Employee Birthdays & holidays

Celebrate festive occasions with style

Automate celebrations, personalize rewards, and ensure no special occasion goes unnoticed—regardless of where your employees are.

 

Return on recognition

Why celebrate birthdays and holidays at work?

Recognition doesn’t always have to be tied to performance. Celebrating birthdays and holidays offers an easy, recurring, and impactful way to show employees they matter. These personal moments deepen engagement and help create a culture of care that resonates far beyond the workplace.

Performance
Stock market trading screen with financial graphs on laptop
69
%
of employees say they would work harder if they felt more appreciated.
69
%
of employees say they would work harder if they felt more appreciated.

It's simple, really: appreciation increases feelings of self-worth and personal value, which helps employees want to put in the effort. And it can be as simple as a "Hey, great work today."

 
Retention
Factory workers in safety gear discussing project during industrial meeting
31
%
lower turnover in companies with strong recognition programs.
31
%
lower turnover in companies with strong recognition programs.

Appreciation leads to greater loyalty. Why? Because when people feel seen and appreciated through recognition, they feel a stronger connection to their workplace. It's simple psychology.

 
Satisfaction
Smiling senior professional in blue blazer during office meeting
81
%
of employees believe personalized recognition improves their workplace satisfaction.
81
%
of employees believe personalized recognition improves their workplace satisfaction.

General appreciation is great, but personalized is even better, and it doesn't have to be overwhelming. Automation tools, integrations, and more make it easier than ever.

 

end-to-end flexibility

Never miss a chance to celebrate

Whether it’s birthdays, national holidays, regional celebrations, or company-centric events, make these meaningful moments unforgettable.

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Automated Recurring Events

Automate birthday and holiday rewards with customizable gifts, messages, or points based on the holiday, tenure, region, or other metadata.

Custom Catalogues

Build custom catalogues from millions of global gift options, so every birthday and holiday feels personal.

Custom Reward Point Amounts

Create flexible reward structures with customizable points to match your culture—perfect for both small wins and big celebrations.

Localization for Regional Traditions

Celebrate globally with localized holidays, cultural events, and recognition tailored to your diverse workforce.

 

Employee Birthdays

Meaningful birthday recognitions

Skip the generic card—and the hassle. Make every employee birthday celebration feel personal:

  • Celebrate peers in a dedicated birthday feed with custom messages
  • Share birthday shoutouts to Slack or monitors for (optional) company-wide visibility
  • Send points or curated gifts employees will actually love
  • Use user profiles to give thoughtful, interest-based gifts

testimonials

What customers are saying

 
 
Awardco offers such a clean design, well ahead of its competitors, along with excellent offerings, great analytics, and wonderful customer service.
Anonymous
Designer
America First Credit Union
 
 
Previously, every manager hand-wrote a message to their employees every six months to thank them for their hard work, and it was all tied into the bonus distribution. It was very high-touch, very labour-intensive, and we had the process down to a science. We liked the connections that formed between managers and employees as a result of this program, but after COVID-19, most of our workforce went remote. Our semi-annual tradition was no longer possible, nor was it feasible.
Smiling man wearing glasses, a black suit, white shirt, and a red patterned tie against a dark blurred background.
Kent Streuling
SVP of HR
Lockton
 
 
We chose Awardco following a focus group review. It was a unanimous decision. Everyone loved how clean, easy, and intuitive Awardco was, especially the ‘Who do you want to recognize?’ prompt that appears as soon as you log in.
Smiling woman with dark wavy hair wearing a lavender blouse and white earrings against a black background.
Selia Wood
AVP, Talent & Engagement
Dubai Airports
 
 
We were looking for a simple yet effective platform with a user-friendly interface, and Awardco ticked all the boxes. Through Awardco, we’ve been able to integrate multiple recognition touchpoints into one platform.
Maha Salem
Senior Manager, Rewards & Recognition, Dubai Airports
4Refuel
 
 
Employees look forward to seeing their monthly Safety All-Star points. Those conversations happen in lunchrooms, locker rooms—it becomes part of our culture.
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Roshan Varghese
Sr. Director, Environment, Health & Safety
PMG
 
 
When employees feel seen and appreciated, they’re more engaged, and engagement drives performance. Using Awardco helps leaders and managers recognize impact in real time, and that momentum drives continued and lasting success.
Smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a black blazer and a delicate gold necklace against a white background.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead
Lockton
 
 
We used to give everyone a trophy at our annual event. Now, we reward true top performers. Awardco enables smarter, more meaningful recognition and spending.
Smiling woman with long wavy blonde hair wearing a black top and a pendant necklace against a black background.
Melissa York
SVP, Head of People & Culture
Dubai Airports
 
 
Receiving a High Flyer award was an amazing experience. Knowing that my efforts were appreciated—especially by senior management—meant a lot to me.
Maha Salem
Senior Manager, Rewards & Recognition, Dubai Airports
Greenfield Global
 
