We strive to create a high performance culture. If we're looking for certain actions and mindsets, we should celebrate them when they happen and find creative and frequent ways to recognize and appreciate the hard work behind them.

Through Awardco, we've been able to create an offer where they can go on and pick from a variety of gifts. It's super convenient that way. These gifts are exclusive. It's created just for them. We've done sweatshirts, bags, quarter zips, backpacks… we've done pickleball paddles.

Since implementing Awardco, we’ve saved at least 30 hours a month that used to be spent manually tracking, purchasing, and mailing gifts. Now it’s all automated—and more empowering for our associates.

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.

Once [Microsoft] Teams became more accessible and we could use Awardco directly through that platform, everything changed. Recognition started happening in real time, right when great work was done, which made it feel truly authentic and helped strengthen our culture.

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.