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
 
 
Everybody wants to come to work every day and feel as though they're making a meaningful contribution to the business. So, when you finally get to hear that what you've been working so hard on has made an impact, it's incredibly rewarding.
Chris Berg
Executive Vice President, Fleet Management
Lineage
 
 
Awardco has made a big difference at our Sunnyvale location, specifically the different programs they've been able to create. They have a tenure recognition program, an employee of the month program, a birthday recognition program, and Sunnyvale has also created a safety bingo.
Jessica Sinclair
Sr. HR Business Partner
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
Lockton
 
 
As we’ve scaled, we’ve lost the day-to-day visibility into our people. Awardco fills that gap. Peer recognition surfaces contributions that would otherwise go unnoticed—especially from introverts or quiet top performers.
Smiling woman with long blonde wavy hair wearing a black top and pendant necklace on a black background.
Melissa York
SVP, Head of People & Culture
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
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
Texas Roadhouse
 
 
We needed something to unify our recognition programs for all our different locations, and we found that and more with Awardco.
Storey O'Barr
Recognition and Communications Specialist
Dubai Airports
 
 
The High Flyer platform is such an important tool—it allows me to pause, reflect, and thank colleagues who have gone above and beyond. That simple act of appreciation makes a big difference.
Soosan Abidali
Office Manager, Strategy & Development, Dubai Airports
BPM
 
 
We use recognition as a tool to motivate and encourage our employees—everyone knows Awardco because we actively use it for any and all incentives for employees.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing pearl earrings, a matching necklace, a white top, and a black blazer in a blurred office background.
Monica Delgado
Senior Manager of Total Rewards
Children's Nebraska
 
 
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
SEF Energy
 
 
One of the biggest things we were looking for was a platform that's easily accessible for all of our employees. We needed it to be simple and intuitive, and not take a lot of training.
Lauren Long
HR Operations 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
Janitronics
 
 
Turnover in our industry is anywhere from about 130% to 200% annually. Our turnover is down to about 70%, which is a crazy number when you think about cost to hire and how much it takes to interview and bring people on.
Smiling man with short light brown hair wearing a dark blazer over a burgundy shirt against a plain gray background.
Frank Eschberger
Human Resource Business Partner
Crumbl
 
 
Beyond birthdays and anniversaries, Awardco gives us a meaningful way to recognize our values, which is honestly my favorite part of the program. Every company has values and a mission statement, but they can be easy to forget in the day-to-day. Awardco helps keep our values top of mind by tying them directly to recognition.
Smiling young woman with long brown hair wearing a black top against a pink background.
Shannon Martell
Employee Experience Specialist
PMG
 
 
Tying recognition to our values and integrating with Slack created real cultural stickiness.
Smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a black blazer and gold necklace against a white background.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead

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.