Celebrating company successes and individual achievements plays an important role in creating workplaces where employees feel valued, recognised and connected.
Whether acknowledging a work anniversary, a personal milestone or a team achievement, the way organisations celebrate reflects what they value. By recognising employees' contributions, great workplaces reinforce the behaviours that shape their culture and bring people together through shared success.
As we celebrate Certification Nation Day, we're highlighting five ways organisations can recognise their people, strengthen trust and build a positive workplace culture.
1. Recognise Milestones and Anniversaries
Recognising work anniversaries and personal achievements should be a regular part of workplace culture, but how organisations choose to celebrate can be tailored to individual preferences and the people involved. At Woodie's, recognition has played an important role in the organisation's approach to building trust and strengthening its workplace culture.
The Irish-owned retailer has used several initiatives to acknowledge employees' contributions, including its 'Kudos' app for peer-to-peer recognition, the 'Woscars' awards celebrating employee achievements and personalised birthday cards from the CEO. These initiatives have formed part of Woodie's wider cultural transformation, which has placed greater emphasis on communication, employee engagement and appreciation.
By creating opportunities to recognise both everyday contributions and significant achievements, Woodie's has reinforced the message that employees are valued for the role they play in the organisation's success.
For employers across Ireland, recognising milestones can take many forms, from acknowledging years of service and career progression to celebrating personal occasions and team achievements. What matters most is ensuring that recognition is genuine, consistent and meaningful to the people involved.
Certification Nation Day offers another opportunity to recognise an important organisational milestone, celebrating the achievement of Great Place To Work® Certification™ and the employees whose feedback and experiences make that recognition possible.
2. Celebrate Shared Organisational Values
Celebrations can play an important role in reinforcing the values that shape an organisation's culture. When organisations recognise behaviours that reflect their values, they demonstrate what those values look like in practice.
At Salesforce, workplace culture is built around five core values: Trust, Customer Success, Innovation, Equality and Sustainability. These values extend beyond the organisation's day-to-day operations through its 1-1-1 model, which commits 1% of employees' time, 1% of its products and 1% of its equity to supporting communities.
Through volunteering and pro bono initiatives, employees are encouraged to contribute their time and skills to causes that matter to them, creating opportunities to connect with colleagues while making a positive impact beyond the workplace.
Similarly, Cisco has supported employee volunteering through its Time2Give programme, providing five paid volunteering days annually in addition to regular annual leave. The initiative reflects the organisation's commitment to community involvement, giving employees opportunities to support causes that matter to them.
Both organisations demonstrate how workplace activities can reflect wider organisational values while encouraging employees to connect and contribute. For Irish employers, this could involve celebrating employee volunteering initiatives, recognising colleagues who demonstrate company values or acknowledging the collective efforts of teams working towards a shared goal.
Organisations can also use achievements such as Great Place To Work® Certification™ or recognition on Ireland's Best Workplaces™ lists to celebrate the values and behaviours that contribute to their workplace culture. The key is ensuring that these celebrations reflect what employees experience in their everyday working lives.
3. Celebrate Belonging and Inclusion
Creating a workplace where employees feel they belong means recognising and respecting the different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives that make up an organisation. Celebrating these differences can help strengthen relationships between colleagues while reinforcing a culture where everyone feels included.
At Wolfgang Digital, diversity and inclusion are an important part of the Irish digital marketing agency's workplace culture. Through initiatives such as She-Wolves and Pride Pack, the organisation has created opportunities to recognise different experiences, champion equality and support employees across its workforce. She-Wolves was established to support and empower women through workshops, guest speakers and shared experiences, while Pride Pack provides a network for LGBTQ+ employees and allies, promoting awareness, education and understanding across the organisation.
These initiatives reflect Wolfgang Digital's wider commitment to fostering an inclusive environment where employees feel valued, respected and comfortable being themselves. By creating opportunities for employees to connect, share experiences and support one another, the organisation demonstrates how inclusion can become part of everyday workplace culture rather than a standalone initiative.
For organisations across Ireland, celebrating belonging and inclusion might involve recognising cultural occasions, supporting employee-led networks or creating opportunities for colleagues to share their experiences and traditions.
However, meaningful inclusion extends beyond the celebration itself. It also means ensuring employees feel supported, respected and able to be themselves throughout the year. When organisations combine moments of celebration with meaningful action, they can create a stronger sense of belonging and reinforce trust across their workforce.
