Employee Onboarding Recognition That Builds Engagement

Create lasting first impressions

Welcome new employees with personalized recognitions, swag, and messages from their team—all automated to set the stage for long-term engagement.

Return on recognition

Why celebrate new hires?

A warm welcome sets the stage for continued success for every employee. Recognition during onboarding helps new hires feel valued, connected, and ready to contribute from day one.

Retention
Smiling professional woman shaking hands during a business meeting
69
%
of employees are more likely to stay if the company has a strong onboarding structure.
69
%
of employees are more likely to stay if the company has a strong onboarding structure.

Quick Quack Car Wash saw a 20% reduction in turnover after implementing Awardco for their employee recognition programs.

Productivity
Diverse business team laughing and collaborating in modern office
50
%
more productivity for new hires if they feel welcomed and supported.
50
%
more productivity for new hires if they feel welcomed and supported.

Effective recognition builds culture and drives performance—and even drives better management approval scores. See how CPS Group saw these results and more.

Engagement
Colleagues high-five and laugh together in an office workspace
54
%
increase in employee engagement with effective onboarding.
54
%
increase in employee engagement with effective onboarding.

Hertz successfully took their recognition programs global to over 24,000 employees and saw increased engagement as a result.

end-to-end flexibility

Kickstart engagement from day one

Give every employee a warm, personalized welcome—fully automated and without extra admin work.

Company-Wide visibility

Warm welcomes and first-day shoutouts

Showcase new hire recognitions on rotating screens, Slack, Teams, and more to build a sense of belonging from day one.

testimonials

What customers are saying

Awardco offers such a clean design, way ahead of its competitors, along with excellent offerings, great analytics, and wonderful customer service.
Anonymous
Designer
All Access Staging and Productions
 
 
Awardco has helped us make recognition more worthwhile by improving employee morale and showing them that we care—recognition is more meaningful, so it's become more valuable to our employees.
Smiling man with dark hair and beard wearing a grey suit jacket and checkered shirt outdoors.
Mason Ongarato
HR Software & Employee Benefits Expert
I've been using Awardco for our Monthly Wellness Challenges for over a year. Each month, I create a themed EARN program, and participants are entered into a points-based drawing. Awardco has helped me build consistent programming, schedule ahead, and never worry about delays. The reporting tools capture participation and top performers, offering insights that have truly transformed our Wellness Program. Even our most tech-challenged employees use the platform with ease. We've received nothing but positive feedback from employees who had been asking for more recognition.
Erin D.
System Benefits and Wellness Coordinator
The Nest Schools
 
 
Just managing our custom rewards felt like a full-time job with our previous vendor—it took all day every Friday. With Awardco, I don't have to do any of the manual fulfillment work anymore. I'm saving 6-8 hours a week, just managing orders.
Sara Beer
Director of Core Values
The Nest Schools
 
 
The best decision we made was switching from our previous platform to Awardco. The customer service is excellent, the features are amazing, and we LOVE that they take our ideas and make them happen. They are always looking at innovating, which is one of our core values. We are extremely satisfied with Awardco and everyone here at The Nest LOVES the program.
Sara Beer
Director of Core Values
America First Credit Union
 
 
Previously, every manager hand-wrote a message to their employees every six months thanking them for their hard work, and it was all tied in with the bonus distribution. It was very high-touch, very labor 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 wasn't possible any longer, 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
Necco
 
 
I think Awardco is a great platform for recognition. Being able to give a little extra money here and there goes a long way. I try to recognize my office as much as possible when they go above and beyond.
Logan Harrelson
Recruiter
PMG
 
 
Recognition truly is a cornerstone of PMG’s culture because it fuels engagement, strengthens relationships, and reinforces the behaviors that drive our success. It allows you to immediately recognize big and small wins where that impact is immediately felt.
Smiling woman with light brown hair wearing gold hoop earrings and a blue and white striped shirt.
Mary O’Brien
Head of Programmatic
Lockton
 
