According to John Knotter, author of Culture and Performance, companies that pay attention to employees enjoy exceptional increases to the bottom line when compared to companies that only pay attention to the bottom line. (Fig. 1) In this study, employee-focused organizations increased their revenue 483% over the bottom-line focused competition.

Source: Culture and Performance, John Knotter; Contented Cows Give Better Milk, Fresh Milk, Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden.

According to the Revenue Comparison study below, companies that reward employees make more money over a five-year time period compared to companies that do not reward employees.

Source: Contented Cows Give Better Milk, Fresh Milk, Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden.

It is clear that recognition programs have a direct effect on the financial performance of a company. Recognition increases the bottom line, however, that is not the only benefit of a recognition program – it affects employees and customers as well!