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
 
 
A big part of that retention jump was career progression. Employees want to be at Awardco. That's very clear in the way that they use our platform. They want to be able to build their career here and stay here.
Smiling woman with wavy blonde hair wearing a black blazer, white shirt, and gray jeans with one hand in pocket.
Amy Butler
VP of People Operations
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.
Smiling man with brown hair wearing a blue Patagonia fleece jacket standing outdoors in a snowy landscape with snow-covered evergreen trees in the background.
Zach Makoutz
Sr. Manager, Category Sales Product
Dubai Airports
 
 
When we unified our recognition programs, we saw a strong correlation between recognition and employee engagement. Teams led by managers who consistently recognized their people were the most engaged.
Portrait of a woman wearing a black hijab with minimal makeup and a neutral expression on a white background.
Khulood AlMarzooqi
Director of Total Rewards & Employee Engagement, Dubai Airports
Greenfield Global
 
 
Employees can choose the language they feel most comfortable with, which helps us meet both English and French communication needs.
Smiling young woman with long dark hair wearing a gray patterned shirt against a plain light background.
Paula Useche
People & Culture Manager
Lockton
 
 
As a system administrator managing the back-end, being able to hand out physical AwardCodes takes out the administrative work. We no longer have to track names, who's getting what points from what event.
Smiling woman with wavy dark hair wearing a green blouse with textured dots against a black background.
Tisa Penny
Engagement & Events Lead, 2025 Recognition Rockstar Winner
Amur Equipment Finance
 
 
I didn't expect as much engagement around each other's recognitions, our company's spread all over the country, and Awardco has really helped people feel connected.
Smiling woman with long brown hair and black framed glasses wearing a blue top against a blue textured background.
Hannah Fagan
Human Resource Leader
SEF Energy
 
 
We haven't heard one bad thing about Awardco from our employees. It's taken off much better than we expected it to because the employees love it.
Lauren Long
HR Operations Manager
Hertz
 
 
It's a fun platform. We love to celebrate our wins. Whether we've completed a great project and I want to give them a shout out, or I want to award points for a job well done… It really does help boost my morale and the morale of our employees here at Hertz.
Smiling man with short brown hair wearing a black blazer and white collared shirt standing indoors with a blurred window background.
Mark Nelson
Senior Human Resources Business Partner
Dubai Airports
 
 
The High Flyer program makes you feel seen. It’s not just a gift, it’s a sign of recognition that really motivates you.
Smiling man with dark hair and beard wearing a black shirt against a gray background.
Barkin Ozdemir
Content Development Manager, Brand & Communications, Dubai Airports
NIBCO
 
 
Awardco has definitely helped us do recognition even better. Recognizing someone you work with, even if you don’t see them every day, has been empowering.
Smiling woman with blonde hair in a dark blue blouse against a gray background.
Ashley Martin
President & CEO
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
Velsera
 
 
We fell in love with the Awardco platform from the start because it's so simple, and yet it also has so many customization options to add to it.
Marko Zecevic
Employee Experience Manager
Greenfield Global
 
 
Recognition can mean different things to different people, but for everyone, you want to feel seen and valued for the work you do. We were able to launch our first global recognition program, STAR, with the help of Awardco.
Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a purple cardigan, black top, and a white pendant necklace, standing with hands on hips.
Ashley Cato
Vice President People and Culture
The platform is user friendly, intuitive, and looks great! Plus, the marketplace available offers a lot of great options for employees to redeem their points for great prizes and rewards.
Anonymous
Human Resources Director
PMG
 
 
We've surpassed 10,000 recognitions and achieved a 90% platform login rate—Awardco has become essential to how we work.
Smiling woman with shoulder-length blonde hair wearing a black blazer and delicate gold necklace against a white background.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead

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.

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.