Special Occasions

Celebrate lifeoutside of work

Celebrate employees’ real-life milestones—because when you recognize the whole person, not just the job description, magic happens.

Return on recognition

Why celebrate life’s big moments?

Recognizing your employees’ personal milestones shows that you see them, value them, and care about more than just deadlines or ROI. When people feel truly appreciated, they stick around, work harder, and show up happier.

Belonging
Woman blowing out candles on birthday cake during office meeting
90
%
of employees say being recognized for life milestones boosts their sense of belonging at work.
90
%
of employees say being recognized for life milestones boosts their sense of belonging at work.

Effective recognition builds culture and drives performance—and even drives better management approval scores.

Satisfaction
Baby items including knitted bunny, shoes, sweater, and brush
22
%
lift in employee satisfaction scores for companies that celebrate life’s big moments.
22
%
lift in employee satisfaction scores for companies that celebrate life’s big moments.

Big or small, boost employee satisfaction and reduce attrition by celebrating all of life's big moments.

Engagement
Two professionals working together in a high-tech industrial laboratory setting
3
X
higher engagement among employees who feel personally valued, not just professionally.
3
X
higher engagement among employees who feel personally valued, not just professionally.

Triple your employee engagement by making your workforce feel seen, heard, and appreciated through personalized recognition.

end-to-end flexibility

Recognize the people

behind the job titles

Celebrate any employee's real-life wins and major moments in a meaningful, genuine, and rewarding way.

Admin Flexibility

Budget-friendly. Admin-approved.

Celebrating life’s milestones shouldn’t mean sacrificing budget clarity. Set limits by department, occasion, or region, and track redemptions in real time. Awardco delivers transparent reporting without the manual processes or stress.

‍

testimonials

What our customers say

Hertz
 
 
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.
Smiling man with short light hair, blue eyes, and a trimmed beard wearing a blue blazer and light blue shirt.
Chris Berg
Executive Vice President, Fleet Management
Lockton
 
 
Awardco allows me to save my points for meaningful things. I’m using mine to pay for excursions and transportation for my wedding in Mexico. It’s a huge stress relief and makes me feel truly valued.
Smiling young woman with long blonde hair wearing a red jacket over a black top with scalloped neckline, against a black background.
Mallory Pence
Marketing Manager
Awardo is amazing! Such a great vendor to work with. Customer Service is exceptional and my employees love the platform. Our engagement has increased because of Awardco.
Anonymous
HR Manager
We recognize that employee choice is important and our team loves that they can spend their points on anything...from company swag (print-on-demand) to Amazon purchases, gift cards from thousands of merchants, experiences, and more.
Vanessa D.
Sr. Manager Employee Engagement & CSR
Dubai Airports
 
 
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
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
Pilot Company
 
 
It has been exciting to see the increased engagement around recognition, and how the platform has encouraged team members to support each other in new ways.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a dark knit sweater and black top against a blurred warm background.
Deanna Dennis
Sr. Manager, Team Member Experience
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
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
Citizens Business Bank
 
 
It's interesting because everybody has the strategy. It's the execution of the strategy that matters. And so I think really prioritizing it from the board level all the way down through the organization.
Smiling man in a gray suit, white shirt, and red patterned tie with a blurred office background.
David Brager
President & CEO
CPS Group
 
 
Awardco has taken the guesswork out of our culture—leadership knows they're not treating anyone unfairly or unconsciously showing favoritism. Recognition is a lot more consistent and frequent for everyone.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a leopard print top against a blurred background.
Nicole Blaschka
Director of Human Resources
Hertz
 
 
Our frontline workers are the core of what we do and the core of our customer experience. We launched Microsoft Teams for all employees. We have the Awardco interface added to the platform, so our employees can now recognize each other directly from their phones on their app while they're working. If they see a great job, they can do an immediate shout out and make that difference.
Jessica Mollica
Vice President, Human Resources Field
Southwest Gas Corporation
 
 
Anybody who is partaking in this program actually gets noticed and is brought to our attention...and I think that's wonderful.
Misti Trombley
HR Analyst
Dubai Airports
 
 
The High Flyer program has transformed recognition from a reactive gesture into a proactive part of my leadership approach. Recognition is now structured, inclusive, and aligned with our organizational values.
Mariam Al Shemsi
Head - Learning Design & Program Development, Dubai Airports
Americare Senior Living
 
 
When people join Americare, we want them to feel like they're part of something bigger than just a job, that it's part of having purpose because they get to make a difference in residents' lives.
Smiling woman with wavy blonde hair wearing a red blazer, black top, and a silver cross necklace against a blue-gray background.
Mary Eaves
Senior VP of Operations (Assisted Living Division)

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can special-occasion rewards be limited to an event-specific catalog?
 

Where supported, organizations can limit an award to a selected catalog or reward category. Examples may include a baby-gifts catalog for a new child, a graduation collection, a marriage or new-home collection, company merchandise, or another event-specific selection.

A focused catalog can make the experience more relevant and help the organization align the reward with the purpose of the occasion. Organizations should confirm the available catalog controls, country coverage, supplier inventory, currency, fulfillment, and employee visibility before promising a specific item or delivery outcome.

Can organizations set different reward values, budgets, or approval rules?
 

Organizations can configure special-occasion programs around their preferred reward values, budgets, eligible populations, and administrative rules where supported.

For example, a company may use different values for a wedding, new home, graduation, or new child; provide supervisors with a separate budget; or require HR or another administrator to review a recognition before it is delivered.

Organizations should define ownership, budget limits, approval requirements, corrections, unused balances, employee departures, and any tax or payroll review before enabling monetary awards. The available controls vary by program and agreement.

Who can send or initiate a special-occasion recognition?
 

Depending on the program, a special-occasion recognition may be initiated by an administrator, manager, supervisor, peer, or another authorized sender. Organizations can use automated awards for recurring events and human-led recognition for moments that require context or discretion.

Programs may also give managers or supervisors a defined budget for life-event recognition. An organization can decide whether the sender can issue the recognition directly or whether it must go through an approval workflow first.

The available sender roles, permissions, budgets, and approval steps depend on the selected program and administrator configuration.

Can special-occasion recognition be automated?
 

Where the required employee data and workflow are available, organizations can automate recognition tied to a date or an approved employee event. Automation can help deliver a reward, notification, or memory-book invitation on or around a meaningful date without requiring HR or managers to remember each event manually.

Organizations may also combine automated programs with manager, administrator, or peer-initiated recognition when an event is not available in the employee data source or when a more personal process is appropriate.

Automation depends on the source data, event type, trigger, timing, employee eligibility, and configuration. Organizations should validate how events are added, corrected, canceled, or removed before launch.

What special occasions can Awardco help organizations recognize?
 

Organizations can configure programs for meaningful employee moments such as weddings, new babies, adoptions, graduations, new homes, birthdays, retirements, service anniversaries, and other approved occasions.

Organizations may also choose whether to support sensitive events, such as bereavement, based on their policies, culture, employee preferences, and local requirements. Not every event must be enabled, and organizations should use respectful, inclusive language that fits their workforce.

The available event types and experiences depend on the enabled Awardco product and the organization’s configuration. A public page should avoid implying that every event, country, or employee population is supported identically.

Make every occasion awesome

It's no secret that when employees feel appreciated, they perform better in all aspects of their work. Spread appreciation more effectively by celebrating personal milestones with Awardco.