Special Occasions

Celebrate lifeoutside of work

Celebrate employees’ real-life milestones—because when you recognize the whole person, not just the job description, magic happens.

Return on recognition

Why celebrate life’s big moments?

Recognizing your employees’ personal milestones shows that you see them, value them, and care about more than just deadlines or ROI. When people feel truly appreciated, they stick around, work harder, and show up happier.

Belonging
Woman blowing out candles on birthday cake during office meeting
90
%
of employees say being recognized for life milestones boosts their sense of belonging at work.
90
%
of employees say being recognized for life milestones boosts their sense of belonging at work.

Effective recognition builds culture and drives performance—and even drives better management approval scores.

Satisfaction
Baby items including knitted bunny, shoes, sweater, and brush
22
%
lift in employee satisfaction scores for companies that celebrate life’s big moments.
22
%
lift in employee satisfaction scores for companies that celebrate life’s big moments.

Big or small, boost employee satisfaction and reduce turnover by celebrating all of life's big moments.

Engagement
Two professionals working together in a high-tech industrial laboratory setting
3
X
higher engagement among employees who feel personally valued, not just professionally.
3
X
higher engagement among employees who feel personally valued, not just professionally.

Triple your employee engagement by making your workforce feel seen, heard, and appreciated through personalized recognition.

end-to-end flexibility

Recognize the people

behind the job titles

Celebrate any employee's real-life wins and major moments in a meaningful, genuine, and rewarding way.

Admin Flexibility

Budget-friendly. Admin-approved.

Celebrating life’s milestones shouldn’t mean sacrificing budget clarity. Set limits by department, occasion, or region, and track redemptions in real time. Awardco delivers transparent reporting without the manual processes or stress.

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testimonials

What our customers say

Amur Equipment Finance
 
 
I didn't expect this much engagement with everyone's recognition posts. Our company is spread out across the country, and Awardco has really helped our team feel connected.
Hannah Fagan
Human Resources Leader
Dubai Airports
 
 
Never underestimate the power of recognition. Years after I recognized a colleague, they still send me a message on the anniversary of that moment to say it continues to make their day.
Khulood AlMarzooqi
Director of Total Rewards & Employee Engagement, Dubai Airports
4Refuel
 
 
Everyone at 4Refuel understands the impact they make. Whether you’re on a customer site or providing support from the office, you bring value every day.
Shawn McGuire
Manager, Communications - North America
Dubai Airports
 
 
The High Flyer program has fostered a culture where both individual and team contributions are celebrated. Success is viewed as a shared journey, and recognition helps strengthen that sense of unity.
Khulood AlMarzooqi
Director of Total Rewards & Employee Engagement, Dubai Airports
ClickUp
 
 
At ClickUp, we like to recognize employees on their work anniversaries. Awardco makes this infinitely easier by automating the process. Now, employees receive a timely email on their anniversary along with a small gift. It's just one small way we're able to express our gratitude, and we can do it without any manual effort on our part.
Deanna Tindell
People Operations Specialist
Beckman Coulter
 
 
Change management was a concern when exploring new vendors. However, our leadership, HR, and associates have transitioned to Awardco seamlessly, and they appreciate its straightforward and intuitive design, which is far less complex than our previous platforms.
Kerie Rogers
HR Operations Leader
I really like that my employer, GoHealth, uses this program to incentivize our team and keep us motivated in our day-to-day work. They provide us with Awardco points during training, which helps with product knowledge retention and serves as an extra incentive to hit our metrics. It’s a fantastic program!
Alejandro P.
Senior Benefit Consultant
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.
Selia Wood
AVP, Talent & Engagement
Awardco not only ensures each employee receives the recognition they deserve from the company, but it provides a meaningful way for team members to shine a spotlight on each other's contributions daily, which would otherwise be nearly impossible to do with our 100% remote workforce.
Lindsay Obrentz
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Children's Nebraska
 
