HR On the Record · September poll results
Your uneven managers are the ROI study you haven't run
We asked HR leaders what would most improve the business value of their recognition program in 2027. Four answers finished within five points of each other.
The results
Nobody won
When one answer runs away with a poll, the field agrees on the bottleneck. When four answers land this close, people are looking at the same problem from different places.
Small, self-selected sample of HR On the Record newsletter readers, September 2026.
"As you plan for 2027, what would most improve the business value of your recognition program?"
Group the answers and two camps appear. We think they're describing the same situation from different seats. The evidence camp has been building since July, when 48% of you named scattered recognition as your top priority.
The inconsistency is the data
The average hides the story. The spread tells it.
Illustration only. Dot sizes are not survey or client data.
Why managers are the variable
The program is identical from team to team. The manager isn't.
of the variance in engagement scores across business units comes down to the manager.
Gallup [1]of people say their most memorable recognition came from their manager, the top source.
Gallup [2]Employees who don't feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they'll quit within a year.
Gallup [2]of managers worldwide were engaged in 2025, down from 31% in 2022. They give recognition all day; almost nobody gives it to them.
Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026 [3]What we're seeing this fall
The pressure on managers now has a name
Our weekly scan of HR trade press keeps turning up the same themes: fewer managers carrying more people, and recognition treated as a resourcing problem. The spread between your best and worst recognizers is likely to get wider, not narrower.
Newly named in the trade press
The great flattening
Organizations shrinking the management layer without preparing the managers who remain.
HR Executive, August 2026 [5]Recognition matters. Running it is the problem.
The Harris Poll for Express Employment Professionals, 1,000 U.S. hiring decision-makers, June 2025 [6]"manager recognition"
New in our own search data: HR teams have started finding Inspirus by searching for help with the exact problem this poll surfaced.
Where Inspirus comes down
Sequence the 2027 budget. Don't split it four ways.
We sell recognition software, so weigh this with that in mind. Each poll answer is a step, and the order matters.
-
STEP 1
Connect the data
Join manager and peer recognition activity to turnover and engagement at the manager level. A one-time export is enough to start.
Better-connected data and tools -
STEP 2
Put a cost on the gap
Compare your most and least active recognizers. Price it with finance's own cost-per-departure number, or plug your numbers into our turnover cost calculator.
Clearer proof of ROI -
STEP 3
Coach the bottom quartile
Spend enablement money on specific, personal recognition. More reminders won't do it.
Manager participation + personalized recognition -
STEP 4
Rerun in six months
The same comparison, six months later. That's your ROI story, built from your own people.
Clearer proof of ROI
The poll didn't split because HR leaders disagree. It split because each of you is standing at a different step.
Turnover cost calculator
Estimate what employee turnover costs your organization, so the gap between your best and worst recognizers has a dollar figure.
Calculate your cost → Free tool · Budget season2027 Recognition Budget Planner
Plan where your 2027 recognition dollars go, so the budget follows the sequence instead of being split four ways.
Plan your budget →Before you take it to your CFO
Say the quiet part first
A manager-level comparison shows correlation.
Managers who recognize well are often better managers in other ways, and their people might stay regardless. Say so up front. It's still a far stronger case than a company-wide average, and it tells you exactly where enablement money should go first.
Keep reading
More from Inspirus on managers and recognition
Managers give recognition all day. Almost nobody gives it to them.
Read the post → May pollYou don't have a recognition adoption problem. You have a manager problem.
Read the post → July pollWhy scattered recognition is becoming a larger concern for HR leaders
Read the post → Measuring ROIThe ROI of peer-to-peer recognition
Read the post →Planning for 2027?
Find out what your managers' recognition is worth
Talk with our team about connecting recognition to the retention and engagement numbers your CFO already trusts, and about giving your managers the support to close the gap.