A reward is easy to promise. Delivering one across a scattered workforce is harder. Awardco built a business in the space between the gesture and the gift.
A company that once put appreciation into pocket watches now puts it into software. Its most interesting wager is that a thank-you works better when people can see it, choose it, and sometimes keep it.
A trophy maker from Oklahoma learned to put thank-you notes in a newsfeed. Its business reveals why a small act of help and a championship win need very different kinds of applause.
O.C. Tanner began with class rings and service pins. Now it sells a sprawling recognition system to global employers - and argues that the object still matters as much as the dashboard.