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

PMG
 
 
We’ve made myKudos [Awardco] a key part of how we work at all levels—whether you’re a people manager or an individual contributor. MyKudos is just as powerful when peers recognize each other, creating a culture of appreciation across the organization
Smiling woman with long wavy hair wearing a blue and white striped shirt with folded arms against a light blue background.
Mary O’Brien
Head of Programmatic
Lockton
 
 
It’s incredibly accessible. You don’t have to be tech-savvy—you can use it on your phone, through Outlook, or even a Teams plugin. It meets people where they are.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a red blazer and black top with scalloped neckline.
Mallory Pence
Marketing Manager
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
McCormick & Company
 
 
Ease of access is where we’re trying to bridge the gap so everyone can participate. Bravo makes recognition more visible for all of us. It takes a team—everyone has a piece of the puzzle—and recognition is something we can take home with us.
Dave Hall
Department Manager
Janitronics
 
 
We had more participation from our first survey with Engage than we did from the two previous biannual surveys that we did combined. The Engage platform is beneficial over Microsoft Forms and some of those other things because it is all in one platform.
Portrait of a man with short light brown hair and blue eyes, smiling slightly, wearing a dark blazer over a maroon button-up shirt against a gray background.
Frank Eschberger
Human Resource Business Partner
Texas Roadhouse
 
 
One of our employees needed their virtual gift card ASAP, but it had somehow gotten lost when it was sent. I worked with Awardco and they immediately resolved the issue and I contacted the employee with their gift card. I didn't know this at the time, but later found out that this employee needed that gift card to purchase something important. 'I needed this gift card to get an urn for my Mom who had recently passed away. Thank you so much for getting this to me so quickly!' Without Awardco's exemplary service, we may not have been able to help this employee in time. And that's typical of the service we enjoy with Awardco, whether that's surrounding gift cards or the awards we offer through the platform.
Storey O'Barr
Recognition and Communications Specialist
Utah Valley University
 
 
Previously, recognition was only known between the giver and receiver. Now I feel a lot more connected to colleagues. The My Circle email alerts have made a big difference in helping colleagues feel more connected across our giant campus.
Maddie Bagley
Appreciation Specialist, People & Culture
PMG
 
 
Recognition is now part of our day-to-day culture—from Slack shoutouts to CEO highlights in company-wide messages.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a black blazer and a delicate necklace against a white background.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead
PMG
 
 
As I’ve transitioned contractors into full-time roles, I’ve used myKudos [Awardco] as an incentive to help them engage with PMG’s culture. It may take time to fully understand all the offerings, but seeing kudos in action helps new team members recognize the value of the platform.
Melodie Cottingham
Convergent Video/Audio Director
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
4Refuel
 
 
Everybody at 4Refuel understands how they make a difference. Whether you’re on a customer site or supporting from the office, you bring value every day.
Shawn McGuire
Manager, Communications - North America
Awardco filled a huge need for us to bring recognition and incentives across our international organization. We saw a huge upswing in employee engagement and recognition with its adoption.
Ryan F.
HR Training Specialist
Citizens Business Bank
 
 
We've tied rewards to wellness in the sense that every year, we encourage our associates to go get their annual physical. If they show proof, they get points. It's another way to tie healthy lifestyles to what's important to us in the bank, making an impact with our associates.
Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a bright pink top against a light gray background.
Jenny Ketchepaw
VP, Talent Engagement
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
Awardco is a great product that makes my life a whole lot easier. I love the convenience it provides me to be able to award employees for hard work and loyalty, and to reward them personally in a hands-free way.
Anonymous
Director of People & Culture

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.