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150 Innovative Names for Employee Recognition Programs



A well-designed and implemented employee recognition program should be able to capture employees’ interest and motivate them to participate. Hence, to help organizations develop catchy program names, we have compiled a list of 150 innovative program names.

So, What’s in a Name?

Measuring the Success of Employee Recognition Programs

The recognition program should have a distinctive name that is both attractive and noticeable to employees.

Studies have shown that over 70% of employees across organizations believe that an interesting program name is indicative of how interesting the program is likely to be.

So, how do you decide on the name of an employee recognition program?

Event-based Employee Recognition

Strangely, selecting an appropriate name for an employee recognition program can prove to be a challenging task.

This is because the program name is likely to act as the first element of communication of the program.

Organizations can consider the following points while deciding on the best names for their employee recognition programs:

 deciding on the best names for their employee recognition programs:

1. Firstly, Create an Emotional Connection

Benefits of having a Highly Motivated Workforce

The name of the program, just like the brand name should create an emotional connection with the employees like a sense of aspiration, achievement, or fulfillment.

It could relate to terms from sports or adventure, such as ‘Aces,’ ‘Extra-milers,’ ‘Bravo,’ ‘Cheers,’ or Shine.’

Additionally, the program name itself can be a source of motivation and excitement for employees, as they can relate to it.

Also, organizations should consider different cross-cultural nuances to avoid offending any segment of the employees

2. Make it Meaningful and Relevant

Why Build Internal Tool for Employee Rewards and Recognition

Also, the program name should be in sync with the other elements of the program including the objectives, names of recognition, criteria, and even the visual aspects of it.

For example, a program name such as ‘Extra-milers’ or ‘Above and Beyond’ immediately creates an image of a program focusing on performance beyond designated goals.

Also, if the program incorporates significant elements of peer-to-peer recognition, the program name should be ‘Wow,’ ‘X-Factors,’ or ‘Hurray.’  

The program name should also gel with the corporate brand and organizational culture.

3. Keep it Simple, Catchy, and Unique

Fun Awards

Moreover, it is essential that employees can easily recall the program name.

Hence, the name should be decided to keep in mind the demographic and cultural profile of the workforce.

For example, a program name such as ‘Hall of Fame’ or ‘Achievers Club’ might do well in an organization with a more mature workforce, whereas names such as ‘Transformers’ or ‘Rockstars’ might do better for an organization with a younger workforce. 

However, choosing a name that is easy to understand, pronounce, and remember is highly advisable.

Similarly, keeping the names short will likely provide more positive results than prolonged and complicated program names.

4. Link it to the Corporate Brand

Employer Branding

Establishing a linkage with the corporate brand (as a prefix or suffix) can help integrate the recognition program with other organizational initiatives; rather than being seen as something standalone. 

For example, program names such as ‘IBM Heroes’, ‘Microsoft Aces’, ‘Bravo Infoscions’, or ‘Wow Wipro-ites’ might strengthen the program’s organizational connection.

5. Invite Suggestions from Employees       

Meeting

Involving the employees to come up with suggestions for the program name is a very good way to not only get creative and innovative ideas but to engage them in the implementation of the program itself.

Employees with good suggestions can be incentivized or recognized during the program’s launch, increasing their engagement.

Examples of Innovative Names for Employee Recognition Programs

Enable Social Recognition for Innovators 

We have compiled this list of 150 catchy program names to help organizations select the best possible names for their programs.

One-word names tend to work best but they are harder to come up with. Two or three-word names can do well but one should be careful not to make it too long and difficult to recall.

Organizations can prefix or suffix their corporate brand to the suggested names. Also, organizations whose brand names start with ‘I’ can leverage the ‘i in their program names (as a prefix).

