Best Employee Retention Software: How Employee Recognition Helped 4 Companies Retain Employees

Employee turnover is at an all-time high, and it’s not just about pay. After working with hundreds of CHROs, VPs of People, and Total Rewards Managers across healthcare, retail, education, utilities, manufacturing, hospitality, and finance sectors, we’ve identified a consistent pattern: recognition is siloed, outdated, inconsistent, or feels forced across the organization. Employees feel invisible or disconnected from company purpose and values, while managers lack effective tools or habits to deliver meaningful praise consistently.

The result? Engagement scores that are flat or falling without clear action paths for improvement, and retention challenges that traditional solutions can’t solve. Traditional HR software hasn’t fixed the problem. But recognition, when done right, can.

How WorkProud Transforms Employee Retention Through Cultural Recognition

WorkProud approaches employee retention software differently than traditional platforms. Here, we believe employee recognition is more than a feel-good perk — it’s a powerful culture driver that can directly impact retention. Instead of focusing on points, swag, or transactional rewards, WorkProud drives retention through recognition as a culture driver, helping organizations surface real moments of impact that align with company values. This helps to establish a company culture where employees feel proud, seen, and connected.

In this post, we’ll look at how four very different companies used WorkProud to reduce turnover, boost engagement, and build stronger cultures. You’ll see how they used WorkProud’s key features to:

• Create meaningful impact with or without points — focusing on message over merchandise (unlike points-driven platforms like Bonusly)
• Recognize anywhere, anytime with a mobile-first, globally supported experience
• Break down silos and amplify visibility with organization-wide storytelling
• Drive cultural transformation, not just transactional efficiency, setting us apart from traditional tools like Achievers or AwardCo

According to the 2024 WorkProud Study, young employees who report high levels of company pride are far more likely to stay with their employer even when presented with higher external offers, 31% would remain versus only 4% of their low‑pride peers.

Moreover, consistent, meaningful recognition drives that pride: 59% of employees who are regularly recognized at work report high company pride, compared with just 13% among those receiving little or no recognition.

These figures illustrate how embedding recognition into daily workflows, not just annual reviews, can transform retention and engagement across your organization.

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Features of an Employee Retention Software: What companies love the most

Before we dive into the examples of how organizations are using employee retention software, let’s take a quick look at the features that WorkProud customers love:

Recognition Feed: The Recognition Feed brings your company culture front and center. Think of it as a real-time stream of appreciation—accessible to everyone in the organization. As employees are recognized by their peers or leaders, those moments are shared in a dynamic feed that not only boosts morale, but also reinforces the company’s values in action. It’s one of the most effective ways to break down silos and build a sense of connection across departments, locations, and even time zones.

Peer and Manager Recognition: With WorkProud’s flexible tools, managers and coworkers can send personalized messages of appreciation instantly via mobile, email, or in-app notifications. You can set visibility rules, use branded templates, and make sure the right people see the praise when it matters most. This encourages a culture where recognition is frequent, authentic, and felt, fueling pride and deeper commitment across the board.

Custom Post Types: Every company is different, and WorkProud lets you reflect that in the way recognition is shared. Whether you want to spotlight top performers, celebrate milestones, or highlight specific behaviors tied to your values, custom post types make it easy. You can tailor the design, message, and even the badges used, ensuring consistency across the organization while still feeling personal and on-brand.

Milestone Automation: Celebrating key moments shouldn’t require manual tracking or extra HR effort. With milestone automation, WorkProud helps companies deliver timely, branded recognition for birthdays, work anniversaries, onboarding completions, and other important moments. It’s a powerful way to honor individual contributions while freeing up time for HR teams. The result? Employees feel valued at every stage of their journey, without anything falling through the cracks.

Most importantly, WorkProud is easy to implement and intuitive to use. Whether you’re rolling it out across one team or your entire global workforce, employees and managers can jump right in and start recognizing one another from day one.

Let’s take a look at how WorkProud really helped the following four companies retain their employees.

