8 out of 10 employees feel that recognition affects their motivation to succeed in their job. And according to NectarHR, 77.9% of workers would be more productive if they were recognized more frequently.

In fact, according to our recent study with Unily, only 29% of employees feel a sense of belonging in their workplace. Employee engagement statistics also show that only 26% of employees feel they receive adequate recognition.

It’s hard to see statistics like these and not immediately launch a formal employee recognition program. But here’s the thing — it can’t just be a hollow gesture that nobody will take seriously after a few weeks.

No. You need a proper system of employee recognition to reward workers and teams for the hard work they do. Not just because the company wants to increase employee engagement but because they truly deserve the accolades.

Employee recognition walls are your answer, and this article is arguably the only guide you’ll need to get started. Let’s dive into everything from what employee recognition walls are to the best ways to use them.

An employee recognition board (also known as an appreciation board) is a dedicated space where employee and team achievements, milestones, and contributions are displayed for all to see. The board serves as a visual platform to show how much the company values the efforts that its teams put into their jobs.

An employee recognition board can be physical like a notice board, digital like a digital wall, or virtual and exist exclusively online. Whatever form it takes, they all serve the same purpose – show employees that they are valued. 

Here are some specific ways we’ve seen companies use recognition walls: 

Read our guide: How to engage warehouse employees

So do you reserve the spot on the employee board for special milestones like new sales records? Or is it like a gold star that anybody can earn for doing their job well?

Honestly, this depends entirely on your company and the culture that you’ve built. However, here are some amazing employee recognition ideas that we’ve found that organizations use.

These are the most common instances of recognition, and we definitely have to lead with it. Employees who have displayed exceptional performance or built competencies in especially challenging areas could be great candidates for the recognition board.

It will reassure them that they’re on the right track while also encouraging other employees to strive for the same level of excellence.

Showcasing teams that have successfully completed projects on time, within scope, or exceeding expectations is an excellent use of your recognition board. It will spotlight their ability to collaborate, highlight their innovation and creativity, and of course, show other teams what’s possible!

Positive customer testimonials, feedback and employee praises often belong on employee recognition boards because they honor employees who go above and beyond for customers. 

You could also acknowledge teams who were instrumental in helping land a client or keeping them on board during a particularly challenging time.

Sometimes, employees perform exceptionally well, not in the way they smash goals, but in the way they keep the ship afloat. This is often clear during periods of change and challenges when everyone is anxious about what comes next. 

Team members who are able to rally the troops, keep focus on the goal and help everyone keep a positive attitude could be rewarded with a recognition. The same goes for teams who helped implement significant changes or simply reinforced the culture during a trying time.

You can encourage your employees to nominate co-workers who they believe should go up on the board. This allows people to nominate hard workers whose contributions might otherwise be unnoticed.

Incorporating peer nominations can also reinforce the idea of mutual appreciation, showing that the employee recognition board isn’t a zero-sum game; everybody can win.

If you're using some kind of workplace gamification, you can also present recognition in the form of league tables or leaderboards. This can be a great way to engage broader teams or departments and get people focused on hitting specific targets, or achievements in the workplace.

Benefits of creating an employee recognition board

A well-designed employee recognition board system is more than just aesthetics for the office. It can help employees feel valued, respected, and appreciated. And workers who feel seen are more likely to invest their energy into the company’s success. Integrating recognition into your office communication system ensures that achievements are widely shared and celebrated across teams.

Read more about how to engage employees with digital signage.

A recognition board can help reinforce the concept of teamwork among your employees, encouraging them to collaborate and achieve common goals. This is especially true when you recognize both individual and team efforts on your board, showing that people have more to gain by working together than by trying to do it alone.

An employee appreciation board can be a great way to show that your organization values what the mission statement says it values. By recognizing employees who show qualities that are important to the organization, you can walk the talk and encourage them to stick with the goals you’ve set because the company cares enough to offer rewards.

Companies like Salesforce and Morgan Stanley get tons of applications each year from prospective employees for many reasons, one of which is that they are great places to work (International accounting Bulletin.) Who doesn’t want to be part of a team that recognizes employees for their achievements, facilitates collaborations, and puts your face on a recognition board when you smash goals?

A recognition wall can help build a work culture that inspires current employees, attracts new ones, increases employee retention, and makes your workplace so much more pleasant.

Static vs digital staff recognition boards: Which should you choose?

