Awardco

Entrepreneurs are nothing short of an explorer. They both are driven by the inherent trait of knowing the unknown, seeing the unseen, exploring what lies beyond. One such personality is Steve Sonnenberg, Founder and CEO, Awardco, who decided to take a small metaphorical boat into the rough waters of entrepreneurship.

In 2012, Sonnenberg founded Awardco amidst a financially challenging phase of his life, offering an all-in-one software platform which provides simplicity and flexibility in meeting global incentive spends of the modern marketplace, such as professional development, milestones, and recognition. The company partnered with Amazon to display their products on the platform to enable clients in providing their employees with dollar-for-dollar value and near-limitless reward choices in recognition programs. “Employee recognition hasn’t changed in 100 years, and it isn’t working. With the Great Resignation impacting all areas of business, efforts to improve retention, engagement, and culture can no longer be a function of just HR,” says Sonnenberg. “People are catching on to Awardco’s vision: to drive culture and build true employee loyalty by aligning efforts across all areas of business operations. There are no shortcuts; addressing one area of the employee experience alone is not cutting it. Organizations must provide real value to their people. With this support from investors, Awardco is primed to completely change the way organizations reward and recognize their people.”

Unlike traditional employee reward programs, Awardco meets the business requirements of its clients by providing proven solutions that increase employee engagement, and boost retention and productivity.

The company’s employee engagement strategy allows organizations to reduce their turnover rate by 40 percent, and generates over $28,000 increased revenue per employee. It offers customized recognition programs, such as letting people be recognized in private or public, in groups or individually, with or without monetary compensation.

We are as proud as ever to see Awardco making a lasting change in the way companies recognize, inspire, and support their employees

Since the beginning Awardco has remained a cash-flow positive company even while scaling up its size and revenue every year. The company aims to sustain future of work by becoming the go-to partner for the global loyalty and incentive spends. This vision was jumpstarted when Awardco partnered with Amazon business in 2016. The company integrated with Amazon’s warehouses worldwide, including India, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., UAE, and others, leading to the virtual elimination of customs and reduction in shipping to a near zero. Also, it offers hotel options from Priceline, tickets to shows, events, travel, and more. Today, Awardco boasts of over 2.5 million users in 140 different countries, and has scaled from 50 to nearly 200 employees. “I think one of the reasons why we’re growing so fast is people and organizations want more transparency and an Amazon-like experience in their rewards and recognition program,” adds Sonnenberg.

With the global workforce continuing to realize the power of employee recognition as a solution, Awardco is uniquely positioning itself to help clients increase profitability and organizational health. Thanks to its unmatched employee recognition platform, Awardco has been recognized for the third consecutive year by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing employee recognition companies in the U.S. “The dissatisfaction with the status quo, large markups, and poor employee experience simply won’t cut it anymore, especially in the current pandemic-induced climate we find ourselves in now. What we offer is simple, powerful, and flexible, and our integration with Amazon Business offers a capability other platforms lack. We are as proud as ever to see Awardco making a lasting change in the way companies recognize, inspire, and support their employees,” concludes Sonnenberg.