 
As we work to build a strong culture, we want to take a more modern approach. Partnering with Awardco helped us put that together. So even though we are spread out, we really do feel like we are One Greenfield.
Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a purple cardigan and black top with a pendant necklace.
Ashley Cato
Vice President, People and Culture
Paramount
 
 
There are so many [reward] options, and everyone is already used to Amazon and knows what they can get. In the past, we had a catalogue of items, and it didn't feel like it would fit with our new demographic.
Shaye McCoy
Manager, Global Total Rewards Experience
Kodiak
 
 
Awardco makes it simple to select the colleagues you want to recognize, whether it's one person or several. Recognition helps build trust with teammates and leaders.
Smiling man with short hair and a beard, wearing a dark collared shirt in an outdoor setting.
Brett Miller
VP of Creative
OB Hospitalist Group
 
 
Investing in the Centre of Excellence team at Awardco was the best decision we made. Katie didn’t just advise; she partnered with us. She brought deep healthcare expertise and helped us translate what recognition should feel like for clinicians into something that actually works for a deskless, clinical workforce. With her leadership, we built our Awardco instance as a true virtual haven: a values-based recognition experience designed with and for our teams, easily accessible, and directly tied to our mission. The result is an always-on program that makes it easy to celebrate the moments that matter — strengthening connection, belonging, and pride across the organization.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a black blouse, with a blurred green and grey background.
Megan Vera Weaklend
SVP of Marketing & Customer Experience
Southern Oregon Head Start
 
 
Onboarding a new staff member costs us roughly $5,000 to $6,000. As a non-profit, I’ve found that switching to Awardco has been a massive cost-saving advantage.
Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a black and white striped turtleneck sweater against a light background.
Amber Lease
Director of Human Resources
Dubai Airports
 
 
Using the High Flyer platform for recognition has provided us with greater flexibility and better alignment with our objectives. It allows us to acknowledge teams and individuals in ways that connect directly to our successes and values.
Smiling man in a blue suit jacket, white shirt, and brown tie against a white background.
Kan Ni
Vice President, Airport Operations Control Centre, Dubai Airports
Lockton
 
 
A quiet employee might never self-promote, but Awardco gives us the visibility to see their impact. We’ve literally had leaders say, ‘I had no idea!’ when reviewing this data.
Smiling woman with long wavy blonde hair wearing a black top and a pendant necklace against a black background.
Melissa York
SVP, Head of People & Culture

Thought Leadership & Resources

Employee celebration resources

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can organizations restrict birthday or holiday points to a specific catalog?
 

Where supported, organizations can restrict an award to a selected catalog or reward category. For example, onboarding or holiday points may be limited to company swag, while a birthday award may be available across a broader marketplace.

Catalog restrictions can help align the reward with the purpose of the program, the employee population, the company store, or the available budget. The restriction may apply to a specific award, point balance, employee group, or campaign.

The available catalog controls and employee visibility depend on the enabled product and setup. Organizations should confirm whether a catalog can be limited by country, population, category, provider, or event.

What types of birthday and holiday rewards can employees receive?
 

Depending on the configured marketplace and program, employees may receive or choose from:

  • Reward points to spend in an available marketplaceGift cards or digital reward optionsCompany merchandise or a branded swag catalogCurated holiday or seasonal reward collectionsTravel, experiences, or local activitiesCharitable donations or a campaign-specific giving optionNon-monetary recognition, messages, or other configured experiences

The available catalog, country coverage, supplier inventory, currency, fulfillment, and point value can vary. Organizations should describe representative categories rather than guarantee a specific brand, item, event, price, or delivery date.

Can organizations choose which employees receive birthday or holiday rewards?
 

Organizations can configure eligibility based on approved employee and organizational data. Rules may include location, country, department, employee type, employment status, hire date, or other supported metadata.

This allows a company to run one global program, separate programs by region, or different birthday and holiday experiences for specific groups. A seasonal program may also use different reward values, catalogs, or dates for different locations.

The available filters and rule behaviour depend on the connected data source and enabled configuration. Organizations should define how new hires, employees on leave, transfers, terminations, rehired employees, and corrected data are handled.

Can birthday and holiday rewards be personalized?
 

Organizations can typically configure the message, branding, sender, reward value, catalog, visibility, notification, and other elements of the employee experience.

A birthday program might send a personal message with points or a selected gift. A holiday program might offer a broad marketplace, a seasonal catalog, company-branded merchandise, a local gift option, or a campaign-specific reward.

Personalization options vary by program. Organizations should confirm which fields, messages, branding elements, delivery channels, and recognition experiences can be customized before publishing detailed product claims.

Can Awardco automate birthday and holiday recognition?
 

Yes, where the applicable programs and employee data are enabled, organizations can automate birthday recognition and schedule recurring holiday rewards or campaigns.

Birthday automation may use an approved employee birth-date field to identify eligible employees. Holiday programs can be scheduled around a specific date, season, campaign period, or company calendar and may distribute points or another reward to a defined population.

Automation can reduce manual administration, but organizations should validate the source data, trigger timing, employee eligibility, campaign start date, and exception process before launch.

Celebrate any special day

Make birthdays and holidays stand-out events that employees will love.