When we first asked Polish employees whether they feel appreciated at work three years ago, we didn't know yet how consistent the answers would be. Or how many people would want to talk about it.

Now we have the third edition of the study. And a few findings we didn't see coming.

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Why measure recognition at all?

For a long time, recognition existed in organisations as something soft — nice to have, but optional. A pleasant cultural element, if time allows. The cherry on top that keeps getting postponed.

The problem is that "later" rarely arrives.

Meanwhile, research — not only ours — has been showing the same thing for years: the lack of a sense of recognition at work is not a matter of employee wellbeing. It is a matter of organisational performance. It affects the speed of decision-making, the willingness to take initiative, the quality of collaboration — and ultimately, whether someone stays or quietly starts looking for the exit.

Recognition is no longer just a cultural branding exercise. It has become one of the most sensitive indicators of leadership quality.

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What do we study, and how?

The "Do you feel appreciated?" study is conducted together with Enpulse — an employee engagement platform — using the CAWI method, on a sample of over 1,000 respondents from across Poland. We ask about the degree to which employees feel recognised, how often they experience appreciation, which forms of recognition matter most to them, and whether they actually receive them.

That last question is the critical one. Because the gap between what employees expect and what they actually experience is one of the most persistent phenomena we have observed since the very first edition.

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Three years of data — and what it reveals

Each new edition is not just a fresh measurement. It is a chance to see direction. What is changing — and what is staying the same in ways that should concern us.

Over three years, we have watched organisations learn certain behaviours — but not necessarily what those behaviours are supposed to mean. We have learned, as managers and as organisations, to say "thank you." And here is the paradox that one of the experts commenting on this year's report put particularly well:

"We have learned to express gratitude so often and so fluently that it is making less and less of an impression on anyone."

We fell into the trap of ritual. The form remains, the substance evaporates. And employees — instead of seeking recognition within the relationship with their organisation — are increasingly proving to themselves, on their own, that their work has meaning. Without a manager's support. Without a system. On their own terms.

That can look like resilience. In the longer run, it is a warning signal.

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What does the 2026 edition bring?

This year's results differ from previous ones. Not in every dimension, not dramatically — but enough to give pause.

Proportions have shifted. What employees expect has changed, and so has the way they describe it. Differences have emerged that weren't visible before — or that we simply couldn't see clearly enough. The generational and gender breakdowns turned out to be particularly revealing.

We won't go into the details here — that's what the report is for.

We will say this: some of the findings confirmed what we anticipated. Others surprised even us.

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Who is this report for?

For anyone who manages people — whether that's three or three hundred. For HR professionals who need data to support conversations with leadership. For team leaders who sense something is off but can't quite name it. And for anyone who simply wants to understand what recognition culture in Poland actually looks like in 2026.

The report includes not only data, but also concrete recommendations and a 30-day implementation plan — no budget required, no large-scale HR projects, actionable in any team starting Monday morning.

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Download the report

The data is available free of charge — because we believe information that can improve working environments should be accessible to everyone who wants to use it.

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