The Best Culture Awards highlight your unique culture initiatives, your success and results, and the incredible individuals that make up your organization – plus, winners get serious bragging rights! Applications for this year’s program are due October 17. 

To help your application shine, here are a few tips:  

Need more help? We’re here for you! Contact your Client Success Manager or email marketing@kudos.com. 

Every day, we see how meaningful recognition transforms workplace culture. Do you know an organization that could benefit from Kudos? We’d love an introduction! 

Your referrals help us bring more happiness and engagement to workplaces around the world—and as a token of our appreciation, we’ll send you a little thank-you gift. 🎁 

Have someone in mind? Reach out to us at marketing@kudos.com. Let’s make great workplace cultures the norm together. 

📣 Managing points in Kudos just got a whole lot easier. 

With the next generation of Kudos, you’ll have more control and clarity over your recognition budget, thanks to our new Points & Budget Management tools.  

Meet Point Banks. These dedicated buckets of points help you fund programs like Awards, Incentives, and Celebrations, without relying on individual balances.  

Here’s what’s new:  

If you’ve ever wrangled a spreadsheet to manage your Kudos budget, you’ll love what’s now available in Kudos. 

Want to try the new Kudos experience?
Schedule your demo. We’d love to show you what’s next. 

Here are your September 2025 banners for your Kudos platform. You can select one of these banners, or create your own, and upload it right into Kudos. Learn more about uploading a banner into your Kudos platform, or how to customize your theme in this support article.   

"Three years ago, I reached out to our newly formed Employee Engagement Action Team for advice. I wanted to know: what could our Recognition team do to get our staff excited about our annual Calgary Stampede Challenge on our Kudos platform? The usual contests and challenges weren’t cutting it anymore,” shares Roberta Kuzyk-Burton, Training & Recognition Lead at Calgary Public Library.   

The team suggested a playful ‘Elf on the Library Shelf’ approach: hiding toy farm animals around the library and letting staff get creative during Stampede events. So, 32 miniature stuffed horses were sent to staff across all library locations, and employees were encouraged to post pictures with the horses during events.   

The response? Overwhelmingly positive, with 243 posts showing the horses in creative and fun situations.  

The following year, the challenge was taken up a notch with toy cows. Staff members even reused the horses from the previous year, showing their creative spark and enthusiasm. 

In 2025, the challenge introduced three Western-themed rubber ducks. One location took creativity to the next level, posting a 2-minute parody video, ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Ducklings,’ complete with a full soundtrack! 

The key takeaway: Even the simplest ideas can have the greatest impact. When staff feel involved and appreciated, they’re more likely to contribute their best ideas and fully participate.   

“This experience taught me a valuable lesson: involve frontline employees in shaping initiatives that spark creativity and play. Their insights transformed a simple challenge into something truly engaging. And the Kudos platform proved to be the perfect platform—staff could engage with posts, send recognition, and celebrate entries. A win in our books.” – Roberta, Calgary Public Library    

Have you tried a new culture initiative that sparked major engagement? Or maybe you took a big swing... and missed? Either way, we want to hear about it.

Hit “reply” or reach out to taryn.hart@kudos.com and share your story – big wins, bold ideas, or lessons learned the hard way. Your experience might just be the spark someone else needs. ✨ 

You can finally run award campaigns the way you want: peer- or manager-led, value-driven, and completely automated from nomination to winner announcement.  

Make employee award programs easier than ever with our revamped Nominations feature. Say goodbye to spreadsheets and manual forms—now you can launch, review, and finalize award nominations entirely in-platform. 

Nominations are just one more way we’re helping you build a culture of appreciation with less friction and more impact.   

The upgraded Nominations feature is only available on Kudos Next Gen – reach out to your Client Success Manager or book a meeting here to get started.  

Reach out to us at support@kudos.com

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