As I buried my toes in the sand on a beach in Thailand, I couldn't help but say a silent "cheers" to Cisco, and my colleagues there, for making my vacation extra special.

"Why?" you ask?

It's all due to Connected Recognition. It's this great program at Cisco that allows your manager, your peers and anyone you work with at the company to recognize good work by giving an acknowledgement that also comes with a monetary reward. This "money" can purchase gift cards for a variety of different things.

When I joined Cisco, one thing that struck me was something that John Chambers, our then-CEO and now Chairman, said. He told us that at Cisco, it isn't about working hard but about what you deliver. What has stayed constant through the rapid change that Cisco has undergone is that our "Cisco character" still permeates through our daily work lives.

As we've evolved with that character in place, things like our new "People Deal" emerge that highlights our core Cisco values and makes employees feel pretty great. By the by, our People Deal is an agreement about what we can expect from Cisco and what Cisco expects of us. This Connected Recognition program is just one part of that People Deal. The program's DNA is timeless Cisco: recognizing and celebrating good results. The platform, tool and funding for this is, I must say, pretty cool.

For me, I got the awards from Procurement colleagues for collaborating with them on projects and from other departments when I helped them with business challenges. I saved up several rewards in Connected Recognition to help me fund a seven-day stay at Swissotel's Kamala Beach resort in Thailand this past December.  The rewards meant that I stayed in a more upscale resort than I would have booked if I were paying for it on my own.

Of course, I was touting my awesome#LoveWhereYouWork experience on social media, and when my friends read my posts, they all started asking me how to get a job at Cisco!

I even made a video to wish them a great holiday!

What's awesome about Connected Recognition is that there are so many different ways to spend your funds. I have co-workers who have redecorated their homes, bought furniture, gotten sports equipment, and since we're all techies here, they've gotten more tech gear. It's nice that you can either have "stuff" or experiences.

Mostly, I think it's awesome to work at a company that values its people like this. I think Cisco hits the sweet spot in balance between results and caring about people. It's one of many small and big things that make this a great company to work for.

#WeAreCisco, and I definitely#LoveWhereYouWork.