Explore the new State of Recognition 2026 report

 

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, reoccurring, 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.

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
  • Utilize user profiles to give thoughtful, interest-based gifts

testimonials

What customers are saying

Lockton
 
 
We selected Awardco after a focus group review. It was hands down unanimous. Everyone loved how clean, easy, and intuitive Awardco was, especially the ‘Who do you want to recognize?’ prompt right when you log in.
Selia Wood
AVP, Talent & Engagement
PMG
 
 
Positive recognition is contagious, and myKudos [Awardco] serves as an incredible platform to uplift others, celebrate their wins, and inspire everyone to give their best to PMG and our clients.
Melodie Cottingham
Convergent Video/Audio Director
PMG
 
 
The ability to customize the platform and call it 'MyKudos' made it feel like a true extension of our brand and culture.
Pam Buyers
Head of Culture at PMG
 
 
I love the customization of the platform and the constant innovation. There are constant evolutions and enhancements being released to keep our solution cutting edge.
Anonymous
Director of Human Resources
Children's Nebraska
 
 
One year into having sunshine, our recognition, feeling like we're recognized went up ten percent. I think that's just a true testament of how much it means to us. We do have those hard days. And again, the Sunshine Recognition Hub empowers our nurses and team members. It's given us a platform to recognize, those moments of of excellence.
Mellisa Renter
Director of Professional Nursing Practice
NIBCO
 
 
When we implemented Awardco, we refreshed everything and synced all service dates to our HRIS. It works flawlessly now—and the person who used to manage that spreadsheet is very happy.
Dawn Bloch
Chief People Officer
Alera Group
 
 
We do an annual engagement survey, and we do see a lot of comments from people saying they love to work here because of the people they work with. We get a lot of good comments about working with others.
Pam Johnson
VP of Human Resources
Ob Hospitalist Group
 
 
Our investment to leverage the Center of Excellence team at Awardco was the best decision we made. Katie didn’t just advise, she partnered. 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.
Megan Vera Weaklend
SVP of Marketing & Customer Experience
BPM
 
 
We use recognition as a tool to motivate and encourage our employees—everyone knows Awardco because we actively use it for any and all incentives for employees.
Monica Delgado
Senior Manager of Total Rewards
PMG
 
 
Companies that invest in recognition are seen as people-centric. When people feel appreciated for their contributions and are truly engaged, they’re more innovative, more creative, and more willing to think beyond the status quo. This elevates work, fuels stronger business outcomes and can foster deeper customer relationships.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead
Ultradent Products
 
 
We're present in pretty much every continent in the world, and there's no limitation to our recognition system. We see recognitions from Brazil to the US, from Japan to China, from South Africa to France, and everyone is engaged.
Favio Paiva
Workday Specialist
4Refuel
 
 
Everybody at 4Refuel understands how they make a difference. Whether you’re on a customer site or supporting from the office, you bring value every day.
Shawn McGuire
Manager, Communications - North America
Americare Senior Living
 
 
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.
Mary Eaves
Senior VP of Operations (Assisted Living Division)
Pacific Life
 
 
We do a lot of remote work activities where you can win something. We do a lot of these contests, and I used to go to Amazon and send a $25 gift card to the winners, but now I do it through Awardco. It's in the system, trackable, and much more streamlined.
Amberlee Taylor
Sr. Communications Specialist
Southern Oregon Head Start
 
 
For us to onboard a staff member, it's probably close to about 5,000 to 6,000 dollars. As a nonprofit, I feel like going to Awardco has been a huge cost-savings advantage.
Amber Lease
Human Resource Director

Celebrate any special day

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