The 4 forms of recognition at work (Brun and Dugas)

Saying thank you, congratulating someone, valuing an effort: all of this is recognition, but not in the same way. Researchers Jean-Pierre Brun and Ninon Dugas showed in 2005 that recognition at work takes four distinct forms. Knowing them changes everything: most managers practise only one or two, and miss the rest. Here is the model, with concrete examples for each form.

Where does this model come from?

Jean-Pierre Brun, professor of management at Université Laval in Quebec, and Ninon Dugas published a landmark analysis in 2005, "Recognition at work: analysis of a concept rich in meaning". Their starting observation: recognition is one of employees' strongest expectations, and one of the least understood by organisations. Their main contribution was distinguishing four forms of recognition, depending on what you focus on in a person: who they are, how they work, the effort they put in, and the results they achieve.

Form 1: existential recognition

This is recognition of the person themselves, independent of their work. It shows up in everyday gestures: greeting someone by name, asking how they are doing, keeping them informed, consulting them on decisions that affect them, respecting their work-life balance.

Concrete examples:

• Asking an employee's opinion before changing how their work is organised.
• Taking five minutes to personally welcome a new colleague.
• Noticing an absence and checking in when the person returns.

This is the most fundamental form: without it, the other three ring hollow. An employee praised for their results but ignored in the corridor does not feel recognised.

Form 2: recognition of work practices

Here, we recognise the way someone works: their skills, professionalism, quality of execution, creativity. It answers the question "how do you do your work?", not "what did you produce?"

Concrete examples:

• "The way you run meetings makes everyone feel free to speak up."
• "The care you put into your files saves us precious time."
• Entrusting a mentoring role to someone whose know-how you value.

Form 3: recognition of dedication and effort

This form values the effort put in, the energy invested, the contribution to the group, even when the outcome falls short. It is valuable precisely because it does not depend on success: a project can fail for reasons outside anyone's control while the team gave everything.

Concrete examples:

• "I know this project demanded weeks of intense work from you, thank you for your commitment."
• Thanking the team that held on through a busy period, regardless of the numbers.
• Acknowledging someone's perseverance with a difficult client.

Form 4: recognition of results

This is the most common form in organisations: congratulating someone for a target reached, a sale closed, a project delivered. It is useful, but it comes after the fact and only reaches those who succeed. An organisation that practises only this form leaves most of its teams without recognition most of the time.

Concrete examples:

• Publicly congratulating a team for a successful launch.
• Celebrating a project milestone with the whole team, including support functions.
• "Thanks to your work, the client renewed their trust for three more years."

Why most organisations get the form wrong

At Listen Leon, we analysed hundreds of thousands of messages exchanged on our platform. The result: only 18% of messages qualify as true, precise, factual recognition. 26% are appreciation, 50% are kindness and generic compliments, and 5% are simple politeness. In other words, even when the intention is there, the practice lacks precision. A "great job, well done" feels nice, but a message that names the specific fact, the form of recognition, and its impact genuinely shifts motivation.

This finding echoes the Brun and Dugas model: recognising people well is a skill that can be learned. That is exactly what our recognition training covers, and it is often the first step in our engagements with clients.

How to put all 4 forms into practice

• Vary the forms. If you only praise results, add effort and practice. People whose results are less visible, support functions especially, finally get seen.
• Be specific. Name the fact, the moment, the impact. Precision is what turns a compliment into recognition.
• Open recognition to everyone. It does not only flow down from managers: between colleagues, from clients to teams, from patients to caregivers, it moves in every direction. That is the principle behind 360° recognition.
• Build a rhythm. One-off recognition feels good, regular recognition changes a culture.

Going further

The Brun and Dugas model gives you the framework. The benefits are documented by research: well-being, motivation, engagement and retention all improve when recognition flows freely. We detail the evidence in our guide the science of recognition.

Want to see how 360° recognition works in practice within a team? Get in touch and request a demo of Listen Leon. More than 500,000 thank-you messages have already been exchanged on the platform, in companies and in hospitals alike.