Awardco has helped us make recognition more worthwhile by improving employee morale and showing them that we care—recognition is more meaningful, so it's become more valuable to our employees.

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.

Our people use their points for vacations, holidays, gifts… it’s meaningful to them.

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.

When I personally received a High Flyer, it was amazing. Knowing that my efforts were appreciated—especially by senior management—meant a lot.

Once [Microsoft] Teams became more accessible and we could use Awardco directly through that platform, everything changed. Recognition started happening in real time, right when great work was done, which made it feel truly authentic and helped strengthen our culture.

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.

When we unified our recognition programs, we saw a strong correlation between recognition and employee engagement. Teams led by managers who consistently recognized their people were the most engaged.