Aprio is a premier, full-service business advisory and certified public accounting firm that advises clients and associates on how to achieve what’s next. Aprio’s associates work as integrated teams across advisory, audit, tax, outsourcing, talent solutions and private client services, bringing the best thinking and personal commitment to each client.

From a humble 300 employees, Aprio’s growth has surged to an impressive ~2,100 employees and counting. As the firm has grown, Aprio has remained committed to offering an exceptional experience to both their clients and their employees. In the past year alone, Aprio has been distinguished as a Top 5 Workplace in Metro Atlanta by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and ranked 26th on Accounting Today's revered Top 100 Firms list, a testament to its excellence in both service and workplace culture.

So how did Aprio manage to build on its victories and foster such a successful company culture amidst the colossal changes to the global workforce due to unprecedented events like the COVID-19 pandemic? Let’s dive in!

The Quest for Connectedness

In the wake of the pandemic, Aprio shifted to a remote and hybrid work environment. While this flexibility presented numerous advantages for employees, it also brought the challenge of ensuring consistent engagement and connectivity among a dispersed workforce. Ellie McLaughlin, Director of People and Culture at Aprio, states, "We embrace remote and hybrid culture, but we also understand that we need to maintain engagement, and that hasn’t always been easy."

Coinciding with this new shift in the workplace, Aprio’s remarkable double-digit growth also created challenges maintaining a connected, engaged and valued workforce whether team members were working remote, hybrid or on-site. Always looking ahead, Aprio sought a solution to elevate its employee experience beyond providing a basic rewards solution, so the firm turned to Cooleaf.

Emily Holt, Senior People and Culture Associate at Aprio, said, “We wanted to be able to highlight our wins and celebrate people within our organization. And Cooleaf’s solution kind of came at the perfect time.”

The company soon realized that its growing needs encompassed more than just perks – it was about creating a culture of appreciation, employee wellbeing, recognition and engagement.

Cooleaf and Aprio Come Together

In 2016, Aprio launched the Cooleaf platform to its employees. Aprio’s initial goal was to use Cooleaf to deepen employee connections and foster a culture where achievements didn't go unnoticed. But after launching the platform, the company found additional ways to use Cooleaf’s engagement features, including virtual challenges and activities.

From virtual activities centered around Aprio’s fundamentals to team-building challenges, the Cooleaf platform went beyond the scope of a recognition tool, helping drive engagement across all its locations.

Spotlighting Company Fundamentals

At the heart of Aprio's ethos lie its 31 fundamentals, serving as the backbone of the company. These principles are more than just words on paper; they are practiced, celebrated and deeply ingrained in Aprio's culture.

Each of these fundamentals is symbolized by a distinct tag, seamlessly integrated into Cooleaf, enabling team members to recognize and celebrate their peers when they embody these principles. This recognition system is a testament to the company’s commitment to its values and fostering a culture of acknowledgment and praise.

Emily highlights the significance of these fundamentals and the role of Cooleaf in propagating them:

"At Aprio, when we have team meetings together, we begin the meeting with the fundamental of the week. It sets the tone for our discussions, emphasizing the core value we are collectively focusing on. With Cooleaf, it became another avenue for us to celebrate and recognize these core values in action. When we onboard or train people, we emphasize the importance of recognizing peers on Cooleaf, especially when they exhibit our fundamentals. It's not just about acknowledging good work; it's about connecting that acknowledgment to our foundational values."

The encouragement to recognize peers goes beyond managerial directive. Celebrating success, recognizing wins and engaging with each other is embedded into Aprio’s culture. And with a platform like Cooleaf, this culture of recognition finds a modern, interactive and engaging expression.

With the adoption of Cooleaf, Aprio experienced heightened engagement and a genuine appreciation for Cooleaf's user-friendly interface.

Emily captures this sentiment, stating, "From a user's perspective, being able to tangibly give or receive a recognition is really simplified through Cooleaf."

Encouraging Positive Performance through Incentivized Themed Challenges

At the heart of Aprio's commitment to fostering a dynamic and supportive workplace environment lies its strategic implementation of Cooleaf's virtual activity challenges. By using Cooleaf’s challenge feature to highlight the company’s fundamental values and culture, Aprio can bring team members together in a fun and meaningful way.

Some of these virtual challenges/activities include:

• Value Differences
• Speak Straight for Team Success
• Be a Brand Ambassador

Through each Cooleaf challenge, Aprio’s employees step up as vibrant contributors to a community centered around exceptional experiences and lasting relationships. Challenges and virtual activities, be they centered around teamwork, innovation or customer-centricity, become stages where employees are rewarded for showcasing their understanding of these values.

“We create prompts based on our fundamentals and ask people to share their feedback on that fundamental in a Cooleaf challenge,” Emily says. “We usually try to provide a couple of different prompts to encourage people to participate."

Cooleaf's gamified and incentivized framework empowers organizations like Aprio to bring their fundamentals to life in actionable ways. A prime example is the company’s “Be a Brand Ambassador” Cooleaf challenge. This fundamental reinforces the collective responsibility every Aprio member holds toward nurturing the company’s image, especially online! It’s about understanding, championing and elevating the brand.

