How humans and AI can work together to truly transform the world of work for the better was the focus of Workhuman Live 2024 in London.

In his opening keynote, CEO and Co-Founder of Workhuman, Eric Mosley, declared we are living in a “profound change for work”. Is this the end of work as we know it?

By combining recognition data (which Mosley argues is the most powerful source of data in HR because it is voluntary, honest and genuine) with AI, companies can get to a point where “everybody is working off having all of the knowledge of everyone in the company – that’s a really incredible place to be in the future”, he shared.

Three organizations (Worley, Diageo and Manulife (the latter is known as John Hancock in the US)) that are partnering with Workhuman to try to reap these rewards from recognition and tech then took the Workhuman Live stage in a panel discussion.

They shared their recognition journeys, as well as the successes to date.

Don’t wait for perfection on recognition

Workhuman has made a promise to their customers: achieve a return on investment (ROI) on recognition or get your money back.

All three of the customers on the panel are at different stages of their implementation journey with Workhuman’s recognition platform – but they shared on the panel how they made the business case.

Keri Simm, Head of Performance & Recognition at Diageo, shared that the global drinks brand did a lot of research and employee listening.

But that wasn’t “quite enough”, so the HR team talked to leadership in terms of “we were spending money anyway” on recognition – it was just in a siloed, less visible way (and it wasn’t necessarily equitable).

Then they collected the data to demonstrate the benefit of having a joined-up program that celebrates the moments that matter, and the link with ROI.

For Sarah Shepherd, AVP of HR Strategy and Transformation at Manulife, the aim of implementing Workhuman in 2020 was also to have a singular recognition approach for its entire 37,000 global workforce.

So, in the process, Manulife’s HR team looked at what investments could be retired now employees have access to Workhuman. It’s all about “getting more bang for your buck”.

Professional services company Worley’s HR team had to make the case to leadership multiple times.

Originally, they built their own tool, and the feedback from employees was that “they really loved the ability to recognize each other, but they really hated the tool”; that’s what Worley’s Director of Total Rewards Lindsay Brooks shared at Workhuman Live London.

Then they went back to leadership, and said, this is what we did with a little bit of funding, imagine what the impact could be with a better tool.

This business case process was made easier by the introduction of a new CFO, who had seen recognition done well at another organization – “he got it”, and Worley managed to launch Workhuman in November 2022.

The customer panel at Workhuman Live London, moderated by MC Holly Ransom.

The conversation then turned to secrets to success, and lessons learned – for Shepherd and Manulife, leadership buy-in was crucial, and then getting them to model the right recognition behavior (and giving other people permission to appreciate and recognize their peers).

Worley’s Brookes agreed that the most powerful way to get employee buy-in on recognition is role modelling – there’s a real “domino effect” in terms of impact there.

Shepherd’s message to HR leaders in the audience was to not just implement a recognition platform, and then walk away and expect employees to keep using it.

Keep it fresh” and listen to employees’ feedback on how you can iterate (and improve) it.

Diageo’s Simms agreed on the need to keep innovating – “it doesn’t need to be perfect all the time”, but start the culture shift after recognition.

“Sometimes you just need to get going with it” – launch it, and then figure out to solve out any issues that crop up – that’s the message from Worley’s Brooks.

She’s so pleased to see that leaders are amplifying and celebrating recognition, and that recognition is truly global (more than 15% of it is cross-border) and all of that is truly “creating that environment where people can thrive”.

Manulife on the secrets to recognition success

Following the event, UNLEASH had the chance to sit down with Manulife’s VP of Culture & Engagement, John Papas, for an exclusive interview to dig in deeper on recognition, tech and AI at the financial services giant.

Thinking back to mid-2020, when Manulife implemented Workhuman, Papas shares: “We knew enabling that act of timely gratitude would be powerful in connecting our colleagues to our organization and to each other.”

And technology was a great way to do this at scale for 37,000 people across the globe.

Doing it in the pandemic, helped rather than hindered, according to Papas. “We knew it would help create connections for all given the fact we all couldn’t connect face to face.”

Four years later, Papas reflects that “the recognition technology introduced through Workhuman has been an enabler to a behavioral and cultural shift we’ve seen”.

Over 90% of colleagues have received recognition awards through Workhuman, and over 98% have received an award each year.

Papas tells UNLEASH: “To put those numbers into perspective, Workhuman’s best practice targets are 60% Nominator Reach and 80% Recipient Reach.

“This world-class program adoption resulted in Manulife winning Workhuman’s Amplify Award (2022).”

Manulife has also seen a dramatic increase in colleagues saying they are receiving recognition in the annual engagement survey.

On stage at Workhuman Live in London, Shepherd said this has increased to the 70^th percentile.

Plus, data mining in partnership with Gallup has made it clear there’s a correlation between those who receive recognition awards and their engagement.

Of course, it has been a lift for the HR team to build “the muscle of recognition” over the past four years. “While the concept of recognizing in the moment was not foreign, what was different for many was taking the time to share and put that gratitude into words,” shares Papas.

Education and training were key here, particularly for leaders.

Given the success that Manulife has had on recognition, UNLEASH was keen to find out Papas’ top tips for HR leaders struggling to know where to start.

“Listen, gather feedback and data” – not only will this help HR teams to see what their employees want from recognition, but “it will also allow you to understand where you are, where your strengths are and where you have opportunities”.

There’s also a need for clear metrics to figure out the true impact of the recognition program, and then adjusting if things aren’t working quite as you’d hoped.

Echoing Shepherd’s message on stage at Workhuman Live London, Papas adds that clear communication is key.

And, finally, “recognize the Recognizers as these are the individuals that truly foster a culture of recognition”.

“Take the time to showcase your most active recognizers at townhalls or meetings to show your appreciation and let them know the time they take out of their day to craft meaningful recognition messages does not go unnoticed”, concludes Papas.

Top of Manulife’s to-do list on recognition this year and into 2024 is to continue to drive this culture of recognition, and to “continue to learn and evaluate how we can leverage AI to streamline processes, improve experiences, and other opportunities in support of engagement and culture initiatives”.