Micro Incentives for Employees

Instantly incentivize almost anything

Perfect for driving specific behaviors without complicated processes or fanfare, micro incentives can be an important part of any recognition strategy.

Return on Recognition

Incentives that drive behavior

Not every incentive needs to be life-changing to be effective—micro incentives are built to subtly reinforce and reward behaviors without taking too much time or effort on admins’ part. And the results don’t lie.

22
%
increase in productivity
87
%
increase in retention
300
%
greater engagement

Custom incentive programs

Small behaviors. Big impact.

Build micro incentives to drive almost any behavior, small or large, and let automation minimize administrative hassle.

How it works

Build programs people actually use

STEP 1

Create goal-oriented micro incentives

What do you hope employees will do with a little more motivation?

STEP 2

Set specific parameters

Who qualifies to participate in the micro incentive? Cater these to teams, locations, or other employee data.

STEP 3

Decide on the reward for participation

What point amount is the right reward for the action?

Testimonials

What our customers say

Some of the great stories that we've read are how impactful all of the team members have been to help the children feel better, it's showing our team members how impactful they are.
Jill Kudron
Patient Experience
Children's Nebraska
I’ve been recognized myself, and it felt wonderful—surprising, but also deeply motivating. I’ve also had the privilege of recognizing teams for delivering major projects, which brought departments together in a unified sense of achievement.
Smiling man wearing a blue suit, white shirt, and orange tie against a white background.
Kan Ni
Vice President, Airport Operations Control Center, Dubai Airports
Dubai Airports
How do we better recognize our associates on the day to day? One of our engagement survey questions is, 'In the last seven days, have you been recognized for doing good work?' Awardco really allows us to to do that and to do a better job of that.
Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a bright pink sleeveless top against a light gray background.
Jenny Ketchepaw
VP, Talent Engagement
Citizens Business Bank
The exciting part isn’t just that people love being recognized—it’s how eager they are to recognize their peers. That enthusiasm speaks to our culture. There’s a real appetite for recognition because it matters, because they care, and because they want others to feel appreciated.
Smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a floral jacket and white top against a textured wall.
Sierra Capone
Director, Wellbeing & Employee Experience
McCormick & Company
Awardco has offered customizability that allows us to cater to our employees' needs and recognize what they are doing and change it as the environment changes as well.
Eric Crow
Administrator, Risk Management and Safety
Southwest Gas Corporation
Never underestimate the power of recognition. Years after I recognized a colleague, they still send me a message on the anniversary of that moment to say it continues to make their day.
Portrait of a woman wearing a black hijab with brown eyes and natural makeup on a white background.
Khulood AlMarzooqi
Director of Total Rewards & Employee Engagement, Dubai Airports
Dubai Airports
From a reporting standpoint, Awardco excels by allowing users to access desired reports quickly through easily accessible links, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple pages as was the case with previous platforms. The platform has garnered significant positive feedback for its user-friendly nature and seamless navigation.
Smiling woman with glasses and blonde hair tied back, wearing a black top and red shirt with a heart necklace.
Kerie Rogers
HR Operations Leader
Beckman Coulter
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.
Smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a black blazer and gold necklace against a white background.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead
PMG

Integrations

Seamless connectivity

Connect incentives to your existing processes and platforms, ensuring everyone can participate without adding to anyone's workload.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can micro-incentives require proof or approval?
 

Yes, where the selected workflow supports it. A program can be designed to collect evidence, such as a form response, photo, screenshot, completion record, or other supporting documentation, and route the submission to an appropriate reviewer.

Approval may be assigned to a manager, program owner, safety or quality team, administrator, or another designated reviewer. Organizations can also define budgets, limits, eligibility rules, and other guardrails to help manage how rewards are issued.

The right level of review depends on the risk, value, frequency, and purpose of the program. Requiring unnecessary approval for a low-value, high-volume activity can reduce participation, while insufficient review can create budget, fairness, or compliance concerns.

How do employees earn a micro-incentive?
 

The earning experience depends on the program design. Employees may complete an activity in Awardco, submit a response or proof, use an award code or QR code, participate in a challenge, or have qualifying data flow into the platform from another system.

Some programs allow employees to indicate that they completed the requirement. Others require manager or administrator review before the reward is issued. Where supported, organizations can use integrations, data feeds, or configured workflows to reduce manual administration and automate eligibility or reward issuance.

Employees may access programs through the channels enabled for their organization, which can include web or mobile experiences and other configured access methods. Organizations should design the process so frontline and deskless employees can participate without relying on a desktop workflow they cannot reasonably access.

What behaviors or activities can micro-incentives reward?
 

Organizations can use micro-incentives for many types of defined behaviors and activities, including:

  • Training, learning, or certification milestones
  • Safety observations, improvement ideas, or participation in safety initiatives
  • Survey or employee-feedback completion
  • Wellness challenges and activity goals
  • Onboarding or open-enrollment tasks
  • Attendance, timeliness, or process-completion goals
  • Customer, quality, or operational behaviors
  • Short-term team challenges and participation campaigns

The program should reward a behavior the organization can describe clearly and administer consistently. For safety, quality, compliance, or regulated activities, organizations should involve the appropriate HR, legal, safety, compliance, and operational stakeholders when designing the rules.

How are micro-incentives different from spot recognition or larger incentive programs?
 

Micro-incentives, spot recognition, and larger incentive programs can all use rewards, but they serve different purposes.

  • Spot recognition is typically a manager- or peer-initiated way to recognize an individual for something they did.
  • A micro-incentive is usually a smaller, repeatable reward tied to a defined action, challenge, or behavior.
  • A larger incentive program may run over a longer period, involve more complex eligibility or performance rules, and include larger rewards, rankings, or a broader business objective.

These approaches can coexist in one employee experience. The right structure depends on whether the organization wants to reinforce a moment, drive participation in a defined activity, or manage a formal performance-based program.

What are micro-incentives?
 

Micro-incentives are small rewards offered for completing a specific action, reaching a short-term milestone, participating in an initiative, or demonstrating a desired behavior.

Examples may include completing a training, submitting a safety observation, participating in a survey, completing an onboarding task, meeting a wellness goal, contributing an improvement idea, or taking part in a short-term challenge.

The value is usually in the frequency, clarity, and immediacy of the reinforcement—not in making every reward large. Organizations should define the behavior, eligibility, evidence, reward value, timing, and success measure before launching a program.

Small things that actually add up

Incentivize the little things that make a big difference.