The Lottery Corporation builds belonging and momentum through recognition

The Lottery Corporation (TLC) Limited is Australia’s largest lottery company and one of the highest-performing lottery businesses in the world. Since becoming a standalone ASX company post the demerger from Tabcorp, TLC turned recognition into a strategic foundation — strengthening connection, reinforcing new behaviours, and helping employees feel genuinely valued during a period of significant change.

The challenge: building identity, connection, and resilience after demerger

When The Lottery Corporation separated from Tabcorp, it entered a critical period of reset. As a newly independent organisation, TLC faced the complex task of establishing a clear, standalone identity while guiding employees through meaningful organisational change.

At the same time, the business needed to maintain resilience and engagement following the demerger — and unite employees around a new strategy, principles, and ways of working. Leaders were looking for a way to create energy and momentum across the organisation, helping people feel connected, supported, and aligned as TLC shaped its future.

For recognition to truly support TLC’s transformation, it needed to be embedded authentically — not as a one-off initiative, but as a scalable and sustainable part of everyday work.

The solution: using recognition as a strategic cultural driver

In June 2023, TLC launched Amplify, its enterprise-wide recognition program, positioning it as a core organisational capability rather than a siloed initiative.

Amplify was intentionally designed to reinforce TLC’s new strategy and principles, support employees through change, and actively build belonging across the organisation. From day one, recognition was framed as a shared responsibility — something leaders and employees could use regularly to acknowledge meaningful contributions and aligned behaviours.

The goal was simple but ambitious: make recognition a natural part of how work gets done, not an occasional activity reserved for special moments.

The rollout: enabling leaders, sustaining visibility, and integrating recognition into daily work

Enabling leaders to lead with recognition

Leader enablement was central to Amplify’s rollout. TLC invested in equipping people leaders with the tools and confidence to recognise their teams effectively. Dedicated intranet resource pages, FAQs, and quick-reference guides supported consistent understanding and use.

At launch, leader drop-in sessions walked people leaders through Amplify expectations, system functionality, and best practices. To reinforce accountability and desired behaviours, leaders were also allocated additional monthly points budgets — signalling that recognition was not optional, but a core leadership behaviour.

Sustaining momentum through communication

Ongoing communication helped keep recognition visible and relevant. TLC runs regular in-platform campaigns using announcements and emails to spotlight inclusion themes, engagement survey reminders, and a rotating monthly focus on leadership behaviours.

Targeted nudge campaigns prompt leaders and budget holders to use unspent points, while recognition is also intentionally brought “off platform.” Intranet stories highlight new Amplify features and profile employees using the program, supported by digital signage, PC wallpapers, and broader internal communications.

Recognition is introduced early in the employee experience as well. New hires are onboarded to Amplify with a welcome card, and managers are prompted to recognise new starters early — driving activation from day one. More recently, TLC launched a weekly newsletter spotlight featuring standout recognition moments, reinforcing storytelling and shared pride.

Over time, Amplify points have also been used as prizes for competitions, marketing launches, and volunteering activities — a strong signal that recognition has become part of the organisation’s everyday language and a trusted way to drive engagement.

Integrating recognition into the flow of work

To further embed recognition into daily routines, TLC integrated Amplify with Microsoft Teams, allowing recognition notifications to surface directly where employees already work and encouraging seamless engagement. Amplify with Microsoft Teams, allowing recognition notifications to surface directly where employees already work and encouraging seamless engagement.

TLC then introduced Employee connections to help broaden internal networks and enrich the onboarding experience. Quarterly, group-wide connection rounds have seen participation increase quarter-on-quarter, with 331 connections completed in the first five months.

TLC also established a full recognition lifecycle within Amplify — celebrating service anniversaries, birthdays, new starters, and key life moments — reinforcing recognition at every stage of the employee experience.

The impact: recognition becomes an everyday habit

From launch, Amplify achieved strong adoption — and sustained it.

Activation reached 77.6% at launch and steadily increased to 98.9%, demonstrating that recognition is embedded rather than optional. Monthly active usage rose from 49.6% to 74.4%, while leader-specific monthly active usage increased from 65.4% to 88.7%, reinforcing recognition as a core leadership behaviour.

As recognition activity grew, so did its impact. Recognition volume nearly doubled, increasing from 10,770 to 20,690 moments. Recognition budget utilisation rose from 47.1% to 85.6%, reflecting growing leader confidence and normalised use.

Engagement deepened as well. Celebration cards scaled rapidly, formal awards expanded significantly across the business, and comments increased by more than 70%, signalling more meaningful and personal recognition moments.

During this period of transformation, TLC also saw a four-percentage-point increase in positive sentiment for “feeling valued for the work I do” in its engagement survey — reinforcing the role recognition played in strengthening connection and belonging.

Recognition as a strategic foundation for the future

Today, recognition is viewed as a strategic driver at The Lottery Corporation — one that helps employees lean into change, reinforces behaviours that support business objectives, and actively builds belonging at scale.

What began as a recognition program has become an everyday habit, strengthening pride, connection, and momentum as TLC continues to evolve.