January 27, 2026 at 6:55 pm

Employee Worked Hard Every Day, But He Was Overlooked For Recognition While The Same Few Coworkers Received Constant Praise In The Company Chat

by Heide Lazaro

Man typing on his laptop

Pexels/Reddit

Work recognition can impact morale more than expected.

The following story involves an employee who noticed that his company regularly commends the same four people.

He consistently went above and beyond in his role but rarely received recognition.

This imbalance is starting to affect his happiness and sense of belonging at work.

Check out the full details below…

Anyone else find Teams shoutouts/recognition culture toxic?

My company loves doing shoutouts in the company Teams chat.

They recognize the same four people in rotation every week for doing their job.

Every now and then, someone does something beyond their normal duties.

Which, of course, deserves recognition.

This employee thinks it’s unfair that he isn’t being recognized.

But when it’s the same people over and over again, there’s no balance.

I feel like I work hard and have some cases where I’ve gone above and beyond.

But I don’t get the same treatment. It’s swept under the rug.

It’s just starting to feel like I’m not good enough and need to work harder.

It’s making him feel sad even if he loves what he’s doing.

Is that the point of these shoutouts?

This culture is really making me unhappy even though I genuinely love what I do.

These people are making me feel like I don’t do enough and don’t belong.

I don’t know. It’s really sad and hard to separate myself from it because I feel like it’s representative of how they feel about me.

I have daily anxiety about getting fired as a result.

Let’s read the responses of other people to this story.

This user shares a tragic story.

Screenshot 2026 01 05 at 11.29.36 AM Employee Worked Hard Every Day, But He Was Overlooked For Recognition While The Same Few Coworkers Received Constant Praise In The Company Chat

This one gives their personal thought.

Screenshot 2026 01 05 at 11.29.56 AM Employee Worked Hard Every Day, But He Was Overlooked For Recognition While The Same Few Coworkers Received Constant Praise In The Company Chat

It made me feel useless, says this one.

Screenshot 2026 01 05 at 11.30.25 AM e1767584026308 Employee Worked Hard Every Day, But He Was Overlooked For Recognition While The Same Few Coworkers Received Constant Praise In The Company Chat

Short and straightforward.

Screenshot 2026 01 05 at 11.31.49 AM Employee Worked Hard Every Day, But He Was Overlooked For Recognition While The Same Few Coworkers Received Constant Praise In The Company Chat

Finally, another similar opinion.

Screenshot 2026 01 05 at 11.31.59 AM Employee Worked Hard Every Day, But He Was Overlooked For Recognition While The Same Few Coworkers Received Constant Praise In The Company Chat

Hard work becomes invisible when proper recognition is missing.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.