We see recognition as a way to operationalise culture: O.C. Tanner’s Candy Fernandez

Recognition today is no longer a peripheral HR activity; it’s emerging as a core lever for culture, performance, and retention. But making it work isn’t about moments or mechanics. The challenge is execution. How do you ensure that recognition is not episodic but embedded? Not performative, but purposeful? And most importantly, not soft, but strategically significant?

To unpack these questions, we spoke with Candy Fernandez, Director – People & Great Work at O.C. Tanner. We explored what it means to make recognition sustainable and scalable, how leaders can model the right behaviours, why data must be part of the equation, and how expectations are shifting as new generations enter leadership. Here are some excerpts from the conversation.

I believe a people-centric culture rests on four key pillars:

Building a people-centric culture is not enough. It must be nurtured, sustained, and continuously improved. Other foundational elements include autonomy, inclusion, holistic wellbeing, continuous learning, and accountability. All of these help create and maintain a thriving workplace culture.

A: Leaders have a direct influence on employee engagement and satisfaction. However, many of them struggle to balance delivering business outcomes with supporting and recognising their people. This is where HR plays a crucial role.

We support leaders by providing frameworks and tools that make recognition part of daily conversations and actions. It is about more than just providing technology. We also invest in educating leaders on the impact of recognition on engagement, productivity, and business goals.

Our recognition framework is designed to be scalable and inclusive, supporting recognition across all levels. We encourage peer-to-peer recognition alongside traditional top-down approaches. Continuous communication with leaders helps ensure the technology is being used effectively and meaningfully.

At OC Tanner, we also ensure that recognition goes beyond outcomes. We focus on acknowledging daily efforts, small wins, and celebrating both personal milestones and major achievements. We offer multiple types of recognition, from e-cards to recognising life events and career milestones. This holistic approach ensures everyone can give and receive recognition in a way that feels genuine.

A: To demonstrate ROI, HR leaders first need to define what they want to measure. That could be retention, engagement, productivity, or something else like collaboration or a sense of connection.

We focus on three main areas:

When you combine insights from all three areas, you get a clear picture of the overall impact and ROI of your recognition programme.

Many organisations today work with multi-generational teams, sometimes including up to four generations. Recognition needs to be timely, frequent, meaningful, and personalised to meet the expectations of all employees.

At OC Tanner, we focus on integrated recognition. It begins with the onboarding experience and continues throughout the employee's journey. This might include welcome notes, e-cards, or simple gestures from colleagues. Recognition must be woven into day-to-day interactions and workplace culture.

We celebrate both effort and achievement, whether large projects or small daily contributions. Our platform allows for top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer recognition. We also recognise life events and career milestones, and ensure that our approach reflects cultural nuances and specific organisational contexts.

Everything we have discussed so far leads to this. The key is integrated and sustainable recognition. According to our Global Culture Report, only 21 per cent of organisations have recognition fully embedded in their culture. Often, the focus is only on tools or programmes, rather than on embedding recognition into the everyday employee experience. 

As I mentioned earlier, recognition should be embedded across the employee journey and reflected in everyday culture.

We are seeing a shift towards hyper-personalised recognition, which requires strong technology to support it.

Some key trends include:

To prepare, HR leaders should invest in scalable platforms, equip managers with the skills to deliver authentic recognition, and ensure alignment between recognition and business goals. Embracing technology and AI is essential. When used thoughtfully, these tools can enhance human connection rather than complicate it.