The product that we're putting out is a lot of fun, but it is not easy to do what we do every single week. People are working really, really hard, and if they feel like just another cog in the machine, that can get disheartening really quickly. Taking that extra time to show appreciation for above-and-beyond effort is really important and reinforces good relationships.

Awardco brought our recognition programs into the 21st century.

It’s much more personalized for the person celebrating their anniversary. From an operations standpoint, it’s helped us recognize employees on the actual day it matters most, instead of long after the moment has passed.

Prior to Awardco, the recognition process was manual and time-consuming. Everything was done through emails and spreadsheets, with physical delivery of plaques and gifts. Important milestones were sometimes missed, despite our best intentions.

Beyond birthdays and anniversaries, Awardco gives us a meaningful way to recognize our values, which is honestly my favorite part of the program. Every company has values and a mission statement, but they can be easy to forget in the day-to-day. Awardco helps keep our values top of mind by tying them directly to recognition.

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.

Previously, recognition was only known between the giver and receiver. Now I feel a lot more connected to colleagues. The My Circle email alerts have made a big difference in helping colleagues feel more connected across our giant campus.

Some of the great stories that we've read are how impactful all of the team members have been to help the children feel better, it's showing our team members how impactful they are.

I’ve been able to see how much recognition has changed since we started using Awardco. From an admin perspective, it’s become so much more manageable and has saved me countless hours. Birthdays, anniversaries, and new-hire milestones are all automated through Workday, new hires get points at 30 and 60 days, and employees are recognized automatically for birthdays and anniversaries.

If we retain a teacher, that’s 20 students we get to serve. Going from 45% turnover to 8% means we’ve kept 85–90 more staff. That’s an incredible impact on both our children and our budget.

Awardco is not just a recognition tool—it’s a risk mitigation solution. Our tax and payroll teams love that we can now accurately track and report gifting, with proper IRS compliance.

Modern recognition with Awardco has created an ecosystem of appreciation. What we've found, as employees have recognized each other, is that they're motivated long term. Employees want to enjoy their work and be successful, and if we recognize them for their success, they'll know they're doing a great job and can improve every single day.

We've put a lot of resources and focus on associate engagement and overall morale and wellness. Because of the initiatives that we've put forth this year, we've realized an 8.2% reduction in our turnover rate.

The implementation was effortless. The Awardco team was incredibly supportive and proactive throughout the journey, offering guidance and expertise that led to a smooth and successful launch of our High Flyer program.

Recognition fits into our strategies for turnover and helping us retain good caregivers… because everyone wants to know how they're performing. They want to know if they're doing a good job. And sometimes we forget to stop and say thank you. Recognition helps us do that easily and consistently.