We are prototyping a product and I'm curious to hear how you or your company recognizes good work on a regular basis from each member of your team? Are there any tools you use out there? If you could please include your company size in your response that would be great!
First company (1500 people): The manager said a sincere thanks and you were assigned a higher profile project / and/or simply gained an increased level of trust from others. That was enough, given the nature of the company and the extremely good people it employed (world class).<p>A later company (~250,000 people): Quarterly awards with small bonuses, going to 1/50 of the top performers in the office (my office was a couple thousand people). The awards were taken quite well, with staff pinning them to their desk. What mattered for some staff was the recognition, and for some the aspiration (as faster rising, through the extreme hierarchy, staff tended to get awards more often). Frankly, it never appealed, and only motivated staff at the most junior levels. Those more savvy would use these awards as negotiation tolls in performance and salary reviews.<p>Current company (~1500 people): The boss just promotes who makes her feel good, and lets everyone have the freedom to do what they want as long as they also do their job. She's also wise to ass-lickers (unlike the previous one mentioned). Harmony is encouraged, so no special events, just promotions and increased levels of freedom.
We'd love to but we simply cannot afford it, especially since we're bootstrapping. That's the sad part about boostraping. You spent most time trying to keep food on the table, than actually building something awesome.