The State of Employee
Experience and
Recognition in 2025
What first-party Inspirus data reveals about disengagement,
productivity, and recognition maturity.
Average Organization Size of
Data self-reported by HR and People Leaders
Data pulled from real-world assessments, not benchmarks or projections
Survey Respondents
What our Calculators Revealed
The
Cost of
Disengagement
Turnover:
The Lagging
Indicator
Disengagement Is the Most Expensive Employee Experience Risk
Actively Disengaged
Partially Disengaged
110 Actively Disengaged Employees
$2.46M Lost Annually
350 Partially Disengaged Employees
$3.92M Lost Annually
Total Annual Productivity Loss: $6.3M (on average)
Turnover Is a Symptom — Not the Starting Point
Average annual cost of employee turnover
$184,814
Turnover often reflects unresolved disengagement and experience breakdowns upstream.
Beneath
the
Surface
Beneath the Surface:
Productivity & Absenteeism
Productivity Loss
Absenteeism Impact
$104,604 annually
$222,325 annually
Cultural
Strategic
Structured
Developing
Ad Hoc
Recognition embedded
in organizational DNA
Recognition drives
business outcomes
Systematic recognition
with clear processes
Recognition drives
business outcomes
Recognition is irregular
and manager-dependent
Score
24-32
Score
24-27
Score
19-23
Score
12-18
Score
8-11
To understand the current state of recognition strategy, Inspirus analyzed results from the Recognition Maturity Model Quiz, which assesses organizationsacross five distinct levels:
The Reality Check
Across all of the completed assessments, the results painted a sobering picture:
Score range: 8 to 32
Average score: 18.4
Most common level: Developing
Organizations at this stage often have:
Inconsistent recognition
Limited measurement
Minimal alignment to values or business goals
Take the Recognition Maturity Quiz
Disengagement losses
remain high
Productivity & absenteeism persist
Turnover reflects deeper issues
Recognition
remains
under-scaled
2025 Reality Check
What This Means for HR Leaders in 2026
Measure recognition impact
Embed recognition into daily work
Move from episodic to strategic
This means that while most companies have taken initial steps toward structured recognition, they haven't yet reached the levels where recognition becomes a reliable driver of engagement, performance, and retention.
Understand how recognition can
impact your organization
Assess your recognition maturity and uncover your employee experience opportunity.
Total Annual Productivity Loss
$6.3M (on average)
The Cost of Disengagement
Beneath the Surface
Turnover:
The Lagging Indicator
$104,604 Annually
Productivity Loss
$222,325 Annually
Absenteeism Impact
Average annual cost of employee turnover
$184,814
Turnover often reflects unresolved disengagement and experience breakdowns upstream.
$3.92M Lost Annually
Partially Disengaged
$2.46M Lost Annually
Actively Disengaged
Learn more
Download the PDF
Explore the calculators
Take the Recognition Maturity Quiz
Read Our Blog