Putting up an employee recognition wall is always a step in the right direction, whether that’s a bulletin board, a pin-on notice board, or a digital wall. Our suggestion, of course, is that you go with the digital wall, and here’s why.

You might be familiar with workplaces that launched an employee recognition program, but always forget to update the board. That may be due to several problems with responsibility allocation in the organization, but it may also be due to the sheer amount of work needed to update these things.

Digital signage makes that as easy as logging into your CRM and editing the details as needed; it’s that simple. If you’ve ever uploaded a blog or created an instagram post, you can easily update employee recognition boards. 

That means you can update them in real-time as employees and teams continue to smash their goals. It also means you can reward as many people as you need it.

Have you ever tried to tell an engaging story with a bulletin board? We have, and it’s very challenging, especially if you’re used to digital boards. There are no motion graphics, you have to print every picture by hand, and there's only so much you can fit on there.

Now a digital recognition board, on the other hand, gives you a lot of creative freedom. Need to incorporate a list of the employee’s achievements instead of just the most recent one? Go ahead. Want to use graphics to share the spotlighted team’s overall approach? You can!

Besides boosting aesthetic appeal, a digital recognition board can also help provide a more comprehensive and engaging narrative.

When you use digital signage for your employee recognition, you can share details all over your locations, wherever they might be. That means teams in another state or country can see what the folks are doing at headquarters and step up their game, for example.

But competition isn’t the key goal here; it’s motivation. By showing that everyone, regardless of their geo-location, is contributing towards the company’s goals, you’re going to motivate employees to follow suit. 

It’s one thing to tell everyone that their team member has performed exceptionally well in the last quarter. It’s another thing to allow employees to share their thoughts on this high-performing hotshot. They may want to leave comments congratulating them, give their own recognition stickers, or even find out more about how they can make it on the wall next month.

The interactive nature of digital signage allows you to do all of this as easily as creating the option for it. This two-way communication will allow employers to open a channel of dialogue and communally celebrate wins.

Creating an employee recognition wall step-by-step 

Step 1: Select the right employee recognition board

The first step, we believe, is to decide what kind of wall you’ll set up. The two options are a digital wall or a bulletin board. We’ve already covered why we think a digital wall is the better option. But here are some questions to ask before you decide:

Do all employees work in the same physical space?

How important is employee interaction and engagement?

How important is flexibility and adaptability?

Are you looking to integrate other platforms?

How will you handle maintenance and updates?

It makes sense that you’d make a decision based on your answers to these questions. If you run a small team, have a limited budget and have a ton of personnel that can constantly update the board’s content, you might be better off with a bulletin board.

But if you go the way of digital signage, you could potentially have not just an employee recognition wall but digital signage for things like information updates and employee training, not to mention that digital walls are much easier to update.

Step 2: Define what kind of content you want

There are many ways to recognize employee contributions, and deciding the kinds of recognition you’ll give is critical. Everything from goal achievements and milestones to recognition for the most consistent team is on the table, but you can’t exactly do them all.

One helpful tip is to think about recognitions that align with your company values and go from there. Because an employee recognition board can help reinforce culture, it’s a good idea to consider the kinds of actions you’d love to see from the team.

Step 3: Make sure the wall draws attention

Whether or not you’re using a digital recognition board, you want it to draw attention. Bold colors, legible fonts and creative layouts can all help make this happen. 

With a bulletin board, you can use pictures, colorful elements, and a hard-to-miss layout to make sure it stands out. Digital walls usually have tons of options, from motion graphics to stand-out fonts.

Step 4: Put your wall somewhere easy to find

The main power of a recognition wall lies in its visibility. If nobody can see it, does it really honor employee’s achievements? Here is a list of places for your employee recognition wall that can draw attention:

The idea is for employees to easily stumble upon it during their daily routine. This is even more important if you have an interactive wall with digital signage that thrives on contribution from the team.

The last thing you want is to invest in a super interactive digital recognition wall with all the bells and whistles, and nobody notices it. Timing your recognition wall launches is critical if you want to get employees interested and eager to earn a spot.

Here are some ideas on when to launch your wall:

During key milestones like anniversaries and major company achievements

The onboarding process of new team members

Recognizing successes in the workplace can boost productivity and engagement. We’ve looked at how to create a recognition board using digital signage.

How to create a digital employee recognition board

How to Create an Employee Recognition Wall

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How to Create an Employee Recognition Wall

How to Create an Employee Recognition Wall

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