How BDO, Acorn Group and London Gatwick made recognition stick – at every stage
10.02.26
Recognition has always mattered. But in a world where pay increases can’t always keep pace with expectations, the way organizations recognize and appreciate their people has taken on renewed importance.
At Benifex Launchpad, we brought together reward and people leaders from three very different organizations to explore what recognition really looks like in practice – not as a theory, but as a living, evolving part of workplace culture. The session, Where recognition takes off: Igniting a culture of appreciation, explored recognition through three distinct stages: starting out, building momentum, and sustaining long-term impact.
As Karen O’Neill, Chief People Officer at Benifex, shared in her opening remarks, recognition isn’t just about grand gestures or financial reward. It’s about noticing the everyday moments that matter – the help given, the effort shown, and the behaviors that quietly shape culture.
“We all know we’d love to be giving big pay increases all the time, but that’s not always possible. Recognition – especially for the smaller things – can mean a lot, and it really helps create the culture you want.”
– Karen O’Neill, Chief People Officer, Benifex
From BDO’s shift away from fragmented, top-down awards to Acorn’s rapid growth in peer-to-peer recognition, and London Gatwick’s experience embedding recognition across a complex, deskless workforce, one thing was clear: there’s no single ‘right’ way to do recognition. But when it’s visible, inclusive and easy, it has the power to transform how people feel at work.
Starting the journey: How BDO re-imagined recognition
When BDO took a step back to assess its recognition approach, the intention was there – but the experience wasn’t delivering the impact it should.
As Tom Pridmore, Director of Reward & Benefits at BDO, explained, recognition had become fragmented and overly complex. While around £2 million a year was being spent on recognition, awards were largely manager-led, slow to process, and invisible to most of the organization. Fewer than 9,000 instant awards were given across an entire financial year, reaching only a small proportion of BDO’s 8,000 colleagues.
“The intent was brilliant – but it wasn’t transparent, it wasn’t engaging, and we lost the emotional power of recognition.”
– Tom Pridmore, Director of Reward & Benefits, BDO
Rather than asking for more investment, BDO reframed recognition as part of a wider shift in its people strategy – aligned to a renewed focus on culture, growth and what the firm called “the Deal and the Feel”. Existing budget was redistributed, moving away from top-down awards and giving every colleague a £10 monthly allowance to recognize others.
Once leadership buy-in was secured, the focus turned to launch and engagement. Led by Stephen Campbell, Senior Benefits Manager at BDO, the new ReFlex platform was relaunched at the firm’s financial year kick-off, supported by leadership endorsement, personalized communications and an incentive for the first 1,000 recognitions.
The impact was immediate. In the first month, 82% of colleagues logged in, rising to 96% within five months. More than 5,500 recognitions were shared in month one alone, and by month five the total had surpassed 21,000 recognitions – more than double the previous annual figure. Notably, around 40% of recognitions carried no monetary value, showing that appreciation itself was becoming the habit.
“Thinking about what we do longer term to keep that engagement up, we have ‘One minute to say thank you’. We wanted to make sure recognition was really easy – something people could do in 30 seconds to a minute.”
– Stephen Campbell, Senior Benefits Manager, BDO
For BDO, the lesson was clear: when recognition is simple, visible and inclusive, behavior changes quickly – and culture follows.
Building momentum: How Acorn made recognition part of everyday culture
When Acorn Group began rethinking recognition, the challenge wasn’t a lack of intent – it was a lack of visibility and momentum.
As Dylan Keenan, Engagement & Reward Manager at Acorn Group, explained, recognition existed but was siloed and inconsistent. It sat within a discount platform, budgets were hard to track, and only managers could nominate colleagues for awards. Over three years, Acorn recorded just 3,500 recognitions, and award nominations were handled offline, limiting visibility and engagement.
“We had recognition, but no one could really see it. If you weren’t nominated, you didn’t know it was happening.”
– Dylan Keenan, Engagement & Reward Manager, Acorn Group
That changed when Acorn launched Benifex’s Recognition tool – coinciding with Colleague Appreciation Day and backed by visible CEO support. On day one, every employee received a £25 recognition reward, immediately sparking interest and conversation across the business.
“That day-one investment really ignited things. People were talking about recognition straight away – and engagement shot up.”
– Dylan Keenan, Engagement & Reward Manager, Acorn Group
Crucially, Acorn designed recognition to be flexible. Different divisions were given autonomy over how budgets were used – for example, one large division allocated 80% of its budget to ad-hoc recognition and 20% to quarterly awards. Over time, peer-to-peer recognition began to outpace manager-led awards.
Within 12 months, recognition activity rose to 5,000 recognitions, later surpassing 7,000 in year one alone – more than triple the previous five years combined. Award nominations also increased sharply, from 200 to 700, then 800 the following year. Engagement scores rose by 8 points, with a further 4-point increase the following year, while new starters reported feeling welcomed earlier in their journey.
“Everyone’s got their own way of doing things, and we kind of designed it that way… What we sort of said was, right – here’s your budget, you go and see what fits, bring in your own strategies.”
– Dylan Keenan, Engagement & Reward Manager, Acorn Group
For Acorn, recognition stopped being a program – and became part of everyday culture.
Sustaining recognition: How London Gatwick embedded appreciation for the long term
For London Gatwick, recognition wasn’t a “nice to have” – it was a critical part of rebuilding culture after the pandemic.
When Gatwick launched its recognition program in 2022, the organization was emerging with reduced headcount and a highly deskless workforce spanning offices, terminals, airfield operations and security. Recognition became a cornerstone of a broader reward and employee experience strategy.
“We’ve got people in offices, on the tarmac, in security, helping passengers. Getting in touch with them and enabling access was quite a challenge. So that’s where we started.”
– Steve Walsh, Reward Manager, London Gatwick
The launch was intentionally bold. Gatwick used every available channel – leadership broadcasts, on-site materials, newsletters and even letters sent home with QR codes – alongside a £25 recognition sent to every colleague on day one. Within the first week, around 90% of employees logged in, rising to 98% adoption overall.
“Communication is important – especially with a workforce like ours. So we went all out. We did tabletop things, we sent letters home, we used our intranet sites – we went full on.”
– Steve Walsh, Reward Manager, London Gatwick
Three years on, recognition remains firmly embedded, with employees continuing to engage each month, recognizing colleagues and interacting with posts. Recognition is integrated with Gatwick’s wider benefits ecosystem, reinforcing visibility and habitual use.
The long-term impact has been significant. Employee satisfaction with reward increased by 19% in the first year, while attrition reduced by over 3%. Recognition is no longer something employees need reminding about – it’s something they expect.
What these recognition journeys have in common
Despite being at different stages, BDO, Acorn Group and London Gatwick shared common success factors. Recognition worked best when it was visible, inclusive and simple. Empowering peers, reducing friction and keeping recognition public created momentum that sustained itself.
Just as importantly, recognition delivered lasting impact when treated as an ongoing habit – not a one-off campaign.
Five lessons for igniting a culture of appreciation
- Redistribute spend before you increase – empowerment often matters more than spend.
- Launch loud and lead from the top – visible leadership accelerates adoption.
- Give teams flexibility – ownership drives momentum.
- Keep recognition separate from performance management – appreciation should be timely and human.
- Never treat recognition as ‘done’ – keep it visible, refreshed and values-led.
Watch the session on demand
Recognition can look different depending on where you are on the journey – but as these stories show, when it’s done well, it has the power to transform culture, connection and engagement.
Watch this Launchpad session ‘Where recognition takes off: Igniting a culture of appreciation’ on demand now.
