Terryberry Sees Growing Demand for Measurable Impact and Memorable Recognition Experiences
The Growing Focus on Impact
Bringing Back the Value of Memorable Rewards
Making Programs Easier to Manage and More Effective
The Next Challenge: Connecting Memorable Experiences to Business Results
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As employers seek greater evidence that their engagement investments produce results, they are also rediscovering the importance of personal recognition experiences that employees remember long after receiving them. These are two trends emerging from a new study and an RRN weekly interview with Brian Snodgrass, President of Terryberry, the 108-year-old recognition and rewards company known for its custom awards and service recognition programs. Its 2026 Employee Engagement Impact Report finds strong relationships between recognition, motivation and retention, while Snodgrass reports increasing customer interest in measuring results and combining digital technology with tangible, memorable recognition. He also reports year-over-year growth in both the company's engagement technology business and reward catalog redemptions, despite indications of a slowdown in recognition industry growth.
The Growing Focus on Impact
According to Terryberry's Employee Engagement Impact Report, 83% of employees surveyed said engagement programs had at least some influence on their decision to stay with their employer, including 51% who described the influence as significant. The study surveyed 1,000 full-time US employees at companies with 500 to 2,000 employees across multiple industries.
The findings also suggest that coordinated programs have greater perceived impact than disconnected initiatives. Among employees who believed their organization's engagement programs worked well together, 70% said those programs significantly influenced their decision to stay, compared with 22% among those who did not perceive the same coordination. These findings are consistent with the Enterprise Engagement Alliance’s systems-based leadership program for enterprise engagement.
Recognition and rewards were closely associated with motivation. Ninety-six percent said receiving recognition motivated them to work harder on their next assignment, while 94% reported a similar response to receiving rewards. Among employees with formal recognition and rewards programs, 70% described themselves as highly engaged and motivated, compared with 34% of those without such programs or unsure whether they existed.
These are significant indicators of perceived value, but they are not independently verified measures of business impact. The study does not quantify financial return on investment or establish actual reductions in turnover or improvements in productivity. Snodgrass acknowledges that demonstrating financial return remains a major challenge for the industry. He reports growing interest among clients in understanding whether programs work, not simply whether employees participate.
"Is this recognition program working, and how do you know if it's working?" he asks, emphasizing the importance of gathering employee feedback rather than relying exclusively on program activity.
For example, Snodgrass notes that an employee may receive frequent recognition while simultaneously experiencing burnout, excessive workloads or limited advancement opportunities. Recognition activity alone would not reveal those problems. He believes integrating recognition, feedback and wellness information can help employers identify such gaps and take appropriate action.
Bringing Back the Value of Memorable Rewards
A second trend may be equally important to the rewards and recognition business: the renewed appreciation for tangible awards and personal celebration. Snodgrass says some organizations that embraced digital-only recognition are discovering that convenience does not necessarily create a lasting emotional connection. Digital messages, points and gift cards can provide immediate gratification, but they may lack the enduring visibility of a personalized award presented by a manager in front of colleagues, he suggests.
"There's still that human element that we all truly need," he explains, suggesting that the industry may have moved too far toward technology at the expense of personal connection. For Terryberry, whose history is rooted in custom awards and symbolic recognition, this is a particularly important development. Snodgrass points to the distinctive value of an award displayed in an office or home, where it can become a recurring reminder of an accomplishment and prompt conversations about the achievement.
He reports increasing interest from customers seeking to combine technology-based recognition with more personal moments, including custom awards, service milestones and performance celebrations. This does not diminish the value of merchandise, gift cards or experiences, he notes. Rather, Snodgrass emphasizes the importance of matching the reward to the accomplishment and recipient. He also points to the importance of modern fulfillment technology, including access to Amazon-connected merchandise catalogs, which can provide the convenience and delivery speed consumers have come to expect.
"The right balance is what we really believe is important," he says. The opportunity is to combine the convenience of digital rewards with the emotional impact of meaningful recognition, whether that involves a carefully selected merchandise item, an experience or a personalized award presented at a memorable occasion.
Making Programs Easier to Manage and More Effective
Snodgrass attributes part of Terryberry's continued growth to simplifying administration for already overburdened human resources departments. Its offerings now encompass recognition, merchandise and gift card rewards, custom awards, wellness initiatives and employee surveys, allowing organizations to expand their programs without continually adding separate providers.
He emphasizes making participation easier through mobile applications, Microsoft Teams integration and other technologies that enable recognition during the normal course of work. "How is your platform going to be more utilized than another platform?" he asks, arguing that adoption and accessibility are more meaningful differentiators than technology features or appearance alone.
The company's research reinforces the importance of accessibility. Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported at least one obstacle to participating in engagement programs, with work schedules and environments among the leading barriers. The study also found that deskless employees were less likely than desk-based employees to report receiving frequent recognition.
These findings suggest that the effectiveness of a recognition program depends not only on the quality of its rewards or technology, but also on whether employees can readily participate and whether recognition reaches people throughout the organization.
The Next Challenge: Connecting Memorable Experiences to Business Results
The two trends identified by Terryberry are complementary rather than competing. Organizations want programs that create genuine emotional connections while providing credible evidence that those connections contribute to retention, performance and other business objectives.
Snodgrass believes the industry's continued difficulty proving financial return has limited recognition's potential. While companies can point to relationships between engagement, retention and productivity, he acknowledges that demonstrating actual return on investment remains a challenge.
Terryberry's research provides evidence of employees' perceptions of recognition and engagement, while Snodgrass's customer experience suggests growing interest in both integrated measurement and more memorable awards. The next step for the industry is to connect these findings to independently measured business outcomes, including turnover, productivity and financial performance.
For rewards and recognition providers, the implication is significant. Technology may make recognition easier to deliver and track, but the ultimate value depends on what employees experience, remember and do differently as a result. The opportunity is to demonstrate that thoughtfully designed recognition programs can accomplish the creation of lasting memories and measurable business value.
Enterprise Engagement Alliance Services
Celebrating our 17th year, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance helps organizations enhance performance through:1. Information and marketing opportunities on stakeholder management and total rewards:
- ESM Weekly on stakeholder management since 2009. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
- RRN Weekly on total rewards since 1996. Click here to subscribe; click here for media kit.
- EEA YouTube channel on enterprise engagement, human capital, and total rewards since 2020
Management Academy to enhance future equity value for your organization.3. Books on implementation: Enterprise Engagement for CEOs and Enterprise Engagement: The Roadmap.
4. Advisory services and research: Strategic guidance, learning and certification on stakeholder management, measurement, metrics, and corporate sustainability reporting.
5. Permission-based targeted business development to identify and build relationships with the people most likely to buy.
Contact: Bruce Bolger at TheICEE.org; 914-591-7600, ext. 230.
