As laboratories grow, maintaining a strong workplace culture becomes increasingly difficult. New employees must be onboarded, managers take on broader responsibilities, and established processes can become strained. For lab leaders, balancing operational demands with employee engagement is often a significant challenge.
A recent report from Workhuman argues that employee recognition programs can help organizations maintain culture and improve retention as they scale. The report highlights how structured recognition programs may reduce administrative burdens, support managers, and provide organizations with additional workforce insights.
Why recognition programs matter during growth
As organizations expand, informal approaches to employee recognition can become harder to manage. The report notes that HR teams often find themselves manually tracking service anniversaries, coordinating rewards, and encouraging manager participation. These tasks can become increasingly time-consuming as headcount grows.
The report also cites Gartner research showing that 55 percent of HR leaders believe their current technology does not meet evolving organizational needs, while more than half report difficulty measuring return on investment from existing tools.
Workhuman customer data suggests a relationship between recognition frequency and employee retention. According to the company, organizations with seven or more recognition awards per employee annually experienced voluntary turnover rates as low as 4.1 percent, compared with 8.5 percent in organizations with lower recognition frequency.
The report also points to Gallup research estimating that replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary, highlighting the financial impact of turnover.
Supporting managers under pressure
Middle managers often face increasing demands during periods of organizational growth. Gartner's 2025 HR priorities research found that 75 percent of surveyed HR leaders believe managers are overwhelmed by expanding responsibilities. In addition, Workhuman's 2026 Humans at Work Barometer reported that 53 percent of managers lack sufficient time or resources to support direct reports effectively.
The report argues that recognition can help managers reinforce desired behaviors and organizational values. According to Workhuman data, employees are five times more likely to repeat a behavior when recognition is specific and linked to organizational values.
For laboratories, this may be particularly relevant when organizations are trying to reinforce safety practices, quality standards, collaboration, or other behaviors that contribute to operational success.
Using recognition data to understand workforce trends
Beyond employee engagement, the report positions recognition data as a potential source of workforce intelligence.
Traditional tools such as annual performance reviews and employee surveys provide periodic snapshots of employee performance and sentiment. By contrast, recognition programs generate ongoing data about employee interactions, contributions, and behaviors.
The report cites research showing that 90 percent of chief human resources officers consider analytics a core component of HR strategy, while only 42 percent describe their organizations as truly data driven.
Workhuman also reports that 54 percent of employees who received three or more recognition awards subsequently achieved higher performance ratings.
According to the report, recognition data may help organizations identify emerging leaders, better understand how work flows through teams, and evaluate alignment between organizational values and day-to-day employee behaviors.
Recognition as part of a broader retention strategy
The report emphasizes that recognition alone is not a complete retention strategy. However, it argues that structured programs can contribute to employee engagement, workplace culture, and a sense of belonging.
For laboratory leaders facing staffing shortages, succession planning challenges, and increasing competition for skilled personnel, employee recognition may be one tool among many to support retention and strengthen workplace culture during periods of growth.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.
