We’ve made myKudos [Awardco] a key part of how we work at all levels—whether you’re a people manager or an individual contributor. MyKudos is just as powerful when peers recognize each other, creating a culture of appreciation across the organization

We recently pulled an in-platform report to check on usage, and then we reached out to people individually to improve adoption—especially managers. Since then, engagement has been significantly higher, and our culture of recognition is growing—even our executives are recognizing.

Colleagues have to choose a value from The Collaborative Way when they recognize, making our recognition feed daily proof of why our values are so important. It’s such a powerfully positive place. Leaders are really taking notice—they want to see their teams at the top of the adoption leaderboard because they know the impact our values have on employee performance and retention.

Employees are awarded a certain amount of points every month to give out to their peers. We encourage people to recognize not just within their team, but across the company—anyone who goes above and beyond or makes your day a little easier.

Awardco allows everything to support our core values and our mission, which is very important to us because that strengthens our culture.

One thing I’ve anchored on over the years is how special it feels every time a recognition comes in. Another moment that stands out is when we bring new leaders into the organization. I remember when Ryan Jackson joined—he gave me a private recognition once, and it was incredibly validating. To have someone with experience come in, get the lay of the land, and say, ‘You’re doing well’—that carries a lot of weight. It’s powerful when an outside voice validates the work being done, rather than just looking around at each other and saying it ourselves. That external recognition always feels especially meaningful.

There's plenty of research that shows the compounding impact of how when other people can see recognition, it creates that snowball effect. And so it just makes people work better together. They feel more as part of the team.

Employees can choose the language they feel most comfortable with, which helps us meet both English and French communication needs.