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

Lockton
 
 
A quiet employee might never self-promote, but Awardco gives us the visibility to see their impact. We’ve literally had leaders say, ‘I had no idea!’ when reviewing this data.
Smiling woman with long wavy blonde hair wearing a black top and a pendant necklace against a black background.
Melissa York
SVP, Head of People & Culture
4Refuel
 
 
We have an on-the-spot recognition program where leaders can immediately recognize a CRP for demonstrating safe behavior. That recognition is visible across the organization, which motivates others to do the same. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, we’ve shifted our culture to spotlight what’s being done right—and that’s encouraged everyone to follow that path.
Headshot of a man with short black hair wearing a gray blazer and light blue shirt, smiling against a gray cloudy background.
Roshan Varghese
Sr. Director, Environment, Health & Safety
Dubai Airports
 
 
High Flyer has given us a framework to consistently and meaningfully acknowledge employees, boosting morale and reinforcing the behaviors that drive our success. It has made recognition easier and more natural.
Mariam Al Shemsi
Head - Learning Design & Program Development, Dubai Airports
NIBCO
 
 
We've put a lot of resources and focus on associate engagement and overall morale and wellness. Because of the initiatives that we've put forth this year, we've realized an 8.2% reduction in our turnover rate.
Smiling woman with long dark hair with auburn highlights wearing a black top and silver earrings in front of a gray background.
Dawn Bloch
Chief People Officer
Pacific Life
 
 
We do a lot of remote work activities where you can win something. We do a lot of these contests, and I used to go to Amazon and send a $25 gift card to the winners, but now I do it through Awardco. It's in the system, trackable, and much more streamlined.
Amberlee Taylor
Sr. Communications Specialist
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
I absolutely love the platform—it's easy for anyone to recognize someone else in a meaningful way, and the points exchange system is great, too, and an awesome way to reward good work.
Anonymous
HR Coordinator
Alera Group
 
 
We do an annual engagement survey, and we do see a lot of comments from people saying they love to work here because of the people they work with. We get a lot of good comments about working with others.
Smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a black blazer and white collared shirt against a gray background.
Pam Johnson
VP of Human Resources
The Awardco team is very experience and always so responsive. Issues are always resolved quickly and updates are quickly shared.
Anonymous
SR HRIS Analyst
PMG
 
 
Our recognition was all over the place before. Awardco brought everything into one centralized, impactful platform.
Middle-aged woman with brown hair wearing a red cardigan and black top, smiling against a white background.
Pam Buyers
Head of Culture at PMG
I love the customization of the platform and the constant innovation. There are constant evolutions and enhancements being released to keep our solution cutting edge.
Anonymous
Director of Human Resources
Americare Senior Living
 
 
Caregivers want more than a paycheck—they want to feel valued. Recognition makes that possible.
Smiling woman with wavy brown hair wearing a white blouse and dark blue blazer in a bright office setting.
Sarah Mazzocco
Chief People Officer
Lockton
 
 
Recognition is powerful. When you recognize someone, you feel just as good as when you’re being recognized. The Awardco feed is my ‘positive scroll.’ It lifts everyone’s spirits.
Smiling woman with shoulder-length wavy dark hair wearing a green blouse with textured dots, against a black background.
Tisa Penny
Engagement & Events Lead, 2025 Recognition Rockstar Winner
PMG
 
 
The myKudos [Awardco] platform is easy to use and highly beneficial. I truly appreciate the ability to both give and receive kudos, and the rewards offered are incredibly generous. It’s a well-rounded, thoughtful initiative by PMG that really prioritizes employee appreciation.
Melodie Cottingham
Convergent Video/Audio Director
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

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.