we had a similar prorgan in a health care facility where I worked and was a department manager. some of our employees really appreciated an additional word of praise, others felt not necessary. But there is really very little down side to the program. It inspires espirit de corps among the staff and reinforces the importance praise for good work (something good managers do routinely and poor managers do not do often enough). So in my department as a peer I might recognize another nurse who stayed past the end of the shift to help me with a difficult patient admission. As a manager I might recognize a member of my staff who initiated a process or provided a good suggestion to improve patient safety on the unit.  I’m not a HR person, and I leave these kinds of decisions to the HR department, but these recognition programs seem to be a good thing for staff-and not a “everyone gets a trophy” program. 

I say if the HR manager wants to implement this program for our staff why would residents even question it?