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

WebPT
 
 
I cannot tell you what a relief it was to be able to integrate metadata from our HRIS system so that birthdays and service awards were automatically recognized and sent to our WebPTers. This was a huge, huge accomplishment for our employee engagement.
Britney Burns
Employee Experience Program Manager
ARUP Laboratories
 
 
There is never a good time to switch to a new system, but I also know that employees were eager for something new. Awardco has given us incredible power and flexibility with our recognition programs because of the millions of options to choose from, and the ability for employees to choose their own rewards has been a game changer. We know what we're getting, we know we're getting the best price, and our employees couldn't be happier.
Cheryl Vincent
Talent Development Manager
PMG
 
 
One of the best parts of myKudos [Awardco] is seeing others rally around a recognition post—commenting, reacting, and adding to the praise. I love scrolling through the kudos channel and seeing teammates from other accounts getting hyped up for the great work they’re doing. It really creates a sense of community across the agency.
Colby Green
Paid Social Senior Associate
PMG
 
 
Our recognition was all over the place before. Awardco brought everything into one centralized, impactful platform.
Pam Buyers
Head of Culture at PMG
Greenfield Global
 
 
It feels very good to get recognized. You put in so much hard work, and when someone acknowledges it, you feel appreciated and valued. I think that’s the key.
Aisha Ariyo
Export Logistics Coordinator
4Refuel
 
 
Often, you're on the road for an entire shift, and you may not necessarily interact with a lot of other colleagues… And so being recognized helps you feel more connected with the team.
Christopher Whilsmith
Certified Refueling Professional
Hertz
 
 
Using Awardco has given us the confidence that we've partnered with someone that knows what they're doing. We're not only saving a lot of time, but we're building the confidence of our employees as we express our appreciation to all of them worldwide.
Annasuela Fritz
HR Projects and Recognition Manager
Kodiak
 
 
There's plenty of research that shows the compounding impact of how when other people can see recognition, it creates that snowball effect. And so it just makes people work better together. They feel more as part of the team.
Zach Makoutz
Sr. Manager, Category Sales Product
 
 
Our partnership with Awardco's sales, implementation, and support teams has been the brightest point. They come to every situation with a solution and innovation mindset.
Anonymous
Director of Human Resources
Southern Oregon Head Start
 
 
Awardco bridges the gap by giving us a platform to build each other up. There are centers that are really far from each other that can now feel connected to everybody else because we can share the great things that we're doing.
Heather Kent
Site Manager
PMG
 
 
I really appreciate how myKudos [Awardco] offers different ‘classifications’ of shoutouts, so no matter how someone went above and beyond, there’s a way to recognize it. We work with some incredible people, and it’s important to celebrate them however we can.
Colby Green
Paid Social Senior Associate
NIBCO
 
 
People like to be recognized for what they’ve contributed. They’re proud of their work—and they should be.
Ashley Martin
President & CEO
Greenfield Global
 
 
Employees are awarded a certain amount of points every month to give out to their peers. We encourage people to recognize not just within their team, but across the company—anyone who goes above and beyond or makes your day a little easier.
Paula Useche
People & Culture Manager
Sorenson Communications
 
 
As an evolving company, I like to ask myself if we're better than we were a year ago—and with employee recognition and employee engagement, the answer is absolutely.
Dan Higbee
Senior Director of HR
Quick Quack Car Wash
 
 
Getting buy-in was super easy. No one really questions it. After all, what's wrong with recognizing people and telling them they did a good job?
Christina Castro
Training Leader

Celebrate any special day

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