What are the top leading priorities for today’s CEO? According to the Wall Street Journal‘s guest blog website; one of the biggest concerns is “team member excellence.” An aspiration made possible through outstanding recruitment and retention and all the other human resource practices that support it. CEOs expect to see HR leading the way in everything people related including recognition applications that create the type of modern work environment that attracts and optimizes talent.

Of all the resources your company relies on to move its business forward, people are the most critical. They are the creators, keepers and conduits of institutional knowledge; they are the face of your brand and the owners of customer relationships. Their attitudes, actions and abilities are what set you apart in a very busy and competitive marketplace.

So let’s talk about the concept of a working environment for a second. People can be either the victims or the benefactors of your company’s culture. And while the collective behavior of all sustains a culture, it is often the recognition practices of management that defines it in the first place.

What is culture? I define it as everything employees share: goals, beliefs, attitudes, definitions of success and the acceptable pathways to getting there. It’s something that effectively connects people, mission and values to practices, and it can account for 20-30% of the differential in corporate performance.

A positive culture aligns corporate strategy with behavioral expectations; it gives employees clarity and purpose and it provides a framework for worker contributions. It also sets the stage for shared successes. So what type of culture does your company have? And more importantly, what role is your recognition program playing in driving a positive one?