If you manage a team and want people to actually care about recognition—not just roll their eyes at it—you’re in the right place. This guide is for team leads, sales managers, HR folks, or anyone who’s stuck making “employee engagement” real, not just a buzzword. We’re going deep on how to use custom badges in Hoopla to make recognition less cringe and more motivating.
Let’s cut through the fluff and get right to what works.
Why Custom Badges? (And Why Most Recognition Flops)
Generic “Employee of the Month” awards are about as inspiring as a Monday morning meeting. The truth is, most recognition programs don’t stick because they feel forced or irrelevant.
Custom badges fix that—if you use them right. They let you recognize specific behaviors or wins that actually matter to your team. That’s when people start paying attention.
But here’s the catch: a custom badge is just a digital sticker if you don’t put thought into what it represents and how you use it. Badges only work when they’re:
- Relevant: Tied to real actions your team cares about
- Specific: Not “best attitude” but “closed a tricky deal” or “helped a teammate out”
- Timely: Given when it matters, not months later
Done well, badges become something folks actually want to earn—not another bit of HR noise.
Step 1: Figure Out What Actually Motivates Your Team
Before you create anything in Hoopla, pump the brakes. Don’t just slap your logo on a badge and call it a day. Ask yourself (or better yet, your team):
- What do people really care about here? (Hint: It’s not always revenue.)
- What behaviors or wins truly move the needle?
- What do you wish people did more of?
Here’s how to get real answers:
- Ask in a team meeting: “What would you want to see recognized?”
- Send a quick, anonymous poll: People are more honest this way.
- Watch for informal recognition: What do people naturally high-five each other for?
Some ideas that tend to work: - Closing tough deals (not just any deal) - Going out of your way to help a teammate - Creative problem-solving - Mastering a new skill or tool - Living a team value in a concrete way
Pro tip: Don’t pick too many. Three to five badges is a good starting point. Too many and it all gets diluted—nobody remembers what anything means.
Step 2: Design Badges That Don’t Suck
Yes, design matters. But not in a “hire an agency” way. A badge should be:
- Clear: At a glance, people should know what it’s for.
- Fun (but not childish): Inside jokes or team references work, but skip anything that’ll feel embarrassing.
- Consistent: Use the same style or color scheme so your badges look like a set.
How to design them: - Use free tools like Canva or Figma. Start simple. - Grab icons from sites like The Noun Project. - Keep text short: “Deal Closer,” “Team MVP,” “Above & Beyond”—that’s enough.
What to avoid: - Badges for basic stuff (“Showed up to work”)—that’s patronizing. - Vague, corporate-y badges (“Synergy Star”)—nobody wants that. - Anything that singles people out in a negative way.
Step 3: Set Up Custom Badges in Hoopla
Once you have your badge ideas and designs, it’s time to actually set them up. Hoopla makes this pretty straightforward, but there are a few tips to make the most of it.
How to create custom badges:
- Log in to Hoopla as an admin.
- Go to the “Recognition” or “Badges” section (the exact wording might change, but you’ll find it).
- Click “Create Badge” or “Add Custom Badge.”
- Upload your badge image.
- Add a short, clear name and a description. Be specific about what earns this badge.
- Decide who can give this badge—managers only, or can peers give them too?
- Save.
Pro tip: Peer-to-peer badges can be powerful, but only if your culture supports it. If it gets cliquey or feels like a popularity contest, consider keeping it manager-driven.
Step 4: Roll It Out Without the Eye Rolls
How you launch this matters way more than you think. If you do it with a mass email and then move on, nobody will care.
Better ways to roll it out:
- Kick it off in a team meeting: Explain why you’re doing this, not just the “how.”
- Show examples: “Here’s what ‘Deal Closer’ looks like in action.”
- Recognize someone right away: Give out a badge in the kickoff meeting. It sets the tone and shows you mean it.
- Ask for feedback: “What badges are missing? What feels off?”
What doesn’t work: - Surprising people with a leaderboard nobody asked for - Making it mandatory (“Everyone must give three badges per month!”) - Ignoring feedback (people will just tune it out)
Step 5: Make Recognition a Habit (Not a One-Off)
The real magic is in the follow-through. A badge system is only as good as how often it gets used.
Keep it going:
- Schedule time: Set a recurring reminder to recognize someone each week.
- Public shoutouts: Use Hoopla’s display features to show badges on leaderboards, TVs, or Slack channels.
- Mix it up: Add new badges now and then, retire ones nobody cares about.
- Ask for stories: When someone gets a badge, ask them to share what they did—makes it real for everyone.
What to skip: - Over-gamifying it. If it feels like “badges for badges’ sake,” people will game the system or ignore it. - Making it too competitive. A little friendly rivalry is fine, but if it turns toxic, you’ve lost the plot.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
Works: - Badges tied to real, meaningful actions - Peer or manager recognition, as long as it’s genuine - Public, timely recognition (so others see it and get inspired)
Doesn’t work: - Badges for basic job duties - Anything that feels forced or fake - Overloading the system with too many badges or rules
Ignore: - Fancy design tricks—substance matters way more than style - Hype about “gamification” being a silver bullet. It’s not. If your team’s checked out, badges alone won’t fix it.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Don’t overthink it. Start with a few custom badges that mean something to your team. Roll them out, see what lands, and tweak as you go. The best recognition programs are the ones people barely notice—because they just feel like part of how your team works.
Recognition isn’t about the badge; it’s about showing people you see what they’re doing. Do that well, and the “engagement” will take care of itself.