When praise feels performative and thank-you emails get lost in inbox clutter, employees start to disengage—and now there’s data to back it.

A study titled “The Recognition Effect: A Leadership Blueprint for Emotionally Intelligent Workplaces”—jointly released by Great Place To Work® India and Vantage Circle—finds that only 55% of employees in India feel truly recognised at work. The report, which surveyed over 5.7 million employee voices across 2,000 organisations, paints a sobering picture: recognition is not reaching the people who need it most, and business outcomes are suffering as a result.

“Recognition is not the result of great performance—it’s what makes it possible,” said Balbir Singh, CEO, Great Place To Work® India.

Companies that have built strong cultures of recognition report significantly stronger business results:

• 94% excel in customer service
  
  

• 93% display agility and innovation
  
  

• 92% have high employee retention intent
  
  

In contrast, organisations that fail to embed recognition into their daily practices report lower motivation, reduced discretionary effort, and weakening cultural cohesion.

“It’s not just about celebration. It’s about signalling who belongs and what matters,” noted Partha Neog, CEO, Vantage Circle.

Four Emotions That Define Meaningful Recognition

The report introduces the AAVE framework—a recognition model built around four key emotional outcomes:

• Appreciation: Feeling seen for who you are
  
  

• Acceptance: Feeling safe to be yourself
  
  

• Validation: Knowing your work has value
  
  

• Accomplishment: Seeing the impact you’ve made
  
  

The problem? Only a little over half of employees experience all four. Without these core signals, recognition feels hollow, and work becomes transactional.

The study also exposes troubling disparities in how recognition is experienced:

• Only 65% of women feel recognised, compared to 70% of men
  
  

• Gen Z lags behind Gen X by 14 percentage points
  
  

• Non-managerial employees and new hires are significantly under-recognised
  
  

This inequity isn’t just demoralising—it’s damaging. Recognition, the report argues, has become a quiet divider in the workplace, affecting morale, trust, and retention.

“The few who feel seen give their best. The rest? They give what’s left.”

Why Traditional Recognition Doesn’t Work

One reason many companies fail to get recognition right is a misunderstanding of its purpose. In workplaces lacking psychological safety, public praise can feel uncomfortable or even inauthentic.

Recognition must feel:

• Earned, not automatic
  
  

• Inclusive, not selective
  
  

• Contextualised, not transactional
  
  

That’s why the report calls for the Recognition Circuit—a system that blends:

• Daily leadership behaviours like listening and feedback
  
  

• Organisational systems such as peer rewards, digital badges, and recognition rituals
  
  

This approach makes recognition sustainable, fair, and emotionally resonant.

What Leading Companies Are Doing Differently

Recognition is no longer confined to annual award functions. The report highlights several practices that successful organisations are using to make recognition real:

• Gratitude Weeks with gamified appreciation tools
  
  

• Peer-powered digital wallets to enable instant kudos
  
  

• “Values Trees” where employees celebrate others for living the company’s values
  
  

• AI-based platforms that surface silent contributors often overlooked by traditional systems
  
  

Gen Z Is Setting a New Standard

For the rising Gen Z and Gen Alpha workforce, recognition must meet higher standards. It has to be:

• Personalised rather than generic
  
  

• Values-based, not just output-based
  
  

• A source of emotional safety, not compliance
  
  

The report observes a clear shift in expectations:

• From output to identity
  
  

• From transaction to trust
  
  

• From external praise to internal purpose
  
  

Recognition Is No Longer Optional

The Recognition Effect delivers more than statistics—it offers a roadmap for building inclusive, high-performing cultures. Recognition is now a strategic imperative, not a soft skill.

When it is consistent, meaningful, and emotionally intelligent, it powers everything from innovation and agility to wellbeing and loyalty.

Organisations that fail to evolve their recognition practices aren’t just losing morale—they’re losing their future.