TL;DR — Karma for Microsoft Teams brings peer recognition into Microsoft Teams.
We’ve been working hard on Karma for Microsoft Teams, and we’re excited to roll out a major product update packed with new features designed to make employee recognition more engaging, more customizable, and more insightful.
From GIF-powered recognitions to Team Pulse analytics and expanded international rewards, these updates are all about helping companies create stronger recognition cultures directly inside Microsoft Teams.
GIFs Make Recognition More Fun
Recognition should feel exciting — not robotic.
That’s why Karma for Microsoft Teams now supports GIFs when giving recognition.
When using the Karma extension inside Teams, employees can now attach a GIF to every kudos message. Whether it’s a celebratory reaction, a funny meme, or a dancing cat, GIFs add personality and emotion to recognition moments.
The process remains simple:
- Open the Karma extension in Microsoft Teams
- Select teammates to recognize
- Add a description
- Choose your company value
- Attach a GIF
Everything teams already love about Karma stays the same — just with more energy and personality.
Recognition that people actually enjoy using
One of the easiest ways to improve participation in recognition programs is to make them enjoyable.
GIFs help:
- Increase engagement with recognitions
- Make appreciation feel more human
- Encourage more frequent participation
- Create more visible and memorable moments
And the best part? Those GIFs now appear directly in the updated activity feed as well.
A Completely Updated Recognition Feed
We also redesigned the Karma activity feed to make recognition easier to browse and more visually engaging.
The updated feed now:
- Displays GIFs directly in recognitions
- Uses infinite scrolling instead of pagination
- Makes recognitions easier to discover and revisit
- Keeps appreciation moments more visible across the company
Instead of clicking through multiple pages, users can continuously scroll through recognition activity naturally.
Easier karma management
The feed also includes a simpler way to remove recognitions that were sent by mistake.
Admins can now quickly delete karma entries directly from the feed when needed, making moderation and cleanup easier without complicating the experience for everyone else.
Expanded Gift Card Rewards for Global Teams
One of the biggest updates in this release is expanded international support for gift card rewards.
Karma now supports significantly more countries in the automated gift card reward system, making rewards more accessible for distributed and international teams.
Recently added support includes:
- Denmark
- More European countries
- Expanded global availability across multiple regions
Simplified European Union support
We also improved how European rewards are managed.
Instead of selecting individual countries like Austria, Belgium, or Italy separately, organizations can now simply choose “European Union.”
When employees redeem rewards, they’ll automatically be able to select gift cards available for their specific country.
This makes reward configuration much easier for multinational companies while improving the redemption experience for employees.
Flexible reward setup
The reward creation flow has also been updated with clearer options for:
- Automatic gift card distribution
- Manual reward management
This gives organizations more flexibility in how they manage employee rewards and recognition programs.
Introducing Team Pulse Reporting
Recognition data tells an important story about company culture.
That’s why we introduced Team Pulse — a completely redesigned reporting experience that helps organizations better understand how connected and engaged their teams are.
Team Pulse helps visualize:
- Recognition trends
- Team engagement health
- Connections between employees
- Recognition distribution across the organization
- Company value participation
See how connected your organization really is
One of the most powerful additions is the organizational connection map.
Managers and HR teams can now see:
- Who recognizes whom
- How strong recognition relationships are
- Which employees are highly connected
- Where engagement gaps may exist
This creates a much clearer picture of how recognition flows through the company and helps identify opportunities to build stronger collaboration and inclusion.
Better visibility into company values
The reporting dashboard also now includes improved company value visibility.
Company values are displayed more prominently, making it easier to see:
- Which values are most recognized
- How recognition aligns with company culture
- Trends in employee behavior over time
For organizations focused on reinforcing cultural values, this makes recognition data significantly more actionable.
Custom Branding for Recognition Programs
Every company talks about recognition differently.
Some call it Karma. Others call it High Fives, Kudos, Coins, or Points.
Now, Karma for Microsoft Teams allows organizations to fully customize the naming of the recognition system.
Inside Branding Settings, companies can:
- Use preset naming options
- Create a completely custom recognition name
- Replace “Karma” terminology across the platform
For example:
- Karma Coins → High Five Coins
- Karma Points → Appreciation Points
The selected terminology updates throughout the entire product experience.
Why this matters
Recognition programs work best when they reflect company culture and internal language.
Custom naming gives organizations:
- Better alignment with internal branding
- A more personalized employee experience
- Greater flexibility in how recognition programs are positioned
Instead of adapting your culture to the software, the software adapts to your culture.
Custom Images for Company Values
Another highly requested feature is finally here.
Organizations can now upload custom images for company values.
Previously, company values could only use emojis. Now, teams can upload branded graphics and custom visuals that better represent their culture and identity.
Fully branded value cards
When editing company values, admins can now:
- Upload custom graphics
- Replace emojis with branded visuals
- Create more polished recognition experiences
These graphics will appear directly on value cards throughout the platform.
This feature has been heavily requested by customers, especially organizations with strong internal branding systems, and it’s now fully live in production.
Built for Recognition Inside Microsoft Teams
These updates continue our mission of making recognition simple, engaging, and deeply integrated into the tools teams already use every day.
With Karma for Microsoft Teams, organizations can:
- Encourage peer-to-peer appreciation
- Reinforce company values
- Improve employee engagement
- Create stronger team connections
- Reward employees globally
- Measure recognition health with actionable insights
And now, teams can do all of that with more flexibility, better reporting, and a much more engaging experience.
Watch the Full Product Walkthrough
We’ll include a detailed YouTube walkthrough covering:
- GIF recognitions
- The updated feed
- Team Pulse reporting
- Global gift cards
- Custom branding
- Custom value images
- And all the latest improvements in action
Available Now
All features mentioned in this update are already live for Karma users on Microsoft Teams.
As always, we’d love your feedback as you explore the new experience and continue building a stronger recognition culture with Karma.
