Recognition with purpose: how SSA Group made appreciation and impact inseparable

Most employee recognition is forgotten by spring — the same gift, handed to everyone. When Kassey Kampman rebuilt SSA Group's recognition program, she set out to do the opposite.

SSA partners with zoos, aquariums, museums, and other cultural attractions to support the guest experience across admissions, retail, culinary, and hospitality. Much of that work happens behind the scenes, but its impact is felt throughout the day in the moments that welcome guests, build connections, and help partners fulfill their missions.

As EVP of People, Kassey wanted the way SSA cares for its own team to reflect that same purpose.

She started with a question: who are we, and how should that show up in how we take care of our own people? That reflection produced the "452 Years of Hospitality" tenure recognition program, and it set off a broader rethink of gifting across the company — from milestone moments to life events. She chose Gifts for Good because of the B Corp mission and a conviction she holds deeply: people don't just want to receive. They want to give back too. "Connecting choice to the gifting experience honors the individual while creating larger impact across our ecosystem and the communities we serve."

Before Gifts for Good, managing recognition consistently across 100+ venues meant limited visibility into spend, impact, and team feedback. The centralized dashboard changed that. Kassey's team gained budgetary oversight and direct visibility into how each gift landed. "The program does the work of consistency; our teams still own the moments."

Through the Gifts for Good platform, SSA's gifts created real, lasting change. In a single year, the program provided 1,330 children in need with a one-year supply of lifesaving vitamins, funded 500 weeks of safe water, hygiene, and sanitation for communities in need, delivered 1,354 meals to children facing food insecurity in the USA, and generated 1,946 hours of care for rescue animals in no-kill shelters. All of this impact was chosen by the employees who received the gifts.

Kassey learned that when employees have a real choice in how their recognition shows up for someone else, the response shifts. She received thank-you notes from people who chose causes that had been meaningful to them for years, from someone who received their gift on an unexpectedly hard day, and from another who said that material things pale in comparison to helping someone who genuinely needs it. "Those are more than just program metrics for us. It's real proof that recognition, when done right, reaches people in ways you never fully anticipate."

For Kassey, this was personal before it was strategic. Belonging has always been at the core of how she thinks about people and work — creating environments where the barriers and inequities so many people navigate on their way to opportunity are acknowledged and actively addressed. When she saw the Women's Bean Project consistently surface through the platform, it hit close to home. She's based in Denver and has watched that organization create real, tangible pathways for women who just needed a door opened.

For any company still treating recognition as a logistics problem, Kassey's recommendation is clear: "If you connect recognition with purpose and impact, Gifts for Good is the partner to make it possible."

SSA Group exists to craft experiences that advance its partners' missions — destinations that inspire people to care about the natural world and their communities. Kassey built a recognition program that turns that same spirit on its own people, and the ones who received those gifts felt the difference.