O.C. Tanner named Amazon Web Services, ICF and Wellstar Health System as the recipients of its 2026 Breakthrough Awards on September 28. The employee recognition and rewards provider announced the selections at its Influence Greatness conference at Black Desert Resort in southern Utah. [S01]
Amazon Web Services received the award for Intentional Culture, ICF for Culture Under Pressure, and Wellstar for Aligned Impact. The awards recognize customers within O.C. Tanner's own community, rather than independently ranking the wider employee recognition market.
The company says it selected the recipients from customer stories, operating practices and employee experiences. Its announcement does not disclose a scoring methodology, the number of applicants or quantified results for the three winning programmes.
Customer recognition within a rewards business
O.C. Tanner supplies Culture Cloud recognition software and reward fulfilment. Its global marketplace includes retailer gift cards, a Thanks Visa Cash Card, merchandise, travel and charitable donations. Employers can use points-based recognition programmes with centralized budgets and reporting. [S02]
A separate supplier case study provides operating evidence for award recipient ICF. It reports that 90% of employees received recognition during one year and 88% used You Matter to recognize others. These overlapping measures describe reach and participation, not mutually exclusive groups. The page does not identify the reporting year, exact employee denominator or measurement window for the 88% figure. They should therefore be read as historical case-study observations available on October 19, 2026, rather than current-year results. [S03]
ICF case study: receiving and giving recognition
Two measures of participation in the award recipient’s You Matter programme, as reported by its platform supplier.
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Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
Supplier-published customer evidence. Reporting year, exact denominators and the giving-recognition measurement window are not disclosed. The groups overlap. Recognition includes non-monetary messages and awards; these are not gift-card redemption or spending rates.
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| Category | Reported share of employees |
|---|---|
| Employees recognized in one year | 90% |
| Employees using the programme to recognize others | 88% |
The awards give the provider examples of customer use across technology, consulting and healthcare. Chief Marketing and People Officer Mindi Cox described the recipients as demonstrating how recognition can support workplace connection and performance. Those are the provider's assessments; the release supplies no evidence that the awards themselves represent new contracts or expanded gift-card spending. [S01]
The announcement is a customer milestone for the recognition operator. It does not change the platform's reward catalogue, redemption terms or service pricing.
In this article
Maya Bennett
Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.