Employee appreciation vs employee recognition: what has the bigger impact on retention

on August 13, 2026

Walk into any organization where employees have stayed for years, and you'll usually notice something interesting.

 

People don't only stay because of the salary.

Or the benefits.

Or even the opportunities for promotion.

 

They stay because of how they feel when they come to work every day.

Do they feel valued and respected?

Do they feel supported?

Do they feel like their contribution genuinely matters?

 

Here's the interesting part.

Most employees don't remember every award they've received.

 

They remember the manager who thanked them after a difficult week.

The teammate who noticed the extra effort nobody else saw.

The leader who paused for a quick conversation instead of walking straight past.

 

Those moments don't take very long.

But they stay with people for a surprisingly long time.

That's employee appreciation.

 

It's also why employee appreciation and employee recognition are so often confused.

They're connected. But they aren't the same thing.

 

Recognition says,

"The way you handled that guest today made a real difference."

 

Appreciation says,

"We notice what you do every day, and we're glad you're part of this team."

Organizations need both.

 

But when the goal is to help great people stay, appreciation often has a greater influence.

Because people rarely leave after missing one award.

 

They leave after quietly wondering whether anyone would notice if they weren't there tomorrow.

Leadership training vs management training: what drives stronger business performance

on August 13, 2026

Airport Customer Service Survey Across Three Years [INFOGRAPHIC]

on June 28, 2016

Customer Service Experts' Annual Airport Customer Service Survey has arrived!

Each year, the team from CSE attends the Airport Revenue News (ARN) Conference, where the airport industry meets to network and learn about the latest trends.  ARN offers countless opportunities to gather feedback on customer service experiences from airport executives, commercial property managers, CEOs, concession decision-makers, and business development directors.  For the last three years, CSE has gathered data from ARN attendees to help clearly define the passenger experience both landside and airside, and illustrate the importance of preparing employees to deliver exemplary customer service.

In 2014, over 700 million passengers traveled through airports in North America and those travelers spent over $900 billion on concessions.  Check out ARN’s breakdown of their spending in top North American airports: 

2014 Food and Beverage - $5 billion
2014 Duty Free and Specialty Retail - $2.5 billion
2014 News and Gift - $1.5 billion

With this amount of spending, the importance of training employees to deliver an outstanding airport experience becomes instantly apparent.

So what did we learn this year when talking to ARN attendees about the importance of outstanding customer service?  Check out our 2016 infographic summary where 98% of those surveyed said employee skills are important in delivering a great airport experience and 81% said they believed employee service skills impacted passenger purchasing decisions!  With that landside information, we at CSE are even more motivated to help you define your vision for your airport passenger experience and help you design a strategic customer service program.

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