns with your business goals and delivers lasting impact.

Ready to build a culture of recognition? Connect with one of our experts today to learn how to get started.

Final Thoughts: Making Culture Change Sustainable

Recognition software isn’t a silver bullet for workplace culture, but it’s one of the most impactful tools HR leaders have to shape it. Employee recognition software can help you take the first (and most important) step in the right direction.

With the right strategy and support, HR teams can use recognition software to accelerate culture change, strengthen team morale and build a workplace where people feel seen, valued and inspired to stay and grow.

Want to strengthen your organization’s culture? Download this guide to learn how to build a culture of recognition, or talk with one of our recognition experts to see how Inspirus can help make it happen.