The case against calendar-based recognition

Summer. The gentle ping-ping-ping of out-of-office emails fills the air, and your inbox. Recurring meetings get scrapped, since overlapping annual leave makes it nigh-on impossible to reschedule.

For those not paddle-boarding in Cornwall or enjoying a buffet breakfast in a Spanish resort, there's still a high chance they've either got bored 7-year-olds in the background of their Zoom calls, or are trapped in a heatwave-unfriendly flatshare that puts productivity on a sharp decline.

It's quiet... too quiet. And that means it's hard to show up, and it's equally hard to show appreciation. From June onwards, it can feel like a long-old-slog to Christmas when it comes to giving your team a boost. But that doesn't make any sense, surely? Where's that back-to-school, fresh-start energy that every organisation needs?

This is why employee recognition shouldn't be solely tied to the calendar.

The reality: recognition has become a scheduling exercise

When do businesses recognise their staff? Let's list a few obvious ones:

• Christmas: the perfect (obligatory) excuse to send a little gift, and remind them why they should log back on after the delicate strains of Last Christmas have faded out.
• Performance reviews: for a lot of companies, this is an annual thing.
• Work anniversaries: again, a great (and obvious) opportunity to say "thank you for being here (and please don't go!)".

Now, let's be clear. There's nothing wrong with recognising your employees at the obvious moments. Unsurprisingly, that's something we genuinely advocate! But here's the thing: an expected "thanks", a scheduled "thanks", is always going to hit differently than a genuine, in-the-moment, specific, heartfelt act of appreciation.

Here's an example....

• A. You hop off the bus, mumble "cheers" to the bus driver. A nice, courteous thing to do.
• B. Your friend picks you up when your train is cancelled, and you couldn't be more grateful.

These are different kinds of "thank you" and both have value. But B hits harder because it's specific, meaningful, personal, and might involve your friend getting - at the very least - a free pint the next time you meet up. They will feel appreciated. You might have improved the bus driver's day - great! - but they probably won't get a warm fuzzy feeling when they think about it when they've clocked off. Because when "thanks" is predictable or scheduled, it doesn't hit as hard.

And here's the thing: you already do this without thinking. You'd never fob off the friend who rescued you with the same "cheers" you gave the bus driver. You match the thank-you to the moment, everywhere in life. Except, apparently, at work.

3 reasons calendar-based recognition can fall flat

1. It's predictable: Christmas gifts are basically expected at this point. The only statement is not sending one (do not recommend!) or doing it half-heartedly (also do not recommend - check out how we help here). "Entitled" is a dirty word, but employees expect this, so it's never going to be something they sing and dance about.
2. It's clustered: A lot of recognition occasions bunch together. Autumn/winter performance reviews, Christmas, the Q1 kickoff, all in fast succession. Then Employee Appreciation Day sits near a handful of other spring dates. Then summer? Nothing. It's a real off-season for recognition.
3. It's generic: Unless you're a small team, there's not a whole lot of pride involved when everyone's sent a recognition gift at the same time. No one feels seen by that. When you're recognising calendar dates, you're not really recognising the person themselves.

Summer: where recognition takes annual leave

June to August is a bit of a desert when it comes to recognition. But that's not because people aren't doing good work. In fact, it's often the time when people are covering for each other, doing more work than normal, or doing all the challenging, slightly boring planning work for the busier seasons. But we've noticed it's not a time when employees see much recognition.

Our challenge? Recognition should be "always on", but a good place to start is in the quieter months. A small gift, even a specific "thanks" during summer, is going to make a real impact.

Don't get us wrong: big moments matter too

Worry not, this is not us (a gifting platform that supports recognition) suggesting you DON'T recognise your team at Christmas, for work anniversaries, for long service, and all the other timetabled moments. Obviously not!

What we're saying is to think of Christmas as the tinsel-and-pine-needle-strewn floor. It's a baseline. It's expected, it's important - but it's simply not enough.

"My company sent me a Christmas gift" - big whoop, weird flex, so did mine.

"My manager sent me a takeaway voucher because I decided to work late to finish off a project" - wow, that's pretty cool, best manager ever!

Get what we're saying?

How to go beyond the calendar, and make recognition count

Here it is: make recognition something that's triggered by behaviours, not by dates or sociocultural contracts.

Recognition works when it's triggered by what someone did, not by what the calendar says. Someone does something wicked or is genuinely kind, you say so that week - while everyone still remembers what went down.

For most teams that's a design problem, not a generosity problem. You don't have people who don't care. Newsflash, most people care! Most people have a grateful heart underneath their Carhartt t-shirt! But if your system doesn't let them act on it, then it goes nowhere. But systems can be changed.

It's also less work than it sounds. Good recognition doesn't have to be expensive. When your friend gave you that lift and you got them a "thanks for saving meeee" pint of pale ale, the cost was minimal. But remembering to thank them in a way they appreciated really hit home.

A manager who can say "that call you took on Friday is the reason we kept the account" has recognised someone more than any December hamper could, and it cost nothing but noticing.

So keep Christmas. People should get the December gift, and it's a good thing to do. Just stop asking it to be the whole conversation. Leave the floor exactly where it is. What's missing is everything you're not saying in the eleven months either side of it.

The cooldown...

Whatever the weather, don't let recognition disappear in the summer months. And don't let recognition become a social contract that isn't backed by genuine appreciation. Take a moment to understand if you're recognising the calendar event, or the person. There's a place for both - trust us.

Want recognition to be an all-year-round thing, not a once-a-year box-tick? That's exactly what we're here for. Book a demo and we'll show you how easy it is to say a proper thank-you, any day of the year.