One-Word Names for Employee Recognition Programs

1. Aces

2.
Achievers

3. Actualizers

4. Actuators

5. Applause

6. Appreciate

7. Aspire

8. Attain

9. Badges

10. Blockbuster

11. Bravo!

12. Caps

13. Catalysts

14. Celebrate

15. Celebrations

16. Chargers

17. Cheers!

18. Diamonds

19. Doers

20. Dynamos

21. Evangelists

22. Extra-milers

23. Feathers

24. Finishers

25. Gems

26. Go-getters

27. Gratitude

28. Hard-hitters

29. Heroes

30. HiFives

31. Highfliers

32. Hurray!

33. Jewels

34. Kudos

35. Leap

36. Leapfrog

37. Limelight

38. Maestros

39. Ninjas

40. Ovation

41. Overachievers

42. Pacesetters

43. Pathfinders

44. Pinnacle

45. Propel

46. Recognize

47. Rise

48. Rockstars

49. Salute

50. Shine

51. Snipers

52. Spark

53. Sparkle

54. Spotlight

55. Sprint

56. Stars

57. Strikers

58. Strive

59. Summit

60. Superheroes

61. Superstars

62. Surge

63. Thanks

64. Trailblazers

65. Transformers

66. Upsurge

67. Value

68. Vault

69. Virtuosos

70. Wings

71. Workstars

72. Wow!

73. X-Factors

Two-Word Names for Employee Recognition Programs

1. Acers Club

2. Aces Club


3. Achievers Circle

4. Achievers Club

5. Action Heroes

6. All Champs

7. All Stars

8. Big Fish

9. Big Guns

10. Big Shot

11. Bright Stars

12. Champions Club

13. Champions League

14. Extramilers Club

15. Extraordinary Performers

16. Five Stars

17. Game Changers 

18. Gold Standard    

19. Gold Stars

20. Greater Heights

21. High Achievers

22. High Fives

23. High Flyers

24. High Impact

25. Higher Echelon

26. Higher Level

27. Honor Club

28. Hot Shots

29. Key Drivers

30. Leading Lights

31. Master Blasters

32. Mega Stars

33. Mountain Movers

34. MVP Club

35. Next Level

36. Outstanding Achievers

37. Premier League

38. Shining Stars

39. Special Mention

40. Standing Ovation

41. Super Achievers

42. Superheroes

43. Super Performers

44. Super Squad

45. Three Cheers

46. Thumbs Up

47. Top Brass

48. Top Guns

49. Top Performers

50. Top Scorers

51. Winners Circle

52. Work Champs

53. Work Oscars

54. Workplace Heroes

55. Workplace Rockstars

56. World Beaters

Three-Word Names for Employee Recognition Programs

1. Above and Beyond

2. Champions at Work


3. Circle of Excellence

4. Five Star Club

5. Hall of Fame

6. League of Achievers

7. League of Heroes

8. Movers and Shakers

9. Round of Applause

10. Legends of Work

Names for Employee Recognition Programs Starting with ‘i

1. iApplaud

2. iAppreciate

3. iAspire

4. iCelebrate

5. iCheer

6. iRecognize

7. iShine

8. iStar

9. iThank

10. iValue

11. iLeap

Organizations should complement innovative program names with innovative and creative ones for the awards or recognition policies.

Read more:
40 Creative and Innovative Award Names for Employee Recognition
70 Innovative Award Names for Employee Recognition (Part 2)

Our Final Perspective

Therefore, organizations must invest time and effort in developing innovative names for employee recognition programs, which is a crucial first step toward creating an effective employee recognition program.

Hence, a unique, innovative, and relevant program name is likely to generate more interest and engagement in the program from the employees.

Sagar Chaudhuri

Lead author: Sagar Chaudhuri, the Co-Founder and CEO of HiFives. He is an HR Tech Evangelist with over 25 years of experience in both corporate and entrepreneurial settings. Previously, Sagar has held leadership roles with companies such as Genpact, Infosys, and ICICI Bank. He has an engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. Connect on LinkedIn

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HiFives is a global employee rewards, recognition and engagement SaaS platform that enables organizations to digitize, automate and transform their employee experience. It is used by 100+ large enterprises, small businesses and startups in manufacturing, retail, technology, financial services and media, across 25+ countries.