What we're talking about this month:

💻 Updated Support Portal for an Updated Platform
💜 Employee Appreciation Day: Start Planning Now
Your Feedback in Action: January Upgrades

🎉 Start 2026 with the Kudos Celebrations Calendar

The 2026 Celebrations Calendar makes it easy to turn everyday moments into meaningful recognition opportunities! Think of this calendar as your year-long culture companion packed with ideas, reminders, and inspiration to help your people feel valued, seen, and supported, all year round.

In this calendar, each month includes ideas to spark recognition, boost morale, and align your people strategy with the moments that truly matter.

Download

What Oregon Community Credit Union (OCCU) is Doing Through Kudos

We love seeing our clients celebrate their people! The people at OCCU redeem their Kudos points in a variety of ways – including charitable giving. In 2025, OCCU team members contributed more than $10,000 in Kudos points to the OCCU Foundation. Those donations helped fund impactful community initiatives, including:

A partnership with the 4J school district to deliver personal finance education in local high schools
Expanded hands-on STEM learning at the Eugene Science Center, doubling visitor capacity for Lane County families
Food and resource pantries supporting emergency food, hygiene, and clothing needs for students and families across multiple school districts
Essential services for youth and families in Lane, Marion, Polk, and Douglas Counties – supporting meal programs, homebuilding, education, and food support

To OCCU: thank you for demonstrating what’s possible when recognition and purpose come together. We’re proud to support the incredible difference your team members make every day.

Kudos Updates

💻 Updated Support Portal for an Updated Platform

Your go-to destination for help and resources: the Kudos Support Portal. This is your centralized destination for all things Kudos; featuring support articles across the full platform for users and Kudos Admins, along with a new and improved Resource Library.

Inside the Resource Library, you’ll find:

Archived monthly newsletters from 2025 and 2026
A template library with ready-to-use campaigns for incentives, awards, announcements, and more
Program guides and brochures to help you launch and promote programs with ease
An expanding graphic library including Kudos platform banners and badges

This new support portal is only accessible for clients using the upgraded version of Kudos. If you would like to upgrade your Kudos platform, please connect with your Client Success Manager, or support@kudos.com.

The Next Generation of Kudos is Ready When You Are

All current clients are eligible to upgrade, and your Kudos Client Success Manager will guide you through every step.

Helpful resources:

📘 FAQs
🎥 Watch the New Kudos Tour
🆕 See a roundup of the latest upgrades
📖 Explore the Full Kudos Experience Guide

👉 Not sure where to start? Schedule a meeting with us!

Your Feedback in Action: January Upgrades

Every month, we’ll be sharing how we’ve turned your ideas into meaningful improvements. Your Feedback in Action highlights the latest upgrades we’ve made to the next generation Kudos platform, all inspired by what you’ve told us matters most.

🌍 Control translations for admin-created content

You can now add translation overrides for values, qualities, awards, and incentives.

Only translate content that needs to be used across multiple languages
All other content will display exactly as entered

This makes supporting global teams simpler, without added setup work.

👥 Manage user data more flexibly

You can now take greater control over how user data is updated and synced:

Update existing user emails via Bulk Import or FTP
Choose whether empty CSV fields overwrite existing data
Rely on simplified matching logic (email first, then employee ID)
Exclude specific fields from automated syncs with hybrid user provisioning

These updates help prevent accidental overwrites and support more complex HRIS setups.

🎨 Customize your account name

You can now update the tenant name displayed across the platform from the Branding settings.

This updates how your organization name appears to users
Vanity URLs are not affected

Connect with your Client Success Manager or schedule a meeting to explore what’s new and plan your upgrade if you haven’t already made the switch!

Culture Enhancer

February 2026 Kudos Banners

Here are your February 2026 banners for your Kudos platform. You can select one of these banners, or create your own, and upload it right into Kudos.

Download Banners

⬆️ Inside the file you’ll find two different banner sizes: use the 2256x382 sizes if you’re still using the original Kudos platform and use the 3384x573 sizes for the upgraded Kudos platform. Not sure which one you’re on? Contact support@kudos.com for help.

💜 Employee Appreciation Day: Start Planning Now

Employee Appreciation Day is coming up (March 6, 2026). This day can be a simple but powerful moment to recognize the people who keep your organization running, and when it’s done well, it makes a huge impact.

The key is planning ahead: Employees notice this day immediately if it’s overlooked (especially when other companies are celebrating). A little preparation now helps you avoid the awkward “we forgot” scramble and instead, deliver something thoughtful, consistent, and on-brand.

What to do now to prepare:

Lock in budget + approvals (gifts, food, experiences, shipping, taxes, etc.)
Decide what “great” looks like for your culture (team celebration, personalized recognition, company-wide moment, etc.)
Assign an owner + timeline (who’s coordinating, and by when)
Choose your recognition approach (manager-led recognition, peer recognition, awards, reward points, story-sharing)
Plan for distributed teams (shipping deadlines, digital options, time zones)
Gather insights (quick pulse: “What kind of appreciation feels meaningful to you?”)
Draft your comms early so managers have talking points and employees know what to expect

Make sure you’re following Kudos on LinkedIn for more tips and ideas on Employee Appreciation Day, and we’ll also have more resources for you in our February newsletter.

Reach out to us at support@kudos.com

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Suite 2500, 500 4 Ave SW
Calgary AB