Sephora rewarded employees with cookies. The gesture of recognition fell short

If you give employees a cookie, beware that this gesture of recognition could fall flat.

At least that’s the lesson Sephora North America learned recently when the beauty chain sent out cookies to employees after hitting $10 billion in revenue, Business Insider reported. The cookies arrived with a note that read, in part, “We thank you for making it our greatest year ever. Cheers.”

Sephora employees who spoke with Insider were less than enthused about the gift. “They are always coaching us to meet our goals and expectations, and, of course, everyone goes above and beyond for the company and all they give us is a stale cookie and a letter thanking us,” one departing employee told the publication anonymously. On a Reddit thread for Sephora workers, one user shared a meme with a photo of the cookie that read, “When your employer makes $10 billion…and all you get is a damn cookie.”

In an emailed statement via PR rep Courtney Teague, Sephora said it was proud of employees’ “shared success,” adding that this success “allows us to continue to offer highly competitive benefits and pay, performance bonuses, education, brand perks, training product, gratis, and substantial product discounts to our employees.”

When rewards go wrong. As it turns out, doling out additional bonuses might not have been the most effective way for the company to recognize its employees either. Some research has shown that recognizing workers with monetary compensation isn’t particularly motivating; a 2012 paper published in the American Economic Review even found employees were more productive after receiving a gift (in this case, a thermos bottle) than after they were given a wage increase.

Still, there are other rewards beyond cash or gifts that HR can consider to recognize employees for their hard work. Among the types of recognition employees cited as most memorable in a survey cited by Gallup were “public recognition or acknowledgment via an award, certificate, or commendation,” “private recognition from a boss, peer, or customer,” and “promotion or increase in scope of work or responsibility to show trust.” Recognition can be particularly meaningful to employees when it comes from the top, the survey found, with 24% of respondents reporting it was most memorable when delivered by “a high-level leader or CEO.”

Gallup and Workhuman advise employers to target recognition toward individual workers, an approach that may be more effective and authentic, albeit more involved than sending out a company-wide gift. The workplace culture organization Great Place to Work offers similar advice, positing gifts are best when personalized: “Giving generic gifts can be perceived as wasteful and thoughtless, so keep a log of ideas. Your presents don’t need to be lavish, just tailored.”

Before your organization drops money on cookies, pizza, or the like, consider taking stock of how employees would like to be recognized through a company-wide survey. Their answers might help your HR team avoid mishaps like Sephora’s.