Case Study: Teach First boosts staff engagement through non-monetary recognition with Recognize

Non-Monetary Recognition in the Non-Profit Space

Teach First, a UK non-profit tackling educational inequality through a two-year teacher training program, needed a low-cost way to boost retention and reinforce organizational values without relying on monetary rewards. They selected Recognize’s platform to implement non-monetary recognition, using custom badges, Outlook integration, and a Manager Portal to embed values like Excellence, Collaboration and Commitment into everyday workflows.

Recognize rolled out social, manager-to-employee, and private on-the-spot recognition programs across Teach First, activating over 850 users and driving heavy engagement — about 200 recognitions per week, more than 9,000 recognitions in 10 months, and one in two employees recognized each month — improving visibility of values and staff motivation while staying within budget.

Teach First