Question 1

What is employee recognition software?

Accepted Answer

Employee recognition software is a category of HR tools that let team members publicly acknowledge each other's contributions, typically through written kudos, points, badges, or monetary rewards. Mainstream platforms include Bonusly, Workhuman, Kazoo (now WorkTango), Achievers, and Motivosity. These typically price per user per month and live as separate platforms outside the company's core Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace tenant.

Question 2

How does Athena compare to Bonusly?

Accepted Answer

Bonusly is a dedicated employee recognition platform priced per user per month (typically £3-5/user/month). It supports peer-to-peer recognition, points-based rewards redeemable for gift cards, and analytics on recognition patterns. Athena's Noticeboard Kudos category provides the visibility layer of recognition, public posts, pinning, audience targeting, rich-text content, bundled inside the Athena £290/month per-tenant subscription. For organisations whose recognition programmes are visibility-focused (publicly acknowledging team members, celebrating wins), Athena covers the core use case at significantly lower total cost. For organisations using monetary rewards, points marketplaces, or detailed recognition analytics, Bonusly retains structural advantages.

Question 3

Can employees give each other kudos through Athena?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Athena Noticeboard supports user-generated entries with appropriate permissions, so staff can post kudos for colleagues directly. Audience targeting controls who sees which kudos. Pinning highlights particularly meaningful recognitions. The Noticeboard runs five other use cases out of the same list, so the Kudos feature is part of a broader internal communications surface, not a separate platform that competes for staff attention.

Question 4

Does Athena include monetary rewards or points like Bonusly?

Accepted Answer

Athena does not include built-in monetary rewards, points marketplaces, or gift-card redemption. Recognition through Athena is public visibility and acknowledgement, not redeemable currency. Organisations whose recognition programmes depend on monetary or point-based incentives should use a dedicated platform such as Bonusly, Workhuman, or Kazoo for that mechanic alongside or instead of Athena's visibility layer.

Question 5

Is visibility-only recognition enough?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your culture and goals. Industry research consistently shows that public, frequent, peer-to-peer recognition is the single strongest driver of perceived recognition, more important than monetary value or formal awards. For SMB and mid-market organisations whose programme is in its early stages or where the goal is primarily cultural reinforcement, a visibility-led recognition surface like Athena's is often sufficient. For mature programmes that have already established the visibility loop and are looking for the next layer of sophistication (gamification, analytics, monetary incentives), a dedicated platform adds value.

Question 6

How does Athena's Kudos compare to Workhuman?

Accepted Answer

Workhuman is an enterprise recognition and continuous-performance management platform that includes social recognition, monetary rewards, manager-led nominations, programme analytics, and integrations with broader HR systems. Workhuman's typical buyer is a large enterprise with a mature recognition programme and HR-led performance management strategy. Athena Noticeboard Kudos is an SMB and mid-market visibility-layer fit, significantly less expensive but also significantly less feature-rich for advanced recognition strategy. The two products do not directly compete.

Question 7

How much does Athena cost?

Accepted Answer

Athena Essentials is £290 per month per Microsoft 365 tenant, covering unlimited users, unlimited designers, and unlimited SharePoint sites. The Kudos category is part of the Noticeboard webpart, which is part of Athena Essentials along with 18 other webparts including org chart, knowledge base, policy management, events calendar, and internal job board functionality. There are no per-user fees.

Question 8

Can we use Athena alongside Bonusly or Workhuman?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Athena and dedicated recognition platforms can coexist. A common pattern is to use Athena's Kudos category for high-visibility public recognition on the intranet home page, while continuing to use Bonusly or Workhuman for points-based or monetary recognition mechanics. Many organisations also use Athena's Kudos as a feeder into their dedicated platform. Significant public recognitions are then converted to formal awards in the dedicated system.

Capability	Athena (Kudos category)	Bonusly / Kazoo / Workhuman
Public peer-to-peer recognition	Built in: Kudos noticeboard category	Native
Pinning, audience targeting, rich content	Built in	Available in most tiers
Lives inside Microsoft 365 (no separate login)	Yes: runs in SharePoint tenant	Separate platform; SSO available
Monetary rewards / gift cards	Not included	Core capability
Points-based recognition marketplace	Not included	Core capability
Analytics on recognition patterns	Basic (via SharePoint list)	Rich dashboards
Manager-led nominations workflow	Not included	Available in mid-tier and up
Integration with broader HR / performance systems	Microsoft 365 native	Native integrations across multiple HR platforms
Pricing model	£290/mo per tenant flat: bundled with 18 other webparts	£3-7/user/month (Bonusly, Kazoo) up to enterprise (Workhuman)

Public kudos and team recognition, inside your SharePoint intranet.

Kudos posts, live on the home page.

What teams use Athena's Kudos for.

“Win of the week”

Peer-to-peer thank-yous

New-starter welcomes

Team milestones

“Living the values” recognition

How Athena compares to dedicated recognition platforms.

Where a dedicated recognition platform is the better choice.

Frequently asked questions.

Recognition where your team already is.

Related reading.