With demands for more timeliness, personalization, and day-to-day incorporation, employee recognition continues to prove itself an invaluable business strategy in 2025. Here’s a look at 5 emerging trends for this year.
Real-Time Feedback
Saving all recognition for a formal annual event is going out of style. While formal award ceremonies still have their place, employees want more immediate praise for a job well done. By giving more timely recognition, managers and business leaders show they are present and genuinely appreciative, instead of checking off a box once a year. The employee, in turn, gets that immediate satisfaction and confirmation of their value to the company.
In order to present tangible awards quickly, some of our clients opt for in-field add-on components. These are small charms that can be affixed to a larger pin or badge holder. This way, unique custom awards can be available year round for everyone to earn. Check out our video about in-field add-ons here.
Frequent Recognition
Recognition has not only gotten more immediate, it’s becoming more frequent. Gone are the days of awarding employee tenure in multiples of five or ten. Nearly half of US employees (48.4%) have been at their jobs either less than a year (22.2%) or more than 10 years (26.2%). The average tenure for US employees is 3.9 years. This all signals that during an employee’s first 10 years, the company must make a strong effort to ensure its employees want to stay. Instead of waiting to award employees for their service, more companies are opting to use a 1yr, 3yr, 5yr, 7yr, 10yr frequency, or even honor every year of employment! When sourcing these awards, it’s reassuring to have a custom award specialist in your corner. With over 55 years of expertise, Dion is committed to creating the unique, high-quality jewelry awards people treasure.
Gamification
Gamification is a recognized way to boost engagement, as it spurs competition and makes tasks more enjoyable and rewarding. Often seen as a marketing technique to drive audience engagement, more companies are applying gamification tactics to their recognition programs. This may include establishing a points system, leaderboards, challenges, and of course, rewards. Gamification can boost morale and foster team camaraderie as employees work towards their goals.
Add an extra bit of friendly competition by keeping these awards visible, not just in the workplace, but wherever the employee goes! For example, custom charms can be added as they’re earned to a bracelet. Those who have the most charms get to flaunt them in style.
Personalization
An ongoing trend is tailoring awards as much as possible to the recipient. This is a tough balance to strike, as rewards should be of equal value among employees. Some companies fall into the giftcard trap, with the intention that the employee can buy whatever they want for themselves. However, this comes off as cold, has little impact, and is usually spent on ordinary expenses. (Read more about the giftcard trap here). In order to award consistently yet personally, it’s more advantageous to combine personal notes and shout outs with a more formal award that has customization options. For example, a company could have a standard sales award ring, but with engraving options for the recipient’s name and sales numbers.
Team Oriented Recognition
According to the US Department of Labor, 67% of the American workforce is either Generation X (31%) or a Millennial (36%). Generation Z (18%) has now overtaken Baby Boomers (15%) in their share of the workforce. As these demographics shift, so do employee values. Millennials and Gen Z’ers tend to value shared success. By recognizing team efforts, companies can help build unity, morale, and a sense of purpose among their employees. This all contributes to a strong and collaborative workplace culture.
With demands for more timeliness, personalization, and day-to-day incorporation, employee recognition continues to prove itself an invaluable business strategy.
Let’s Make Something Special
At Dion, we’ve been crafting custom awards and keepsakes for over 55 years. Our team of dedicated Account Managers walk you through the design, quote, and ordering process, offering their knowledge and expertise along the way. Whether it's a custom charm, ring, badge holder, or pin, we can create the perfect awards for your organization. Getting started with Dion is easy: simply browse our gallery of past products for some inspiration, then This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. give us a call, or fill out our New Project Form for a quote!
