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

What's most helpful is the freedom Awardco gives employees to choose how they'd like to spend their reward. Instead of managers handing out gift cards that might not be relevant, I can build contests or recognition programs right from my budget. It reduces expense reports and boosts engagement—especially with non-monetary rewards like peer-to-peer recognition. Their customer service is also top-notch: fast, efficient, and always helpful. I brag about Awardco almost daily.
Deanna T.
Guest Service Scheduling Manager
Utah Valley University
 
 
It’s so easy to express appreciation… people go above and beyond, and it matters to let them know you see it.
Man with short light hair, wearing glasses, a checkered blazer, light blue shirt, and red striped tie.
Luke Dean
CFP Program Director
CloudFit Software
 
 
Awardco has provided significant time savings. Our previous program was clunky, manual, and time consuming. Now, with the automation capabilities available through Awardco, my team saves 5-8 hours a week!
Smiling woman with braided hair wearing a blue blazer and black top, outdoors with trees in the background.
Kymberlee Stephens
Director of Employee Experience and Wellness
Lockton
 
 
When I joined Lockton, we didn’t have a recognition platform. It was the first thing I pushed for—because I’ve seen firsthand how important it is. People want to feel seen and validated.
Smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a purple blouse and white earrings against a black background.
Selia Wood
AVP, Talent & Engagement
Awardco makes it easy to recognize people for the awesome things they do—and it's great that recognition converts to points you can spend on real products or gift cards. I love that I can send recognition directly from Slack!
Mike D.
Director of Internal Tools and Integrations
Awardco and their support team have bent over backward to make sure everything is covered and completed to our satisfaction, especially during implementation.
Anonymous
HR Manager
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
Children's Nebraska
 
 
People are busy. It's hard. We have our highest volumes we've ever had with patients. But when people take the time to celebrate one another, then we can really see that hope and that goodness beyond that. And so I really think that why we're successful is because our team cares about one another, and they take the time to recognize one another.
Smiling woman with long brown hair wearing a white blouse, standing in front of a window with a blurred outdoor background.
Madeline Quinn
Employee Experience Manager
4Refuel
 
 
We have a lot of different programs to ensure we encompass all our employees. Three of them tie directly to our core values: our peer-to-peer program, our manager-led programs, and our safety programs—like our Safety All-Stars, which is a monthly automated award.
Marna Lagerquist
Manager, Talent Acquisition and Development
Lineage
 
 
We'd help them get through if they're not computer savvy and help them get their logins created and get set up.
Michael Burgess
Assistant GM
America First Credit Union
 
 
Previously, every manager hand-wrote a message to their employees every six months thanking them for their hard work, and it was all tied in with the bonus distribution. It was very high-touch, very labor intensive, and we had the process down to a science. We liked the connections that formed between managers and employees as a result of this program, but after COVID-19 most of our workforce went remote. Our semi-annual tradition wasn't possible any longer, nor was it feasible.
Smiling man wearing glasses, a black suit, white shirt, and a red patterned tie against a dark blurred background.
Kent Streuling
SVP of HR
Hertz
 
 
I'd like for others to look at Hertz and say ‘they're doing something right’. They're listening to employees, taking that feedback and continuing to build upon their recognition programs. Just to let them know that it is part of our culture and it's not just a platform.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a black blazer and pink top, standing outdoors with crossed arms and blurred greenery in background.
Jessica Mollica
Vice President, Human Resources Field
Our partnership with Awardco's sales, implementation, and support teams has been the brightest point. They come to every situation with a solution and innovation mindset.
Anonymous
Director of Human Resources
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
Awardco is truly better than any other vendor I've implemented for any type of platform—and I've done a lot! The user experience is second to none.
Anonymous
HR Operations Director

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.