With this challenge, employees are guided through specific prompts designed to boost Aprio’s online engagement, bridging the gap between the digital realm and brand advocacy. Here’s what some of the participants have to say following the prompt “Give us a social media tip!”:

• "Likes and Comments increase the post's reach throughout your network. You never know when a post may draw a potential future employee/client toward Aprio!"

• "Spending some time to like/share posts from your network is very valuable as well. Those people see that you've shared, and you potentially put one person's info in front of another who might need that connection. It doesn't always have to benefit you :)"
• "I try to regularly share posts related to what Aprio does - even if the article is from another industry leader - in which case I add my perspective in the comments."

By implementing a robust engagement platform like Cooleaf, Aprio transforms its fundamentals from statements to actionable practices that shape everyday operations and behaviors.

“The great thing about Cooleaf is that people can read through other responses that people have posted.” Emily shares. “You never know when you're going to say, hey, I really agree with that, or hey, that's a really good idea, or that made me laugh, or I actually live near you, and I didn't even realize that until you posted a picture of this. So that's always really fun and it's a great way for us to practice our fundamentals."

Every post made by an employee isn't just a statement in a void; it becomes a focal point of interaction. With these challenges, team members can 'like' and comment on each other's posts, transforming the challenge from a solitary endeavor to a collective celebration of positive performance behavior.

In leveraging Cooleaf's platform, Aprio has cultivated a culture where positive performance is celebrated in a fun, interactive and rewarding environment.

Engaging Beyond Work: Fun and Wellness Initiatives

In addition to its Fundamentals challenges, Aprio connects their distributed team with fun virtual activities on Cooleaf – be it a seasonal fall-themed scavenger hunt or the National Pet Day challenge in April.

Participants earn points from these activities, which they can then redeem for gift cards, company swag from the team store, and a host of other rewards, all facilitated through the Cooleaf platform.

Emily enthuses, “Our team loves earning Cooleaf points!”

Navigating the nuanced realm of remote and hybrid work has its challenges. Emily reflects, "People really didn't realize how much of those personal connections and interactions that they missed at the workplace." But Cooleaf helped to bridge gaps felt by employees in this regard. With just a simple prompt, team members were reigniting connections, sharing life's moments big and small. "Now I have a chance to see something that Ellie's posting in Boston...and then boom, you have a new connection that's all the way across the country."

In the realm of employee engagement, it's not just about recognizing achievements; it's about fostering genuine connections. With Cooleaf's comprehensive engagement and recognition platform, Aprio has seamlessly elevated its workplace experience, nurturing an environment where every member feels valued, connected and truly a part of the Aprio family.

Celebrating Growth Together: The Wins

Cooleaf has transformed the way employees connect, engage and celebrate at Aprio.

Cooleaf’s approachable, fun, easy-to-use interface has driven an adoption rate of 88% with over half of employees “recognizing” their colleagues regularly. “Cooleaf has been such a huge part of the culture here at Aprio. It’s been a positive experience for so many employees, and it’s always received well during onboarding,” say Emily. “From the get-go, employees get to see this robust feature we provide that serves as a platform for them to feel appreciated, to give and receive recognition openly. It’s a unique opportunity for connection that I know not a lot of other companies have.”

In Q2 of 2023, over 25,000+ recognitions were issued, a testament to the platform’s effectiveness.

Aprio’s people-first driven culture and commitment to employee engagement, amplified by their partnership with Cooleaf, hasn’t gone unnoticed. Aprio has received numerous awards such as Top Workplace in the USA, the Cultural Excellence Award and has been named the Fastest Growing Firm in the US.

Ellie McLaughin, Director of People and Culture at Aprio, said it best: “At Aprio, people and culture are top of mind from the CEO down. We’re all very invested in ensuring people are seen, heard, recognized, and rewarded. Cooleaf is instrumental in this. Recognition is a key driver in employee satisfaction and engagement. The more we can deliver that through activities and challenges, the better. Just one simple shout-out can change someone’s day in an instant.”

Emily Holt, Senior People and Culture Associate at Aprio, added, “The beauty of Cooleaf is reading through the responses other people have posted. You never truly know how people will connect.”

"It's not just a recognition platform, it really is an engagement tool that brings people together," says Ellie.

Leadership Is All In

Aprio’s leaders help ensure that successes, no matter how big or small, don’t go overlooked. Thanks to Cooleaf, recognizing those successes is made easy. Over the years, leadership's genuine understanding of the value of meaningful recognition and engagement has driven even more growth on the Cooleaf platform.

Emily, Aprio’s Cooleaf admin and champion, shares this heartfelt insight: "Every year I've been here, I've felt a stronger push from our leaders to use the platform for heartfelt recognition. Their encouragement has only grown."

It's clear the effort isn’t lost on the team either. Emily recalls moments when team members have approached her, expressing their gratitude for the platform. "I've had teammates share just how awesome they think Cooleaf is, and how grateful they are that Aprio has chosen to invest in such a tool."

The message is clear: companies that want to thrive should think beyond just work. It’s about people, their feelings, and the recognition they deserve. Cooleaf becomes a bridge to a more connected, happier team.

Interested in learning how to revolutionize employee engagement for your business? Contact us today to learn how we can help elevate your workplace experience!