How Ryan expanded a culture of recognition that scales

Recognition as a foundation for growth

Ryan, a global tax services, software, and technology firm, has long believed recognition is foundational to a strong culture. Through RyanPRIDE, its recognition programme powered by Achievers, team members celebrate collaboration, client impact, and performance every day.

As Ryan grew to more than 117 offices across hybrid and in‑office environments, recognition activity grew with it. While RyanPRIDE was widely adopted, office leaders didn’t always have enough budget flexibility to recognise everything worth celebrating — especially the volunteer, engagement, and community‑building efforts that brought office culture to life. These contributions played an important role in the team member experience, but they weren’t always reflected in Ryan’s recognition strategy.

Ryan wanted to expand recognition beyond day-to-day performance metrics and create more opportunities to recognise efforts that strengthen culture, community involvement, and team connection across the organisation.

Identifying the opportunity

The idea emerged during one of Ryan’s monthly Team Talks, the Firm’s global town hall hosted by the CEO and executive leadership team. During the Q&A portion, principals in charge (PICs), who lead Ryan’s offices, raised a common challenge: their existing RyanPRIDE budgets did not always leave enough flexibility to recognise volunteer, engagement, or community-building efforts happening across their offices.

PICs asked whether additional recognition points could be dedicated specifically to these types of contributions, highlighting an opportunity to better support and recognise the work already shaping office culture across the organisation.

One example was Ryan Shares Day: the company’s annual volunteer initiative tied to its anniversary celebration. During Ryan Shares Day, recognition spikes, particularly for team members coordinating volunteer efforts, organising events, and supporting participation behind the scenes. The feedback reinforced that office leaders wanted more opportunities to recognise the people helping create these experiences across Ryan’s offices.

Empowering office leaders with more flexibility

To reinforce the behaviours that bring its culture to life, Ryan expanded RyanPRIDE with an additional recognition budget for office leaders. Ryan invested $25,000 USD in incremental funding, distributed based on office headcount, giving PICs the flexibility to recognise volunteer efforts, engagement activities, and community involvement as they happened.

Rather than introducing a new system or adding complexity, Ryan partnered with Achievers to extend recognition within the programme that team members already knew and used across the Firm, making it easy for leaders to celebrate meaningful contributions that strengthen office culture and connection.

To support adoption, Ryan took the following actions:

• Communicated why the additional budget was introduced
• Clarified which behaviours it was intended to recognise
• Provided guidance on how to access and use the incremental points
• Hosted a dedicated Q&A session for office leaders

PICs could also delegate to a site administrator, a team member often closest to the day-to-day coordination and support of office initiatives. This gave site administrators the ability to recognise volunteer, engagement, and community efforts in real time throughout the year.

Visible impact across offices

Following the launch of the additional budget, Ryan saw a noticeable increase in recognition. RyanPRIDE messages showcased a broad range of contributions being celebrated, including the following:

• Community service participation
• Volunteer leadership
• Office event coordination
• Cross-team camaraderie
• Inclusion-building efforts

These moments were brought to life through recognition shared across the organisation:

The added flexibility empowered office leaders and teams with more opportunities to recognise the contributions that strengthen Ryan’s culture and foster connection across the organisation.

Reinforcing values through everyday culture moments

Ryan’s recognition strategy is closely tied to its values, giving team members a way to recognise the behaviours and contributions that shape the organisation every day. After the additional office-level budget was introduced, the types of contributions being recognised began to broaden across the organisation.

• Wired to Win: 62%
• Pursue Excellence: 18%
• Generosity Matters: 15%
• Build Trust: 4%
• Integrity Always: 1%

The impact was clear in how Ryan’s values showed up in recognition. Before the initiative, “Generosity Matters” represented just 8% of recognitions shared through RyanPRIDE. After implementation, that number nearly doubled to 15%, reflecting a broader range of contributions being recognised, from peer support to team‑led initiatives like Ryan Shares Day.

Ryan’s approach reinforced an important idea: when people feel recognised and supported, a strong culture follows naturally.

Results that scale culture

The expanded use of Achievers through RyanPRIDE led to strong adaptation across the business:

• Recognition activity across more than 117 office locations
• $25,000 USD invested in additional recognition funding
• 87% utilisation of the additional budget
• Increased visibility of local engagement and community contributions
• Greater ownership of engagement outcomes by office leaders

Many office leaders were already fully utilising their original RyanPRIDE budgets before this initiative was launched. The rapid adoption of the additional budget further demonstrated the importance of recognition opportunities across Ryan. By expanding recognition with the Achievers programme, Ryan didn’t just increase participation, it reinforced the idea that culture is built in everyday moments. With the right flexibility and visibility, recognition became a powerful way to scale connection, celebrate shared values, and ensure that contributions across every office were seen, valued, and appreciated.