Reversing Burnout and Turnover: Regional Medical Center

Jersey City Medical Center is a 2,500-employee regional medical center serving rural communities was facing critical staffing shortages, with turnover rates 34% higher than the industry average. Their existing recognition programs felt outdated and overly transactional, offering little sense of cultural connection. This can be especially problematic in a high-stress, life-or-death field like healthcare.

Before partnering with WorkProud, recognition efforts were fragmented and siloed. Nurses pulling double shifts felt invisible, and support staff rarely received acknowledgment for their vital contributions to patient care. Milestone recognition was mostly limited to generic certificates and cafeteria gift cards. Such gestures didn’t align with the organization’s mission of compassionate care. Managers, already stretched thin, lacked effective tools to consistently deliver meaningful praise, especially across shifts and departments.

That changed when the medical center implemented WorkProud’s Recognition Feed, which created a living stream of appreciation visible across the entire organization. From ER teams saving lives to housekeeping staff going the extra mile for patient comfort, real-time recognition brought their culture of compassion, excellence, and teamwork to life.

The introduction of Peer & Manager Recognition made meaningful praise more accessible and timely. Recognition now flows from every direction — across roles, departments, and shifts — thanks to mobile, email, and in-app notifications. Day and night shift workers could finally recognize each other’s contributions, and physicians could celebrate respiratory therapists’ critical work without it being lost in the shuffle.

Within just 12 months, the medical center saw an 18% reduction in turnover, saving approximately $2.1 million in recruitment and training costs. Just as importantly, patient satisfaction scores rose by 15%, as staff felt more appreciated, connected, and aligned with the mission they signed up for.

“The majority of employees don’t have points. Still, a “thumbs up,” or “great job,” or “happy anniversary,” or “so good you’re part of the system” means a lot and goes a long way – we have a very good response rate for our employees who participate. And most recently I’ve requested the company to give me a report on the prizes that employees have demanded. And there are pages and pages on a spreadsheet of prizes! So the employees are engaged. They are looking forward to it. They’re giving thumbs up to their coworkers!”

– Mary Cataudella, Vice President Human Resources at Jersey City Medical Center

Read Jersey City Medical Center case study

Boosting Retention by 25% with Value-Aligned Recognition: Global Automotive Supplier

A 4,200-employee global automotive parts manufacturer with facilities across North America was struggling to retain talent. These issues were beginning to disrupt production timelines and impact quality standards. Employees felt disconnected from the company’s values, and the existing recognition programs weren’t doing much to change that. They lacked authenticity, didn’t reflect the brand, and weren’t making an impact on the ground.

Recognition was also wildly inconsistent across facilities and shifts. During peak production times, plant managers found it hard to maintain recognition habits. Meanwhile, the company’s core values (safety, innovation, and quality) felt abstract to frontline workers focused on hitting daily quotas. Their old system rewarded numbers, not people, and ultimately created a transactional atmosphere instead of a cultural one.

That changed when they implemented WorkProud’s Custom Post Types. This feature let them design recognition posts around the moments that mattered most, from safety milestones and process improvements to mentorship and collaboration. Each post was branded, aligned with corporate values, and easy to configure. The result? A consistent, visible culture of recognition that reinforced what the company stood for and made employees proud to be part of it.

Achieving a 35:1 ROI by Modernizing Recognition: Gables Residential

Gables Residential is a U.S.-based real estate company with 1,200 associates. Before turning to WorkProud, the company’s recognition efforts were outdated and ineffective. Only 14% of associates were being recognized each year, and even then, it was during a single, banquet-style event that often left people wondering why they or others were being acknowledged.

The company faced a culture rooted in top-down management where recognition felt like a popularity contest, not a reflection of real performance. To make matters worse, the recognition programs were manual, inconsistent, and difficult to manage, leading to low engagement and unclear impact.

That changed when Gables implemented the WorkProud platform and mobile app, streamlining multiple programs into one cohesive system that included peer recognition, manager awards, spot awards, milestones, wellness, sales, and performance. The company also added gamification and made the program mobile-friendly with both iOS and Android access.

