Employee recognition — acknowledging the work and behaviors that move your company forward — is one of the most effective ways to drive performance. Recognition reinforces what matters. When it’s consistent and clearly tied to meaningful achievements, it transforms how teams operate. It’s more than a morale-builder; it’s performance optimization. Research shows just how powerful it can be: 

• A meta-analysis by the Incentive Research Foundation found that teams experienced up to a 44% increase in performance when recognition or incentive programs ran for at least a year.
• A Gallup + Workhuman study found that doubling weekly recognition in a 10,000-person company could lead to nearly $92 million in annual productivity gains.
• Employees are 18 × more likely to produce great work when they’re recognized, according to research by OC Tanner.
• Great Place to Work found that genuine thank-yous from leadership can make employees 69% more likely to bring discretionary effort to their work.

Turning Insight into Action

The impact of recognition is well-established. But getting to those results takes more than awareness, it requires a sustainable strategy.

Even teams with the best intentions often struggle to make recognition a regular part of team culture. It’s not that people don’t care — it’s that existing tools can be hard to access or feel disconnected from daily work.

That’s Why We Built Donut Shoutouts

Implementing recognition programs can feel complicated without the right support. Donut Shoutouts helps teams leverage the natural, everyday appreciation shared in Slack and seamlessly integrates casual appreciation into an intuitive, structured recognition program. 

Designed to blend smoothly into daily interactions, Donut Shoutouts makes teammate recognition into a measurable and powerful driver of performance.  

 🛠No extra tools to manage.
🕒 Recognition that’s quick to give and easy to sustain
🌟 Reward achievement, reinforce values, and encourage high-quality work
💰 Flexible reward options that work with your budget — monetary or not

When showing appreciation, tag a team member and use the custom emoji selected for Donut Shoutouts. Teammates earn points to redeem for meaningful rewards that fit your culture, like branded swag or DJing the next all-team meeting.

How to Use Shoutouts Effectively

Here are some best practices to get the most from Donut Shoutouts:

• Make it meaningful: Recognition is most effective when it’s specific and sincere. Pointing out what someone did and why it mattered helps clarify what high-impact work means within the context of your team’s values. As you build your reward options, include a balance of monetary and non-monetary choices. You’ll find both in our Prebuilt Rewards Library if you need ideas.
• Personalize and time it right: Everyone has different preferences for receiving feedback. Some appreciate public praise, others prefer private acknowledgment. Timing matters too — recognition might land best in the moment, or carry more meaning when shared later. Every team builds its own recognition culture over time. You can use Shoutouts to support that, whether it’s through your custom emoji, shared language, or team-specific traditions that make appreciation feel authentic.
• Involve everyone: The strongest cultures of recognition aren’t limited to managers. Peer shoutouts, cross-team appreciation, and notes from leadership all help broaden awareness of great work and encourage it to continue. When more people are involved, recognition becomes a shared habit — not a task for one person to remember.
• Gain insight: Use the Leaderboard to see who’s engaging and who’s being recognized most often. It’s a helpful tool for tracking impact over time and can add context during one-on-ones or performance reviews. You’ll start to notice patterns around the behaviors that drive results.

Ready to Build a Culture of Recognition?

Donut Shoutouts makes appreciation part of your everyday routine. Start celebrating achievements, boosting morale, and driving real business impact today.