4. Recognise Innovation and Progress
Great workplaces recognise that innovation is not just about the end result. It is also about encouraging employees to share ideas, explore new approaches and contribute to continuous improvement. Celebrating progress reinforces organisational values around learning, collaboration and growth, while demonstrating that employees' ideas and contributions are valued.
At Hilti Ireland, employee involvement has been central to its approach to strengthening the workplace experience. Through its AURORA project, employees across the organisation were invited to participate in workshops, research best practices and challenge existing ways of working. The initiative generated 91 ideas, which were subsequently developed into four key areas of focus: benefits, work-life balance, compensation and social connection.
Importantly, Hilti translated this feedback into tangible improvements, including enhanced flexibility, a new benefits platform and changes to its compensation structures. The project demonstrates the value of creating opportunities for employees to contribute ideas and influence meaningful change.
For Irish employers, recognising innovation does not necessarily require a formal competition or large-scale event. It might involve celebrating a team that has introduced a more efficient process, acknowledging employees who have contributed to a successful project or recognising colleagues who have worked together to overcome a challenge.
By celebrating progress as well as outcomes, organisations can encourage employees to contribute ideas and feel confident that their perspectives are valued.
5. Recognise Individual Excellence
Every workplace has employees whose skills, dedication and contributions deserve recognition. Celebrating individual excellence provides an opportunity to acknowledge the unique talents employees bring to their roles while demonstrating appreciation for the work they do.
At Seetec Ireland, employee recognition is an important part of its workplace culture. The organisation hosts quarterly Reward and Recognition Awards, creating regular opportunities to celebrate employees and acknowledge their contributions. As an employee-owned organisation, the organisation also places a strong emphasis on employee involvement, encouraging colleagues to share their feedback and contribute to the organisation's ongoing development.
These initiatives demonstrate how recognition can become a consistent part of the employee experience, rather than something reserved for annual celebrations or major achievements.
At Toast Inc, recognising the contributions of others extends to the relationships that support employee development. Through mentoring circles, informal conversations and speed mentoring sessions, the organisation creates opportunities for employees to share their knowledge, support colleagues and learn from one another. This approach highlights the importance of acknowledging contributions that may not always be reflected in traditional performance measures. Employees who mentor colleagues, share their expertise or help others build confidence play an important role in strengthening workplace culture, and their contributions are equally deserving of recognition.
For employers across Ireland, celebrating individual excellence could mean recognising exceptional customer service, acknowledging employees who support and mentor colleagues or highlighting those whose work makes a meaningful difference to their teams. It is equally important to ensure recognition extends beyond the most visible roles or achievements.
From frontline employees to those working behind the scenes, every individual contributes to an organisation's success. Creating opportunities to acknowledge those contributions helps reinforce the message that everyone's work matters.
Celebrating Great Workplaces This Certification Nation Day
A great workplace culture is built through everyday experiences, meaningful relationships and a shared commitment to creating an environment where employees feel valued and respected. Celebration is one way organisations can reinforce these experiences, recognising the people, behaviours and achievements that contribute to their success.
Today, Great Place To Work® Certified™ organisations across Ireland and around the world will come together for Certification Nation Day, celebrating their workplace cultures and, most importantly, the people who make them possible.
Certification is an achievement worth recognising. Based on employee feedback, it reflects the experiences of the people who know an organisation's culture best. But while Certification provides an opportunity to celebrate, building a great workplace is an ongoing commitment. Continuing to listen to employees, recognise their contributions and create opportunities for connection helps organisations strengthen the trust that underpins a positive workplace experience.
To all of our Great Place To Work® Certified™ organisations celebrating this year, congratulations on your achievement! We want to see how you're celebrating! Share your Certification Nation Day activities on social media, tag Great Place To Work Ireland and use #CertificationNationDay so we can celebrate alongside you.
Thinking about Great Place to Work Certification™?
Listen to our 40-minute live Q&A webinar recording designed for organisations exploring Great Place to Work® Certification for the first time. Learn how the process works, what to expect, and why launching your Trust Index™ survey by November 2026 is key if you're planning your recognition journey.
About Great Place to Work®
Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. We help organisations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. We recognise Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies and the Best Workplaces™ in more than 60 countries. To join the thousands of companies that have committed to building high-trust company cultures that help them attract, retain and take care of their people, contact us about getting Certified today.