Why Peer Recognition Beats Top-Down Management
The Problem with Top-Down Recognition
When we were transforming our company back in 2015, we ran into the same issue most organizations face: silos. Departments stayed in their own lanes. Managers mostly talked to managers. Recognition flowed downward, if it happened at all. And like every leader knows—managers miss things.
The little moments where someone steps up for a teammate or makes a customer’s life easier often go unnoticed. And when that happens, culture suffers.
Launching the Apollo Stars Program
That’s why we launched our peer recognition program, Apollo Stars. At first it was on paper. Today it’s digital. But the foundation hasn’t changed.
Here’s how it works:
Anyone in the company can nominate a teammate for an Apollo Star.
Each nomination ties back to one of our five core values—customers come first, accuracy, precision, doing the right thing, and so on.
Every Monday morning on our 15-minute all-hands call, HR reads two nominations out loud.
At the end of the year, we celebrate at our holiday party with individual and group awards tied to each value.
We even “prime the pump” sometimes by recognizing the people who submit the most nominations. Because like any culture initiative, it needs nudges to stay alive.
Why It Works
Ten years later, Apollo Stars is still going strong. The reason is simple: it’s not just about recognition—it’s about connection.
By encouraging cross-department nominations, people break out of silos. A claims rep might sit with customer service for half a day, hear real calls, and suddenly understand a whole new side of the business. IT isn’t just “IT”—it’s Marcus, who helped you troubleshoot last week.
And when people know each other, they solve problems directly. Instead of escalating up and down management chains, they pick up the phone and call Marcus. Culture improves, collaboration improves, and work gets done faster.
Recognition Is Just the Start
The visible piece of this program is the recognition. But the real outcome is bigger—it’s a company where people feel seen, valued, and connected.
That’s the kind of culture that survives the hard seasons and thrives in the good ones.