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

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
Pilot Company
 
 
We appreciate the user-friendly interface and the ample functionality of the platform, which has enabled us to better recognize team members as well as better support end users.
Smiling woman with long wavy blonde hair and gold earrings in a warmly lit indoor setting.
Sica Simon
HR Analyst
MagnaFlow
 
 
Our turnover definitely went down after implementing Awardco, especially compared to the previous year. We've noticed that recognition, along with rewards like Amazon items and prepaid Visa cards, has had a big impact on retention without being a huge cost to the company.
Sonia Magdaleno
Talent and Engagement Specialist
PMG
 
 
When employees feel seen and appreciated, they’re more engaged and engagement drives performance. Using Awardco helps leaders and managers recognize impact in real time and that momentum drives continued and lasting success.
Smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a black blazer and a delicate gold necklace against a white background.
Monica Gunderson
Talent Management Lead
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
Utah Valley University
 
 
Awardco has democratized employee recognition and made it so that anyone in the company that sees you doing great work can recognize and reward you for that.
Man wearing glasses, a blue shirt, a red striped tie, and a checkered blazer.
Luke Dean
CFP Program Director
McCormick & Company
 
 
We really got serious about thinking through how recognition fit into our strategic roadmap as a company. Our Bravo feed rapidly expands the number of people I feel like I'm in contact with and can interact with.
Smiling woman with glasses, pearl necklace, and pearl earrings wearing a black blazer and red top against a gray background.
Sarah Piper
CHRO
PMG
 
 
Awardco checked all the boxes for us, from onboarding all the way up to senior leadership.
Smiling middle-aged woman with brown hair wearing a red cardigan, black top, and multicolored beaded necklace against a white background.
Pam Buyers
Head of Culture
First Choice Health
 
 
Awardco has given us the opportunity to figure out how to put that personal touch back into recognition even if employees are remote.
Mary-Jane Padullo
HR and Corporate Resources
Sorenson Communications
 
 
With Awardco, recognition is more than a one-and-done thing. It's starting to become a part of our culture and our employees' daily habits.
Dan Higbee
Senior Director of HR
Kodiak
 
 
The emphasis that Kodiak puts on people and employees first is really unique. We're always looking for opportunities to acknowledge the important and special and above and beyond work that our coworkers are doing.
Black and white portrait of a woman with long wavy hair smiling gently at the camera.
Cassidy Barsdoff
Director, Project Management Office
Lockton
 
 
Almost a third of our associates are remote. So while we don't get to see them every day, Awardco has provided a platform where they are very visible.
Smiling woman with wavy dark hair wearing a green textured blouse against a black background.
Tisa Penny
Engagement & Events Lead, 2025 Recognition Rockstar Winner
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
ClickUp
 
 
At ClickUp, we like to recognize employees on their work anniversaries. Awardco makes this infinitely easier by automating the process. Now, employees receive a timely email on the day of their anniversary along with a small gift. It's just one small way we're able to express our gratitude and now we're able to do it without any manual labor on our end.
Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a light purple sweater indoors.
Deanna Tindell
People Operations Specialist
Overall, my experience with the Awardco platform has been positive. It's a great way to keep morale high and celebrate achievements across the team.
Anonymous
Systems Administrator

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.