The Southern Division President of The Home Depot, Ann-Marie Campbell, uses Twitter to recognize the great work her associates are doing. The Home Depot is a great example of a company that makes employee recognition, one of their main core values, a top priority. Their value is called “taking care of our people,” which highlights the importance of respecting their associates and making sure their work is valued. Campbell often writes letters to associates or tweets photos of them often receiving awards in order to recognize the hard work they do.

While the employee recognition isn’t only monetary, Campbell believes that “it does motivate and helps get that discretionary effort a lot of times, because [those associates] know what they’re doing is appreciated.” Companies have 31 percent lower voluntary turnover rates when they provide continuous verbal employee recognition, according to a study by Bersin and Associates.

Campbell said she loves the culture at Home Depot, and the two founders, Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank, were so personable with their employee recognition that she began to adopt their way of working. She was additionally inspired by the former CEO Frank Blake, who would sit down every Sunday morning and hand write 50-100 letters to his associates, thanking them for their hard work. Similar to Frank’s letters, Campbell’s public tweets are her way of showing her associates their hard work is valued and appreciated.

Several benefits, such as increased productivity and a more enjoyable workplace, can come from a simple thank you card or tweeted photo, whereas money can’t always buy that kind of happiness or gratification.

Dan Pink gave a TED talk which has about 16 million views about the puzzle of motivation and the effects of using money as an incentive. He highlights this topic by sharing an experiment called ‘The Candle Problem.’ He explains that The Candle Problem is a simple task where one needs to attach a candle to a wall, after being given a box of thumbtacks and matches to help, so that the candle doesn’t drip onto the table.

When two different groups try to solve the problem, one is told they are being timed to find what the norm is, while the other group is given money if they are in the top 25 percent of those who finish quickly. The test results showed that the group incentivized with money continuously finished three minutes slower than the group without that incentive.

More than 40 years of other research prove this same idea, that for most tasks you cannot incentivize people with money to make them perform better. Campbell believes that her way of thanking her associates and making them feel acknowledged truly makes a difference in the long run. Dan Pink believes that a bonus or monetary gratification might not be able to maintain this same long term effect.

Campbell’s public twitter account is one way she acknowledges her associates’ work and upholds their core value of taking care of their people, but how do you know if a company really does uphold their core values? The Wall Street website shared a post about the worst companies to work for. One company ranked within the top 10, although their website expresses how associates are always treated with respect. The stories the associates shared paint a much different picture.

The company’s associates complained their salaries are the lowest allowed by law. On top of that, one associate said he felt like “an indentured servant.” Companies can say all they want about valuing associates, but only hearing from the people themselves makes it true, which is really important for potential candidates to see when evaluating where they might want to work.

The Home Depot career page does an excellent job at sharing real life stories about what it is like to work there and how associates feel like they have a voice. Their stories express the company’s core values and how they feel like their work really matters. I would really love the experience of working somewhere like The Home Depot where even entry-level associates are treated with respect and recognized for their hard work.

One current associate, Felicia, said in a video interview that she was chosen to be on their employer of choice committee. This is a group of nine associates from different departments chosen by the store manager, who address the relevant issues associates have in order to give the team members a voice.

This committee came up with the idea to openly recognize six different associates every month from different departments in the store. She added, “It feels really good to be recognized for the hard work you put in – it’s a big thank you. They definitely value that.” This is just one example of how associates appreciate even the smallest of gestures that allow their accomplishments to be acknowledged.

It isn’t always easy getting up each morning to go to work. But, based on what I read and saw about The Home Depot from their associates and the many stories posted on their career page, they create a fun and successful environment. Their environment and dedication to employee recognition inspires associates to work hard while acknowledging one another for doing a good job.