The transformation was powerful. By reallocating the old award dinner budget (with no additional spend) Gables saw a 10:1 ROI on recognition alone and a 35:1 ROI across the entire program. Instead of 140 recognitions per year, the company now delivers over 11,000 recognitions annually, with 95% associate participation. Engagement scores rose, OfficeVibe comments became more positive, and WorkDay metrics showed a boost in productivity.

By tying recognition to core values, using points instead of cash to avoid unhealthy competition, and empowering peers to celebrate each other, Gables built a modern, meaningful recognition culture — one that’s still going strong years later.

“We find that our people really like it because we’re doing so many things that involve incentive points, people value them and are constantly looking at ways to earn them. The primary part of that program is recognition, and we find that our people really like it. It’s probably a differentiator for us that some of our competitors don’t offer… I appreciate WorkProud powering such a dynamic and useful system. Thanks so much!”

– Philip Altschuler, Senior VP of Human Resources at Gables Residential

Read the Gables case study

Strengthening Culture and Connection in a Hybrid World: First Federal Bank of Florida

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, First Federal Bank of Florida quickly shifted to a remote working model and later adopted a hybrid approach, which many HR experts consider ideal for today’s workforce. However, the constant changes and remote work created new challenges: disengagement, loneliness, and impacts on employee mental health and productivity. The bank realized its existing rewards and recognition programs weren’t keeping up with these shifting needs, especially as Millennials and Gen Z employees place a high value on workplace culture and meaningful recognition.

To tackle these challenges, First Federal Bank turned to WorkProud’s platform and mobile app, integrating multiple recognition programs under one roof. From peer-to-peer social recognition and manager awards to spot awards and gamification, the bank revamped how it reinforced its core values and connected employees, whether they were working remotely or in-office. Wellness, sales, milestones, and performance management programs all worked together seamlessly.

The impact was clear: employees began collaborating and connecting more easily across departments and functions. This strengthened work culture supported the emotional and psychological well-being of the entire workforce. This resulted in increased productivity, improved client relationships, and better cooperation between peers and managers. This was all driven by a more engaged and confident team.

First Federal Bank learned that a happy, satisfied workforce leads to loyal customers and that the right recognition program is crucial for building positive relationships and communication. Moreover, a strong culture attracts top talent, while supporting employee well-being directly contributes to enhanced productivity across the organization.

“It’s had an incredible impact for employees, not only remote, but also in person.It has been so empowering for those that have felt like a wilted flower on an island by themselves to be able to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. So, by all means, we cannot stop saying enough positive things about this program and the impact that it’s had, not only on the emotional mindset of our employees but also on how they view the future of work. It’s showing to trend in the positive.”

– Lisa Hutcherson, SVP Director of Human Capital Strategies at First Federal Bank of Florida

Read the First Federal Bank of Florida case study

Employee retention software for organizations

These case studies demonstrate that effective employee retention software goes beyond traditional approaches focused on compensation or benefits. By positioning recognition as a culture driver rather than a transactional process, organizations can address the root causes of disengagement: employees feeling invisible, disconnected from purpose, and undervalued for their contributions.

WorkProud’s approach differs significantly from competitors by focusing on cultural storytelling and authentic values alignment rather than points-based systems or complex performance integrations. Our rewards catalog, Catalog API, supports this philosophy by enabling meaningful recognition with or without monetary rewards, ensuring the focus remains on the message and cultural impact.

Whether you’re leading a healthcare system struggling with critical staffing shortages or a manufacturing company facing retention challenges that threaten production goals, WorkProud’s employee retention software provides the cultural foundation necessary for sustainable engagement and retention improvements.

The ROI extends far beyond reduced turnover costs – encompassing improved patient satisfaction, increased production efficiency, enhanced safety performance, and stronger organizational culture that attracts and retains top talent.

Ready to transform your retention strategy through meaningful recognition? Request a Demo to see how WorkProud can drive cultural impact and measurable ROI for your organization, or learn more about WorkProud to explore our comprehensive approach to employee retention through recognition.