What types of rewards and recognition programs is everyone using?  Not a platform (i.e. we don't have money to spend on it), but rather, what are some home-grown ideas, i.e. Town Hall shout-outs, monthly emails, etc?  Looking for advice on how to get managers to commit to it on a regular basis without having to police them.

That’s a great question – we’ve also been intentional about finding “home-grown” ways to recognize people without investing in a formal platform. A few things that have worked well:

Simple, Visible Recognition

Town Hall/Team Meeting Shout-Outs: Leaders carve out 5 minutes to spotlight wins, but we also encourage peer-to-peer callouts so it isn’t only top-down.

Rotating Recognition in Emails/Newsletters: A quick spotlight of 1–2 employees each month tied back to values or business impact.

Low-Cost, High-Impact Ideas

Handwritten Notes: Leaders sending a personal note of thanks has been surprisingly powerful.

Peer Recognition Boards: Either physical boards in shared spaces or digital equivalents where anyone can post kudos.

“Pass the Torch” Awards: One employee recognized each month who then selects the next person to highlight, creating a self-sustaining cycle.

Getting Manager Commitment Without Policing

Build recognition into existing routines (weekly huddles, 1:1s, or staff meetings) instead of treating it as “one more thing.”

Provide light structure (e.g., a quarterly reminder or a template with prompts like “Who went above and beyond this month?”).

Link recognition to values and performance goals so managers see it as part of their leadership responsibility, not a “nice to have.”

Most importantly, model it from the top – when senior leaders consistently demonstrate recognition, managers tend to follow.

In my experience, the consistency comes less from “enforcing” and more from making it easy, visible, and culturally expected.

Agree with the other comments.  At our company, we also have an annual awards ceremony hosted by our CEO.  He recognizes key projects and project members.  (We have an application process where he or his executive team hop on the nominees' virtual team meetings to thank them and tell them if they are finalists, which is huge recognition as well).  This is more special/on top rather than regular weekly/monthly but it sets a tone from the top.

Low-cost recognition ideas-  Town Hall shout-outs, peer-nominated kudos boards, Wall of fame - Monthly/quarterly/yearly, appreciation emails, handwritten notes and spotlight stories in newsletters.(Digital)

In a previous company, we asked leaders to nominate people for special, small-group lunches with executives.  This gave the employee visibility and recognition while also helping the executives keep a pulse on the "average" employee's experience.

And another approach we used: we solicited nominations of people who had gone above & beyond to spotlight at during monthly / quarterly townhalls. This was also a great way to reinforce the company's values or leadership principles if you use them as the categories. You can also take this one step further by creating a social media banner for the "winner" to post (or company social media team can recognize the employee on the company channel).

Shout outs, set up a Teams channel (or other online existing tool) for informal recognition.  Offer tips and ideas to leaders.  Have leaders nominate people for calls from the CEO.