Create your 2027 engagement playbook (plus live giveaway!)

 

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

First Choice Health
 
 
Before we had Awardco I'd have to send out physical cards, anniversary pins, and certificates manually via our in-house mailroom or the Post Office. I was happy to do it but it did take a lot of time to keep track of everything, and it was a challenge to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks. Now I can look at my calendar and see the upcoming service anniversaries and feel confident that they'll be taken care of.
Mary-Jane Padullo
HR and Corporate Resources
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
Ultradent Products
 
 
We're present in pretty much every continent in the world, and there's no limitation to our recognition system. We see recognitions from Brazil to the US, from Japan to China, from South Africa to France, and everyone is engaged.
Favio Paiva
Workday Specialist
PMG
 
 
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
Lockton
 
 
It humanizes our organization. I can wish someone a happy birthday in Philadelphia from my desk in Houston—because I saw it in the Awardco feed. That’s magic.
Smiling woman with long blonde wavy hair wearing a black top and a silver necklace against a black background.
Melissa York
SVP, Head of People & 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
The ease-of-use for employee and the admin is exactly what we need, and we have never had a complaint around service response time, which is rare these days.
Anonymous
HR Manager
Kodiak
 
 
It's really important for relationship building and strengthening. Having this platform that makes it super easy to recognize is what sets Kodiak apart from the rest.
Black and white portrait of a woman with long wavy hair smiling gently at the camera.
Cassidy Barsdoff
Director, Project Management Office
Beckman Coulter
 
 
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
Our experience with Awardco has been very positive. The interactive redemption portal gives the user autonomy, allowing them to feel in control of the award they are receiving.
Anonymous
HR Generalist
McCormick & Company
 
 
We know we’re a people-first organization… and to keep delivering, we needed the right tools and technology to build a culture of everyday impactful recognition.
Smiling young woman with blonde hair wearing a floral jacket and white top against a concrete background.
Sierra Capone
Director, Wellbeing & Employee Experience
We've been using Awardco for almost three years now and have received great feedback and strong engagement.
Anonymous
Human Resources Director
Utah Valley University
 
 
We don’t have to pull together spreadsheets anymore… we can see the whole ecosystem. Awardco helps magnify the efforts we’re already doing and make them more visible.
Maddie Bagley
Appreciation Specialist, People & Culture
All Access Staging and Productions
 
 
We wanted to make recognition easy and exciting for our blue collar workers to participate in, and Awardco's capabilities have made that possible.
Smiling man with dark hair and beard wearing a gray suit jacket and checkered shirt outdoors with blurry trees in the background.
Mason Ongarato
HR Software & Employee Benefits Expert
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.