 
It humanizes our organization. I can wish someone a happy birthday in Philadelphia from my desk in Houston—because I saw it in the Awardco feed. That’s magic.
Smiling woman with long blonde wavy hair wearing a black top and a silver necklace against a black background.
Melissa York
SVP, Head of People & Culture
Southern Oregon Head Start
 
 
Our job was to solve the continuous problem of helping staff feel connected—to each other and to the organization.
Woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing hoop earrings and a black patterned blouse, looking thoughtfully off-camera in an indoor setting.
Shandy Phelps
Family Community Engagement Supervisor
From the intitial implementation, the regular administration, and the support, Awardco has been a great option for our employees.
Anonymous
Human Resources Manager
My experience partnering with Awardco from an admin perspective has been outstanding. The platform is user-friendly and intuitive, leaving me empowered as an admin to own managing the platform and overall recognition programming.
Anonymous
Talent Enablement Senior Associate
What I like best about Awardco is how easy they make it to receive your chosen reward. I selected a gift card and was given several ways to redeem it—perfect since I don't have a printer at home. I simply had an e-copy sent to my email! More than anything, it felt amazing to be recognized. In a previous job, recognition was rare, so knowing my hard work and dedication were noticed really boosted my confidence. Even a small gesture like this goes a long way in lifting morale.
Kristina M.
Insurance Broker
Greenfield Global
 
 
As we try to build a strong culture, we want to take a more modern approach. Partnering with Awardco helped us to put that together. So even though we are spread out, we do get to 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
4Refuel
 
 
Our people use their points for vacations, holidays, gifts… it’s meaningful to them.
Headshot of a man with dark hair wearing a gray suit jacket and light blue shirt, smiling against a cloudy gray background.
Roshan Varghese
Sr. Director, Environment, Health & Safety

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can new hires use onboarding rewards to choose company swag or other items?
 

Depending on the program configuration, new hires may be able to redeem onboarding points for curated company merchandise, branded swag, gift cards, products, or other available rewards.

Organizations can use a focused catalog for onboarding or provide access to a broader selection of configured reward options. Catalog availability, fulfillment, currency, and shipping vary by country and reward type.

The organization determines which options are appropriate for its onboarding program and policies.

Can onboarding be monetary, non-monetary, or both?
 

Yes. An onboarding program can use a welcome message or recognition without a monetary award, it can include points or another configured reward, or it can combine recognition and rewards across multiple onboarding moments.

Organizations can choose whether a particular onboarding event includes an award and can define the available values and redemption options when rewards are enabled. A non-monetary welcome can still recognize the employee and introduce company values without creating a financial reward.

Reward availability, eligibility, and tax treatment depend on the organization’s policies, program design, and applicable requirements.

Can different employee groups have different onboarding programs?
 

Yes. Organizations can tailor onboarding based on available employee and organizational data, such as location, department, role, employment type, business unit, or other employee groups.

For example, an organization may use different messages, timing, reward options, or onboarding resources for employees in different regions or roles. Central teams can maintain an overall framework while allowing the experience to reflect local or team-specific needs.

Available segmentation depends on the data provided to Awardco and the organization’s program configuration.

Can onboarding communications and awards be triggered automatically from our HRIS?
 

Yes. Awardco can use employee data from an HRIS or another supported employee-data source to identify new hires and trigger configured onboarding communications or recognition.

Organizations can define timing around events such as an employee’s start date or selected points during the first weeks or months of employment. Depending on the program design, onboarding moments may occur on the employee’s first day, during the first week, or at later checkpoints such as 30, 60, or 90 days.

Automation depends on the employee fields, integration method, data timing, and onboarding rules configured for the organization.

What does Awardco’s onboarding program do?
 

Awardco onboarding programs help organizations welcome new employees with timely communications, recognition, and—when configured—rewards during the early stages of employment.

Organizations can use onboarding to introduce employees to company values, explain how recognition works, share important resources, and create an early connection with managers and peers. Onboarding recognition can be used alongside broader recognition, rewards, and employee-engagement programs. And Awardco empowers all of it.

The content, timing, and reward components are configured to fit the organization’s onboarding approach.

Day one, done right

Show appreciation and intention with meaningful onboarding recognition that makes an immediate impact.