Recognizing employees for who they are — not what they do — makes a surprising difference

“I’m no Mother Teresa, don’t get me wrong,” Burke says, “but I just love to help and support people on their path.”

Burke’s approach is a testament to the power of recognition, a human resources buzzword that has taken on a whole new meaning at companies across Massachusetts. No longer contained to a “job well done” email or a gift card for five years of service, recognition at a number of Bay State workplaces means making a point to celebrate and encourage employees’ lives outside of the office, whether that be competing in a boxing match, earning a PhD, or tying the knot.

And while these accomplishments may be off the clock, the benefits of the recognition on retention rates are not: 66 percent of employees who plan to still be at their organization in five years strongly agree that their company recognizes their personal accomplishments, according to a 2022 survey by Gallup and Workhuman, a Framingham-based human resources tech company.

Especially as many employers settle into the new hybrid work landscape, employee recognition — both professional and personal — is crucial to keeping people connected, says KeyAnna Schmiedl, Workhuman’s chief human experience officer. Workhuman’s technology allows employees at a range of companies to spotlight each others’ life events on a social media-like platform.

“As people feel untethered to things, it’s just easier for them to feel like, ‘Well, who cares? I don’t really know anybody there, they don’t really know me; so it doesn’t matter, really, whether I stay or whether I go,’” Schmiedl says. “As we start thinking about what the future of work needs to look like, if you’re not able to really see whole humans at work, you’re going to miss out on a huge amount of talent.”

This is a lesson taken to heart at Nitsch Engineering, a woman-owned, Boston-based firm that sends a handmade quilt to all employees when they welcome new babies. President and CEO Lisa Brothers used to make every quilt herself, but as the workforce swelled to more than 100 employees, she outsourced the job to a local artist. The sentiment, however, has remained the same. “It’s just a nice way for us to say, ‘We see you, we understand and support you as a family,’” Brothers says.

Jessica Wala, a project manager at Nitsch who gave birth to her first child, Eli, in July 2022, says the blue-and-yellow quilt she received from Brothers was just one way the company has made her feel seen as a new mother. She also earned a promotion after coming back from maternity leave, and the company normalizes open conversations about family during staff conference calls.

“It’s not just, like, a hit ‘send’ on a care package,” Wala says of Brothers’ gift. “Getting a personalized gift for somebody and making these decisions — it’s work to do those things. And she does it for us.”

For AAA Northeast, the Providence-based roadside service provider, employee recognition means knowing what workers may need before a major milestone. The company gives employees a day off before their wedding, letting them finish up any last-minute to-do items without having to dip into their paid time off. When David Card, a compensation analyst, was getting ready to say “I do” this August in Little Compton, Rhode Island, the cushion of the day before “helped make the day itself flow much, much more smoothly,” he says — and it meant he got to save his PTO for his honeymoon in Italy.

The success of the program now has the company’s C-suite trying to figure out a way to expand this recognition of personal milestones to the entire 3,400-person workforce, says Kristen Botelho Pires, vice president of total rewards. “Not everyone gets married — some people want to celebrate their divorces,” she points out with a laugh. “We’re trying to come up with the best way to be more inclusive.”

Indeed, no two companies are quite alike when it comes to applauding employee feats away from the 9-to-5, even when the occasions are the same. At Cullinan Oncology in Cambridge, big-screen TVs in the cafeteria and collaboration space show slideshows of employee photos from big moments, such as graduations. Entrada Therapeutics, a Boston-based biopharmaceutical company, meanwhile, throws send-off parties for employees when they leave to earn advanced degrees. But the recognition itself starts long before the big bash.

“As I got interviews and acceptances, everybody was celebrating with me,” says Sriya Sreekanth, a former research associate at Entrada who is currently earning her PhD in molecular cellular developmental biology from The Ohio State University. Her former boss, also an OSU alum, even helped her hunt down an apartment.

“It seemed very natural that this is something that we should celebrate,” says Karla MacDonald, Entrada’s chief corporate affairs officer. MacDonald adds that the company is hoping Sreekanth will return to Entrada when she begins looking for a postgrad position.

Braintree-based footwear company OOFOS also tries to approach employee recognition by both talking the talk and walking the walk. In March, the company’s chief of staff, Lauren Migliacci-McCree, competed in the USA Boxing national qualifier in Detroit. Not only did the company give her the flexibility to work remotely that week, but on the eve of her match, she got a shout-out during an all-staff meeting. “So I had all of the 108 employees wish me luck the day before I fought,” Migliacci-McCree says. “That was really awesome.” (She went on to win the match.)

This support, both through words and actions, helps encourage the sort of work-life balance that OOFOS wants for its employees, especially after the pandemic blurred those boundaries, says Nicole Green, the company’s head of people. She figures anything that brings them joy outside of the office is worth celebrating inside of it.

“At the end of the day,” Green says, “them bringing their whole selves to work, and being able to be who they are, is the most important part.”

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Dana Gerber can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @danagerber6.