 
After one year of using Sunshine, our sense of being recognized has increased by ten percent. I think that is a true testament to how much it means to us. We do have those hard days, and the Sunshine Recognition Hub empowers our nurses and team members. It has given us a platform to recognize those moments of excellence.
Mellisa Renter
Director of Professional Nursing Practice
Amur Equipment Finance
 
 
We recently pulled an in-platform report to check on usage, and then we reached out to people individually to improve adoption—especially managers. Since then, engagement has been significantly higher, and our culture of recognition is growing—even our executives are participating.
Hannah Fagan
Human Resources Leader
Team members are more willing to recognize their colleagues for a job well done because Awardco is simple and user-friendly. We are very happy with the platform.
Anonymous
HR Operations Manager
TaylorMade
 
 
When your employees are working hard from home while juggling family responsibilities, and still physically separated from their team, a simple birthday message and a gift they get to choose creates a meaningful touchpoint that lets them take a moment for themselves.
Rosie Scannell
Global HR
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.
Melissa York
SVP, Head of People & Culture
Utah Valley University
 
 
Before Awardco Nominations, we had to piece everything together manually. Now everything lives in one place, making the process much easier and more intuitive.
Brenda Betteridge
Business Development Manager

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can special-occasion rewards be limited to an event-specific catalog?
 

Where supported, organizations can limit an award to a selected catalog or reward category. Examples may include a baby-gift catalog for a new child, a graduation collection, a marriage or new-home collection, company merchandise, or another event-specific selection.

A focused catalog can make the experience more relevant and help the organization align the reward with the purpose of the occasion. Organizations should confirm the available catalog controls, country coverage, supplier inventory, currency, fulfillment, and employee visibility before promising a specific item or delivery outcome.

Can organizations set different reward values, budgets, or approval rules?
 

Organizations can configure special-occasion programs based on their preferred reward values, budgets, eligible populations, and administrative rules where supported.

For example, a company may use different values for a wedding, new home, graduation, or new child; provide supervisors with a separate budget; or require HR or another administrator to review a recognition before it is delivered.

Organizations should define ownership, budget limits, approval requirements, corrections, unused balances, employee departures, and any tax or payroll review before enabling monetary awards. The available controls vary by program and agreement.

Who can send or initiate a special-occasion recognition?
 

Depending on the program, special-occasion recognition may be initiated by an administrator, manager, supervisor, peer, or another authorized sender. Organizations can use automated awards for recurring events and human-led recognition for moments that require context or discretion.

Programs may also provide managers or supervisors with a set budget for life-event recognition. An organization can decide whether the sender can issue the recognition directly or whether it must go through an approval workflow first.

The available sender roles, permissions, budgets, and approval steps depend on the selected program and administrator configuration.

Can special-occasion recognition be automated?
 

Where the required employee data and workflow are available, organizations can automate recognition tied to a date or an approved employee event. Automation can help deliver a reward, notification, or memory-book invitation on or around a meaningful date without requiring HR or managers to remember each event manually.

Organizations may also combine automated programs with manager, administrator, or peer-initiated recognition when an event is not available in the employee data source or when a more personal process is appropriate.

Automation depends on the source data, event type, trigger, timing, employee eligibility, and configuration. Organizations should validate how events are added, corrected, canceled, or removed before launch.

What special occasions can Awardco help organizations recognize?
 

Organizations can configure programs for meaningful employee moments such as weddings, new babies, adoptions, graduations, new homes, birthdays, retirements, service anniversaries, and other approved occasions.

Organizations may also choose whether to support sensitive events, such as bereavement, based on their policies, culture, employee preferences, and local requirements. Not every event must be enabled, and organizations should use respectful, inclusive language that fits their workforce.

The available event types and experiences depend on the enabled Awardco product and the organization’s configuration. A public page should avoid implying that every event, country, or employee population is supported identically.

Make every occasion awesome

It’s no secret that when employees feel appreciated, they perform better in all aspects of their work. Spread appreciation more effectively by celebrating personal milestones with Awardco.