Introduction
Employee recognition is one of the highest-return investments an
organisation can make. Studies consistently show that employees who
feel recognised are more engaged, more productive, and less likely
to leave.
But recognition programmes often fall apart because they require
too much manual effort from HR. SharePoint can change that.
Step 1 — Set Up Your Employee Data Source
The Celebrations Spotlight web part reads from a SharePoint list.
Create a list in your HR site with the following columns:
- Employee Name (Person or Group)
- Celebration Type (Choice: Birthday, Work Anniversary, New Hire)
- Date (Date and Time)
- Message (Multiple lines of text)
Step 2 — Install the Celebrations Spotlight Web Part
Download and install the web part from the Intranet in a can store.
Upload the .sppkg to your App Catalog and deploy it tenant-wide.
Step 3 — Configure the Web Part
Add the web part to your intranet homepage. In the property pane:
- Connect it to your HR SharePoint list
- Set the display layout (small, medium, or large cards)
- Configure filtering — show only upcoming birthdays this week,
or recent work anniversaries this month
Step 4 — Automate Data Entry
Use Power Automate to automatically add new records to your list
when employees are added to Azure AD. This removes the manual
overhead from HR entirely.
Step 5 — Promote the Programme
Announce the programme in your company newsletter and on the
intranet homepage. Encourage managers to add personal messages
for their team members.
Conclusion
A well-implemented recognition programme doesn't require a
dedicated platform or a large budget. With SharePoint and the
right web parts, you can build something meaningful that runs
itself with minimal maintenance.
