Spot Recognition Programs

Instant recognition, lasting impact

Express appreciation for great work to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

How It Works

What is spot recognition?

Show appreciation for employees right in the moment, exactly when it matters most.

Administrative Flexibility

Experience effortless appreciation

Total Budgetary Control

Enjoy total control over rewards budgets by providing customized points for teams, managers, or peers to distribute.

Non-Monetary Programs

The impact of recognition is the same, with or without points. Build culture and power engagement on a minimal budget.

Only from awardco

More ways to recognize

AwardCodes™
 

Create custom, physical reward codes that are easy to distribute, simple to redeem, and pain-free to manage. Make in-person recognition effortless, memorable, and personal.

External Recognition
 

Outside-in appreciation made easy. Give customers, patients, clients, and partners an impactful and simple way to recognize your employees, no login required.

Customer stories

The power of recognition

Paramount
52
days saved

Paramount used Awardco to spread recognition to their 20,000+ global employees, all while saving 52 day’s worth of time over the year.

 
960
%
increase in recognition

Pilot implemented recognition to their retail, corporate, and transportation teams, leading to more company-wide appreciation than ever.

 
200
%
increase in value-driven award nominations

Citizens Business Bank achieved a 200% increase in value-driven award nominations, boosting meaningful recognition and reinforcing company values across the organization.

 
209
%
increase in annual recognitions

Texas Roadhouse saw a substantial increase in annual recognitions, thanks to Awardco’s user-friendly platform, customizable location-based experiences, and standout customer support that ensured a smooth rollout across all teams.

 
10
hours saved each month

By crafting a tailored recognition program for their specific goals, ClickUp achieved a 94% recognition rate and gave an incredible amount of time back to busy HR admins.

 

integrations

Send shoutouts without switching apps

Easily integrate with your daily tools so recognition happens where work happens.

Testimonials

What ourcustomers say

Great platform to help us engage our global workforce. Awardco is one of the few solutions that offers language support across Asia and the Americas, and our workforce has embraced it positively.
Anonymous
Group Manager, Transformation Projects
Our investment to leverage the Center of Excellence team at Awardco was the best decision we made. Katie didn’t just advise, she partnered. She brought deep healthcare expertise and helped us translate what recognition should feel like for clinicians into something that actually works for a deskless, clinical workforce. With her leadership, we built our Awardco instance as a true virtual haven: a values-based recognition experience designed with and for our teams, easily accessible, and directly tied to our mission. The result is an always-on program that makes it easy to celebrate the moments that matter — strengthening connection, belonging, and pride across the organization.
Smiling woman with long blonde hair wearing a black blouse, with a blurred green and gray background.
Megan Vera Weaklend
SVP of Marketing & Customer Experience
Ob Hospitalist Group
Seventy-five percent of our employees are out in the field, so how do we get them excited and engaged? The safety programs really got them energized. They had the opportunity to earn a lot of points, but they also received meaningful recognition. I was really impressed by how much our login engagement increased over time.
Marna Lagerquist
Manager, Talent Acquisition and Development
4Refuel
This integration to our Slack channel… makes it very easy and seamless. There’s this running log of all of these shout outs, which I think is really powerful.
Smiling man wearing a blue Patagonia fleece jacket standing outdoors with snow-covered pine trees in the background.
Zach Makoutz
Sr. Manager, Category Sales Product
Kodiak
I try to express appreciation vocally and in Slack, but the visibility that comes from an official kudos [Awardco] post really takes it to the next level. It ensures that great work doesn't go unnoticed, and I’m making it a point to use the shoutout feature even more across my teams.
Smiling man with short brown hair and beard wearing a checkered dress shirt, standing against a dark wall with circular decorations.
Colby Green
Paid Social Senior Associate
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
PMG
It’s really meaningful to see CRPs who are out on the road by themselves, along with employees working from home, still interacting and connecting through the platform. It’s almost like our 4Refuel Facebook—bringing everyone together no matter where they’re working.
Woman with blonde hair wearing a black and white patterned jacket, smiling with arms crossed against a light background.
Lynne Harkness
VP, People & Culture
4Refuel
I’ve been able to see how much recognition has changed since we started using Awardco. From an admin perspective, it’s become so much more manageable and has saved me countless hours. Birthdays, anniversaries, and new-hire milestones are all automated through Workday, new hires get points at 30 and 60 days, and employees are recognized automatically for birthdays and anniversaries.
Smiling young woman with long brown hair wearing a black top against a pink background.
Shannon Martell
Employee Experience Specialist
Crumbl

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What reporting and controls are available for spot recognition?
 

Awardco reporting can help administrators understand who is giving and receiving spot recognition, which programs and teams are participating, how budgets are being used, and how recognition activity changes over time.

Organizations can use available roles, permissions, filters, and exports to support program administration, budget review, and reconciliation. Reporting fields and visibility depend on the organization’s employee data, configuration, and access controls.

‍

How are spot recognition budgets allocated and controlled?
 

Organizations can establish budgets for spot recognition and assign them to managers, departments, business units, programs, or other groups. Budget controls can help define who may award points, how much they may award, and which populations they may recognize.

Depending on the configuration, budgets may be replenished on a recurring schedule, transferred, limited by program, or subject to approval. Rules for unused balances—including whether they reset, expire, or carry forward—are organization-specific and should be defined during program setup.

‍

How do approvals and governance work for spot recognition?
 

Organizations can configure approval requirements and routing based on their recognition policies. An award may be sent directly, or it may require review by a manager, program owner, HR administrator, budget owner, or another designated approver.

Approval rules can help organizations apply additional review to higher-value awards or specific programs while keeping lower-value recognition simple. The appropriate workflow depends on the organization’s governance model and configuration.

‍

Can spot recognition be monetary, non-monetary, or both?
 

Yes. Organizations can use spot recognition for simple, non-monetary appreciation, points-based awards, or other configured reward options. The available approach depends on the program design and the organization’s policies.

A spot recognition message can explain what the recipient did and connect the recognition to a company value, behavior, or business outcome. Where a monetary award is enabled, the organization can define the available award values and redemption options.

What is spot recognition and how is it different from other recognition programs?
 

Spot recognition is timely, discretionary recognition for meaningful contributions, behaviors, or accomplishments. It helps managers and other authorized senders recognize employees close to the moment the contribution occurs.

Organizations can use spot recognition alongside automated programs such as birthdays and work anniversaries, as well as nomination-based programs that require a formal review. Spot recognition is typically used for flexible, in-the-moment appreciation rather than a scheduled milestone or a formal nomination process.

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Build culture, incentivize performance, and power modern engagement strategies—all in one place.